Mpox
Stiff upper lip...
I'm typing this while shaking from excitement because, as it happens I just became the new owner of a basically BNIB Nikon Coolscan LS-5000 ED and SA-30 roll film adapter that was headed, no ****, to a landfill..
I just installed (what I assume to be) modified drivers I found online and Nikon Scan 4.0.3. in Windows 7 Pro 64bit and its running smooth.
Anyone have any tips or links on how to get the most out of the scanner and software? Im used to using Silverfast 8 with my Reflecta RPS 10M but Silverfast does not recognize the drivers I'm using.
I just installed (what I assume to be) modified drivers I found online and Nikon Scan 4.0.3. in Windows 7 Pro 64bit and its running smooth.
Anyone have any tips or links on how to get the most out of the scanner and software? Im used to using Silverfast 8 with my Reflecta RPS 10M but Silverfast does not recognize the drivers I'm using.
brennanphotoguy
Well-known
If you see any others heading to the landfill then let me know too. VueScan works wonders for the CoolScan.
Mpox
Stiff upper lip...
You betcha. Speaking of witch, I know a certain Minolta distributor (pre Sony buyout) that actually scrapped their entire inventory of spare parts and tools when they went bankrupt. A huge inventory of everything from the tiniest screws to entire body chassis, down the compactor they went..
Prest_400
Multiformat
The scanner was lucky as well! What a pity about the Minolta.
Larry Cloetta
Veteran
Silverfast definitely works with your scanner:
http://www.silverfast.com/product/Nikon/LS-5000ED-Super-Coolscan-5000-ED-436/en.html
The budget level Silverfast software that ships free with many scanners is what many people think of when they talk about "using Silverfast". It is comparable to Vuescan, with which I have had a fair amount of experience. The problem you may be having with getting it to work is that Silverfast software is configured differently for different scanners; different scanners need different "Silverfasts" of whatever level.
FWIW, if you really want to get the most out of your scans you would greatly benefit from getting the most capable software package, which in this case is the "Silverfast Archive SUITE" which includes Ai Studio and HDR studio, to be used in tandem. This will give you results far ahead of anything you can get with the packaged starter version of Silverfast or with Vuescan. Downsides are that it's expensive, the learning curve is extremely steep and frustrating, it's slow-because there is so much processing going on- and you are forever going to have to listen to people who haven't used it or used it and didn't understand it, telling you that Vuescan is just as good
But, for those negatives that you really want to get the most out of in terms of tonality, shadow and highlight detail, there is no comparison short of a drum scanner. It outputs extremely rich and hardy RAW files which are very easy to work with and hold up to a lot of manipulation. FWIW.
Main thing: Congratulations on your good luck!
http://www.silverfast.com/product/Nikon/LS-5000ED-Super-Coolscan-5000-ED-436/en.html
The budget level Silverfast software that ships free with many scanners is what many people think of when they talk about "using Silverfast". It is comparable to Vuescan, with which I have had a fair amount of experience. The problem you may be having with getting it to work is that Silverfast software is configured differently for different scanners; different scanners need different "Silverfasts" of whatever level.
FWIW, if you really want to get the most out of your scans you would greatly benefit from getting the most capable software package, which in this case is the "Silverfast Archive SUITE" which includes Ai Studio and HDR studio, to be used in tandem. This will give you results far ahead of anything you can get with the packaged starter version of Silverfast or with Vuescan. Downsides are that it's expensive, the learning curve is extremely steep and frustrating, it's slow-because there is so much processing going on- and you are forever going to have to listen to people who haven't used it or used it and didn't understand it, telling you that Vuescan is just as good
But, for those negatives that you really want to get the most out of in terms of tonality, shadow and highlight detail, there is no comparison short of a drum scanner. It outputs extremely rich and hardy RAW files which are very easy to work with and hold up to a lot of manipulation. FWIW.
Main thing: Congratulations on your good luck!
Mpox
Stiff upper lip...
Silverfast definitely works with your scanner:
http://www.silverfast.com/product/Nikon/LS-5000ED-Super-Coolscan-5000-ED-436/en.html
The budget level Silverfast software that ships free with many scanners is what many people think of when they talk about "using Silverfast". It is comparable to Vuescan, with which I have had a fair amount of experience. The problem you may be having with getting it to work is that Silverfast software is configured differently for different scanners; different scanners need different "Silverfasts" of whatever level.
