Vuescan vs Silverfast Ai, still torn

I've tried the Vuescan and Silverfast Ai demos and still can't tell
which product will better suit me. Part of the trouble is that I'm
not sure of the underlying strengths and weaknesses of their available
features. Robert Feinman referred me to his website for a comparison,
but I couldn't find a full rundown of the major software features
(Robert, am I overlooking it?). Vuescan appears to be the
overwhelming favorite in this newsgroup...can anyone make the case for
or against Silverfast Ai, or offer any thoughts on the "target market"
for each product?

My initial impressions are that Vuescan offers more features for the
money, and possibly some unique features (not sure how many; the demo
(v. 7.6, just saw the v. 8 release post) is feature-limited). Vuescan
supports its full range of scanners directly, whereas Silverfast
apparently requires multiple purchases. Silverfast now offers true
Digital ICE, plus the RAW scanning that has given Vuescan such an
edge. Like Vuescan, their HDR package can "scan" a RAW file...but
seems to require additional $100s. Both products can be configured
for multiple scan passes, and both offer numerous output options. The
Silverfast interface is more intuitive, though not without numerous
quirks, and offers histogram, curve, and color controls equivalent to
those of image editors.

Apart from ease of use and listed features, does one product produce
particularly better output than the other? Are Silverfast's pricier
algorithms "better" in some way? I plan to use my scanning software
almost exclusively for color negatives along with B&W and color photo
prints of wildly varying quality (some are quite faded, making scanner
sensitivity more important than elsewhere). I found Vuescan capable
of good negative results with its "recommended workflow" followed by
"auto" color adjustment, though I struggled a bit getting the previews
and exposure/color locks into the proper sequence. But Silverfast's
large film database and color management system are attractive too. I
disliked Vuescan's long refresh delays but found them manageable once
I set the auto refresh to "0".

At the minimum, I'd like direct numerical control of clipping %, which
neither Epson Scan nor Silverfast SE provide. Vuescan does this; can
Ai's histogram adjust by percentage rather than level integers? It's
not immediately clear. Also, since I'm avoiding Photoshop ($$$), the
ability to do 16-bit adjustments and colorspace conversion from RAW
archive files is a strong selling point for both Vuescan and Ai/HDR.

I hope I've laid this out relatively clearly. Feel free to toss me
further questions about my requirements if I'm approaching this the
wrong way. Thanks for all replies!

false_dmitrii

Take a look at
www.computer-darkroom.com
for tutorials and other materials on Silverfast. Maybe that will help some.

Frank


false_dmitrii wrote:
> I've tried the Vuescan and Silverfast Ai demos and still can't tell
> which product will better suit me. Part of the trouble is that I'm
> not sure of the underlying strengths and weaknesses of their available
> features. Robert Feinman referred me to his website for a comparison,
> but I couldn't find a full rundown of the major software features
> (Robert, am I overlooking it?). Vuescan appears to be the
> overwhelming favorite in this newsgroup...can anyone make the case for
> or against Silverfast Ai, or offer any thoughts on the "target market"
> for each product?
>
> My initial impressions are that Vuescan offers more features for the
> money, and possibly some unique features (not sure how many; the demo
> (v. 7.6, just saw the v. 8 release post) is feature-limited). Vuescan
> supports its full range of scanners directly, whereas Silverfast
> apparently requires multiple purchases. Silverfast now offers true
> Digital ICE, plus the RAW scanning that has given Vuescan such an
> edge. Like Vuescan, their HDR package can "scan" a RAW file...but
> seems to require additional $100s. Both products can be configured
> for multiple scan passes, and both offer numerous output options. The
> Silverfast interface is more intuitive, though not without numerous
> quirks, and offers histogram, curve, and color controls equivalent to
> those of image editors.
>
> Apart from ease of use and listed features, does one product produce
> particularly better output than the other? Are Silverfast's pricier
> algorithms "better" in some way? I plan to use my scanning software
> almost exclusively for color negatives along with B&W and color photo
> prints of wildly varying quality (some are quite faded, making scanner
> sensitivity more important than elsewhere). I found Vuescan capable
> of good negative results with its "recommended workflow" followed by
> "auto" color adjustment, though I struggled a bit getting the previews
> and exposure/color locks into the proper sequence. But Silverfast's
> large film database and color management system are attractive too. I
> disliked Vuescan's long refresh delays but found them manageable once
> I set the auto refresh to "0".
>
> At the minimum, I'd like direct numerical control of clipping %, which
> neither Epson Scan nor Silverfast SE provide. Vuescan does this; can
> Ai's histogram adjust by percentage rather than level integers? It's
> not immediately clear. Also, since I'm avoiding Photoshop ($$$), the
> ability to do 16-bit adjustments and colorspace conversion from RAW
> archive files is a strong selling point for both Vuescan and Ai/HDR.
>
> I hope I've laid this out relatively clearly. Feel free to toss me
> further questions about my requirements if I'm approaching this the
> wrong way. Thanks for all replies!
>
> false_dmitrii

