Vuescan and S20 problems

[Bryan]

Is anyone else with an HP S20 and Vuescan (I'm using v8.0.17) having
these issues:

1) Sometimes when previewing a strip of negatives, the first one or
two frames are "cut off" (even though they were scanned) and are not
visible in the preview window. In all cases, I had clicked the Zoom
In button once at some prior point. The only way to correct this once
it starts happening (zooming out, rescanning, resetting scanner, etc.
doesn't work) is to exit Vuescan and then start it up again. I think
this was a problem starting with release 8.0.10, because 8.0.9 works
OK.

2) Still can't preview in 8-bit grayscale without image distortion.

3) The Abort button really screws things up. Sometimes the scanner
stops and rescans again, sometimes it ejects the strip, sometimes it
scans when no film is inserted, sometimes it just stops and has to be
powered off and on. This button also resets the Auto Scan and Auto
Eject boxes back to "None."

 

[Andy Salnikov]

Is anyone else with an HP S20 and Vuescan (I'm using v8.0.17) having
these issues:

Im using 8.0.18 with my HP S20, and also have few problems. BTW I
tried 8.1 today, but can't say I like those new additions to
interface, so I'd probably stick with my current version for a while.

1) Sometimes when previewing a strip of negatives, the first one or
two frames are "cut off" (even though they were scanned) and are not
visible in the preview window. In all cases, I had clicked the Zoom
In button once at some prior point. The only way to correct this once
it starts happening (zooming out, rescanning, resetting scanner, etc.
doesn't work) is to exit Vuescan and then start it up again. I think
this was a problem starting with release 8.0.10, because 8.0.9 works
OK.

I did not see this, but I do not usually use preview when scanning
film strips.

2) Still can't preview in 8-bit grayscale without image distortion.

Same for 8.0.18 and 8.0.9. 16-bit grayscale does not work either.
I sent bug report to Ed but got no answer (I was too lazy to write
anything to that "Big Picture" thread, but I'd suggest to improve
customer support, at least aknowledge customer e-mails.)

3) The Abort button really screws things up. Sometimes the scanner
stops and rescans again, sometimes it ejects the strip, sometimes it
scans when no film is inserted, sometimes it just stops and has to be
powered off and on. This button also resets the Auto Scan and Auto
Eject boxes back to "None."

I tried "Abort" once and don't want to repeat this experience
again Just wait until it scans to the end.

There are some other problems (and even one new in 8.0.18 which did
not exist in 8.0.9) which I observe, but I don't have too much spare
time to describe them all Also my experience shows that it's
probably easier to find workaround for some problem, than to convince
Ed to fix it, given that S20 is entry-level scanner and probably is
not used much by serious guys

Cheers,
Andy.

 

[Bryan]

Thanks Andy. That's true, the S20 is getting pretty old, so maybe Ed
is not as concerned with supporting it any more. I am actually
shopping for a Epson Perfection 2450 so I can scan my 127, 120 and 620
negatives. I wish I could find one used or refurbished for around
$100, but it seems these scanners are still very popular, which drives
the price up on eBay. Vendors are still selling the refurbished ones
for over $200, even though Epson offered them for $199 incl. shipping
on their web store.

That, or a 3200 would be nice. But I will keep the S20 for 35mm and
126 negatives and slides. It does an excellent job.

Bryan