Scanning software for Mac OS10.5 and KM Scan Dual IV

[Rafael]

I've just bought a Scan Dual IV and so will finally be able to start scanning my archives of slides and negs. I'm running Mac OS 10.5 and have read the old Vuescan vs. Silverfast threads. Bearing in mind that I am an absolute newbie at scanning, I'm wondering whether anybody has any further thoughts on choosing scanning software for my scanner/computer combination. Thanks in advance.

 

[aad]

I recommend the standard software. My experience with Vuescan was wretched and wasted time.

Besides, all the "profile" stuff can be duplicated in Photoshop. Better to bring the file in unaltered.

 

[amateriat]

I've been using VueScan Pro with my Minolta 5400 for several years and have been highly satisfied (current setup: Power Mac G4 1.25GhZ DP/2GB RAM/160GB + 300GB HDs/OS X 10.4.11). There are numerous fans of SilverFast here, but the price...ouch.

The current version of VueScan is considerably improved over even just a few years ago.


- Barrett

 

[rogers]

I use a Dual Scan IV on 10.5 with Vuescan Pro. Although it has some quirks, I find that Vuescan gives the best results. The Minolta software, which still works (!) under 10.5 gives much less refined results (crunches shadows, less output options, etc). Workflow-wise however, I would concede that the Minolta software is faster.

On the other hand, I found the support I got from Ed Hamrick (Vuescan author) to be excellent, and solved an issue I had with Vuescan within hours. Not bad considering we live on opposite sides of the globe.

Vuescan also has multipass scanning, and a reasonable number of sliders you can tweak to get the best out of your scan. It isn't the be-all of scanning, but adequate for an old 35mm scanner.

My film scanning software function wishlist is long, but it seems it isn't as big an industry as it used to be! I continue to assume that progress will be slow... (especially for discontinued hardware!)

 

[Bijesh]

I use Vuescan pro with Scan Dual IV on my mac. It gives far better results than the standard software. I don't do any post processing and the scans always comes very good.

 

[aad]

For what its worth, the standard software also does multi-pass scans.

I still have VS Pro. I may try it again-but it really bugged me!