Sounds like you really want Silverfast AI, not SE. Vuescan is cheap (in
the best sense of the word!) and quite capable. Silverfast is expensive
and quite capable. In both cases you have to practice and experiment.
Getting really good scans is a product of many different parts, starting
with the film. I would suggest, if you are not happy with Epson's
software, buy the pro version of Vuescan and learn how to get great
results. Then if you want/need more , consider purchasing Silverfast for
whatever scanner you have at the time. BTW, Silverfast DC, DCpro are
essentially HDR with modules to import from digital cameras.

Frank

false_dmitrii wrote:

> I've tried the Vuescan and Silverfast Ai demos and still can't tell
> which product will better suit me. Part of the trouble is that I'm
> not sure of the underlying strengths and weaknesses of their available
> features. Robert Feinman referred me to his website for a comparison,
> but I couldn't find a full rundown of the major software features
> (Robert, am I overlooking it?). Vuescan appears to be the
> overwhelming favorite in this newsgroup...can anyone make the case for
> or against Silverfast Ai, or offer any thoughts on the "target market"
> for each product?
>
> My initial impressions are that Vuescan offers more features for the
> money, and possibly some unique features (not sure how many; the demo
> (v. 7.6, just saw the v. 8 release post) is feature-limited). Vuescan
> supports its full range of scanners directly, whereas Silverfast
> apparently requires multiple purchases. Silverfast now offers true
> Digital ICE, plus the RAW scanning that has given Vuescan such an
> edge. Like Vuescan, their HDR package can "scan" a RAW file...but
> seems to require additional $100s. Both products can be configured
> for multiple scan passes, and both offer numerous output options. The
> Silverfast interface is more intuitive, though not without numerous
> quirks, and offers histogram, curve, and color controls equivalent to
> those of image editors.
>
> Apart from ease of use and listed features, does one product produce
> particularly better output than the other? Are Silverfast's pricier
> algorithms "better" in some way? I plan to use my scanning software
> almost exclusively for color negatives along with B&W and color photo
> prints of wildly varying quality (some are quite faded, making scanner
> sensitivity more important than elsewhere). I found Vuescan capable
> of good negative results with its "recommended workflow" followed by
> "auto" color adjustment, though I struggled a bit getting the previews
> and exposure/color locks into the proper sequence. But Silverfast's
> large film database and color management system are attractive too. I
> disliked Vuescan's long refresh delays but found them manageable once
> I set the auto refresh to "0".
>
> At the minimum, I'd like direct numerical control of clipping %, which
> neither Epson Scan nor Silverfast SE provide. Vuescan does this; can
> Ai's histogram adjust by percentage rather than level integers? It's
> not immediately clear. Also, since I'm avoiding Photoshop ($$$), the
> ability to do 16-bit adjustments and colorspace conversion from RAW
> archive files is a strong selling point for both Vuescan and Ai/HDR.
>
> I hope I've laid this out relatively clearly. Feel free to toss me
> further questions about my requirements if I'm approaching this the
> wrong way. Thanks for all replies!
>
> false_dmitrii