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RE: filmscanners: I love/hate SilverFast
Roger,
Regarding the installation issue, I do now you cannot have both scanners
online at the same time when installing Silverfast. If you power of one the
other should load OK. Admittedly Lasersoft has not paid a lot of attention to
the notion of the customer having two scanners online at the same time. ( Paul,
are you listening!!:)
Regarding the upgrade, Lasersoft is very much in the "make a few dollars
mode" and as many software companies do charge for what they consider a major
improvement. Although I was aware they were working on this upgrade for several
months it's release kind of "snuck" up on me/Polaroid. And for what it is worth
it will also cost Polaroid more money, no free luch here. It is also not
uncommon for bundled software to be a little behind the main product. All that
being said I am trying to get a handle on when the new version will be in our
boxes and if there will be any upgrade grace period. At this time I do not know
the answer.
I
think Lasersoft considers their product a professional level product that is
used by a large portion of customers to make money in there business and they
feel they should be compensated so they can continue to develop and improve the
product. I don't know that I disagree with this.
As I
have not played with the new version, I and I think the other list members would
be very interested in how effective this new release is in correcting
negatives.
Regards
David
I just paid extra to buy SilverFast with a
Polaroid SprintScan 120 medium
format film scanner. I received the
scanner a week ago Friday and it was
inoperable for a week due to poor
installation instructions from Polaroid.
Then, after I got it
running with Polaroid Insight, I tried to load
SilverFast, which is what I
want to use for scanner software since I'm
already familiar with it on my
SprinScan 4000. But the new SilverFast
wouldn't load, probably due
to interference from another copy for the SS4000.
But I was able to
determine that the software on the new SilverFast CD is
the old version
and not the current version 5.5. I need version 5.5 because
it
supposedly corrects SilverFast shortcomings with negative processing,
which is what I want to use the SS120 for. So I have a new copy of
SilverFast that won't load and the software was obsolete even before I got
it. So now I have to pay another $45US for something I've already
paid for
once and should have received in the first place. You're
right, these guys
are milking their client base. In fact, they're
cheating them by shipping
obsolete software in the first place. It
wouldn't be so bad if the software
they sell would load. And that
wouldn't be so bad if SilverFast had an "800"
number you could call for
help. And the lack of an "800" wouldn't be so bad
if their support
people would at least answer their e-mail in a timely
manner. I've
said before that I think some of these people should be drowned
in a
bucket of warm nose drippings. It's a rip off. It's frustrating
enough
having a $3000 scanner in its second week of being unusable.
But being sold
obsolete software simply adds to the grief. Too
bad Insight and Vuescan
don't support IT-8 calibration. That's the
only reason I've tolerating this
SilverFast nonsense up to this point.
I'm a photographer and I want to be
spending my time and money in
giving my clients what they want. I don't
enjoy fighting these other
battles.
In a message dated 8/4/2001 10:42:06 AM Pacific Daylight
Time,
david@hoffmanphotos.com writes:
At 16:55 +0100 4/8/01, David Gordon wrote:
>But the demo
doesn't give an option to put a serial number in...
>
>So it's
still pants, until someone tells me how!
Click the 'i' (info) box
top left in the SF interface.
>Oh, by the way, you can do batch
scanning with individual correction for
>each frame now. Of course
they all get watermarked.
But you still have to cough up another
hundred or two squids to use
the software with a bulk slide feeder!
Fine software but they really milk their client base. Pay for each
scanner, each bolt-on bit & then pay again when they stop
maintaining
the version you bought! Stuff 'em, go for $40 Vuescan (which
always
did individual - & better - exposure control).
David
Hoffman
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