I'm spinning my wheels

Joachim · 2015-08-25T18:43:54+00:00

Hallo zusammen, für meine Kleinbild- und Mittelformat Negative habe ich mir zum scannen den Canon 9000F Mark II zugelegt. Nur das Programm Silverfast 8 bri...

Joachim

Hello everyone, I’ve bought a Canon 9000F Mark II to scan my 35mm and medium-format negatives. It’s just the Silverfast 8 software that’s driving me up the wall. I’ve worked with quite a few programmes before, whether photo or semi-professional video software. But to be honest, I’ve never come across anything as confusing as Silverfast 8. I hope I don’t end up regretting this purchase. I have the following question: I simply can’t manage to remove these flaws from an old, slightly scratched family photo printed on photographic paper. With the negatives, I’ve got it to the point where it works reasonably well, but not with paper photos! Can anyone tell me how to sort this out?

DerReisefotograf

Forget SF8, I’ve come to hate it. It’s been driving me up the wall, not to mention the constant crashes. No, you won’t regret buying the scanner, just the software :-) Get Vuescan. € How do you intend to remove the scratches? With the infrared dust and scratch removal? As far as I know, that only works on colour negatives. It doesn’t work at all on black and white, as there are issues with the silver in the negatives. I haven’t tried it on paper, but I imagine it wouldn’t work because paper isn’t translucent like a negative. € But I have a request: next time, please phrase your question a bit more precisely. Tell us what you’ve done and what you plan to do, so we don’t have to guess here. Best regards, Tobias

Joachim

My question is clear! Anyone familiar with Silverfast will know what I mean. I didn’t say the scanner was rubbish either! I don’t need anyone telling me not to use the programme; I asked for help!

DerReisefotograf

My question is clear! Anyone familiar with Silverfast will know what I mean. I didn’t say the scanner was rubbish either! I don’t need anyone telling me not to use the programme; I asked for help!

I see it differently, though, because of the formulation. And what about the people who used to work with SF 8 but don’t use it anymore? Do they still have to know exactly how the programme works? That’s why I’m asking you back: what exactly did you do? Is that so bad? Because, unfortunately, I can’t help you like this. I did offer to help you, didn’t I? Perhaps you’ll find someone else who can help you.

Neutrino

Come on, guys, let’s not start arguing straight away! :D € € So, first of all, Silverfast is actually quite a confusing programme. But I’ve got the hang of it now, even though it still gets on my nerves from time to time. In my opinion, it’s definitely not worth the money. € On dust and scratch correction: Unfortunately, you can forget about that with paper originals; Tobias is right there. That’s not down to Silverfast, but because it simply doesn’t work for technical reasons. Automatic dust and scratch correction using the scanner’s infrared beam only works with colour negatives or colour slides! It doesn’t work with transparency originals or black-and-white films. The only exception for black-and-white films is Ilford’s XP2 Super, as this is constructed like a colour film and the silver is dissolved from the emulsion during the bleaching stage of the C-41 development process. There used to be Kodak’s BW 400 as well, but that has recently been discontinued. € Silverfast also offers the SRD function. Unlike iSRD, where the scanner’s infrared beam is used to help locate dust and scratches, SRD is purely software-based. Unfortunately, the software cannot always distinguish between the subject and a scratch. So it can happen that a small bird in the sky gets retouched out as well. You’ll have to find out for yourself how well this works and whether it’s sufficient for your needs. € The best solution, however, will be for you to retouch the paper scans manually on the computer.

Morte

Joachim, I don’t know what all this fuss is about. You don’t make retouches in the scanning software; you do them in Photoshop. It’s much easier and more convenient there. For example, using the Healing Brush tool. End of the clear statement.

Joachim

Thank you to everyone who has provided useful advice that has actually been helpful. € Thanks also to those who feel the need to lecture others in a patronising manner.

ralle

Hello, I tested the scanner with various pieces of software about 2–3 years ago. I didn’t notice any major differences in the following tests: Scanning software: - Canon MP Navigator EX - VueScan 9.0.10 Professional Edition - Silverfast Canon SE v.6.6.1r5 - Silverfast AI Studio Demo 8.0.1r2 My (amateur) test series: http://haun-media.de/tiltdesign/canoscan-9000f-test I scan exclusively using the included Canon software 'Canon MP Navigator EX' Post-processing is required. Light sharpening, contrast, brightness and dust removal Regards, Ralle