Is Viewscan worth it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Phil
  • Start date Start date
Hello

I'm currently using a coolscan 4 ED with really good results from
negatives. I do find however that the colour balance scans from slides
is not perfect. I also have to turn up the gain to get a well exposed
scan. I would be grateful for anyone's opinions on the usefulness of
Viewscan in general and with regard to slides in particular.

Thanks in anticipation

Phil
Click to expand...

Its a little hard to answer as all of our needs and uses differ. I am a
professional photographer and although I now shoot a lot on digital
cameras, I still use medium format 6x4.5cm up to 6x7cm and large format
4x5inch slides. I bought an Epson 4870 scanner a while back and found
the software not up to the job for my needs. I bought a copy of VueScan
and found it an unpolished piece of software (7.6.x) that struggled
when I pushed it to perform. I ended up buying a copy of Silverfast Ai
and struggled to make it work as well as I wanted but it was the best
that I could get at that time.

I recently downloaded the VueScan update and was surprised by the
differences in polish, functionality and results. As you can get a demo
version, I suggest you try it. It will not be to the taste of everyone
and the interface is busy on the advanced settings pages. However, The
results I am getting are now excellent. I have even scanned 35mm
slides, which I had found to be impossible to do previously with the
Epson, if I had wanted good results as far as detail was concerned. I
think Vuescan has matured immensely and would recommend it to you
providing that you understand what you are trying to achieve and what
are the likely methods you will use to get the results you want.

I am unlikely to use Silverfast software again, if the standard of the
results that Vuescan delivers remains as good... there will be little
need to change to another software vendor.

HTH
 
Kscoinhutch said:
There's nothing wrong with VueScan so quit lying about it.<
Click to expand...


I found it quite 'buggy' with an Epson 610 - and, frankly, while the results
were better than the Epson driver, that's no big deal as the Epson is way
out of date.

Certainly, current Canon's come with software that seems to do everything
that Vuescan can accomplish - so why waste money?
 
Trammel said:
I found it quite 'buggy' with an Epson 610 - and, frankly, while the
results were better than the Epson driver, that's no big deal as the
Epson is way out of date.
Click to expand...

What kind of bugs?
Certainly, current Canon's come with software that seems to do
everything that Vuescan can accomplish - so why waste money?
Click to expand...

Does it scan on a Linux box? Can it scan Raw files? Can it drive other
scanners (I have 4 different brands). So what may seem a waste to you,
may be important for others.

Bart
 
Does it scan on a Linux box? Can it scan Raw files? Can it drive other
scanners (I have 4 different brands). So what may seem a waste to you,
may be important for others.
Click to expand...

In the interest of full disclosure:

For months, you praised VueScan to high heaven until you inadvertently
let it slip out that you yourself use Minolta software to actually
scan because VueScan is just too buggy.

That speaks volumes!

Don.
 
I found it quite 'buggy' with an Epson 610 - and, frankly, while the results
were better than the Epson driver, that's no big deal as the Epson is way
out of date.

Certainly, current Canon's come with software that seems to do everything
that Vuescan can accomplish - so why waste money?
Click to expand...

I use both VueScan and Nikon Scan. Each has good points over the
other. I've had no real problems with VueScan except of my own
creation and particularly early on in the learning curve.

"For me" I find Vue Scan to be in general more capable, but it may
require a lot more input from the user. NikonScan is easier to use,
but now there is a buggy piece of soft ware that crashes often. It is
the only piece of soft ware I have that crashes regularly once the
machine was up and fully configured.

Now I'm contemplating the change to a 64 bit OS and I really don't
want to have to reload and configure everything again.
(This machine is a 64 Bit, 3.4 Gig Athlon currently running XP Pro)


Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
 
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