FWIW, if you really want to get the most out of your scans you would greatly benefit from getting the most capable software package, which in this case is the "Silverfast Archive SUITE" which includes Ai Studio and HDR studio, to be used in tandem. This will give you results far ahead of anything you can get with the packaged starter version of Silverfast or with Vuescan. Downsides are that it's expensive, the learning curve is extremely steep and frustrating, it's slow-because there is so much processing going on- and you are forever going to have to listen to people who haven't used it or used it and didn't understand it, telling you that Vuescan is just as good
But, for those negatives that you really want to get the most out of in terms of tonality, shadow and highlight detail, there is no comparison short of a drum scanner. It outputs extremely rich and hardy RAW files which are very easy to work with and hold up to a lot of manipulation. FWIW.
Main thing: Congratulations on your good luck!
Thank you for your detailed response. The version of Silverfast I'm using is the 8 SE Plus and you are very much correct both in that I bought it in a bundle with my Reflecta and that it might be the reason why the LS-5000 goes unrecognized by the software. Heck, it even says "Reflecta RPS 10M" on a sticker on the install disc. The Archive Studio is unfortunately outside of my financial reach at the moment.
In regards to drum scans thats a sadly no no for me, its simply not available anywhere in the whole country :bang:
Timmyjoe
Veteran
I used mine with a Mac, so things might be somewhat different, but I found NikonScan worked well for color slides and color negs. VueScan worked better for me for B&W negs.
Congrats on your Scanner Score. They're nice machines.
Best,
-Tim
Congrats on your Scanner Score. They're nice machines.
Best,
-Tim
Mr. Fizzlesticks
Member
Timmyjoe hit the nail on the head. Vuescan is great for black and white but getting good color can be complicated. Nikon Scan on the other hand stinks at black and white but for color it is pretty straight forward if not too flexible. If you want to scan entire rolls with the roll film adapter, Vuescan is waaaay faster than Nikon Scan. If you get Vuescan get the Professional version which is good forever and you only have to pay once.
You may want to take a close look at your scans to see if the mirror needs to be cleaned. It isn't hard to do, but it will really improve your scans if you do it. I would imagine that it would need it after all these years even though it hasn't been used.
Good luck!
You may want to take a close look at your scans to see if the mirror needs to be cleaned. It isn't hard to do, but it will really improve your scans if you do it. I would imagine that it would need it after all these years even though it hasn't been used.
Good luck!
kb244
Well-known
This is the kind of reason I still use VueScan, since I'm still using an old Canon FS4000US dedicated 35mm film scanner that has both USB and SCSI-50 ports (Far as I can tell there has been no other supporting software or firmware for that model for least a decade now). Course vuescan only works with the USB ports. Lately I've only been scanning B&W, and mainly just do a quick Ctrl+2 or Ctrl+3 to flip between my graphs for white/black point and white/black curves and adjust from there rather than using the numerical sliders.
SaveKodak
Well-known
Silverfast definitely works with your scanner:
http://www.silverfast.com/product/Nikon/LS-5000ED-Super-Coolscan-5000-ED-436/en.html
The budget level Silverfast software that ships free with many scanners is what many people think of when they talk about "using Silverfast". It is comparable to Vuescan, with which I have had a fair amount of experience. The problem you may be having with getting it to work is that Silverfast software is configured differently for different scanners; different scanners need different "Silverfasts" of whatever level.
FWIW, if you really want to get the most out of your scans you would greatly benefit from getting the most capable software package, which in this case is the "Silverfast Archive SUITE" which includes Ai Studio and HDR studio, to be used in tandem. This will give you results far ahead of anything you can get with the packaged starter version of Silverfast or with Vuescan. Downsides are that it's expensive, the learning curve is extremely steep and frustrating, it's slow-because there is so much processing going on- and you are forever going to have to listen to people who haven't used it or used it and didn't understand it, telling you that Vuescan is just as good
But, for those negatives that you really want to get the most out of in terms of tonality, shadow and highlight detail, there is no comparison short of a drum scanner. It outputs extremely rich and hardy RAW files which are very easy to work with and hold up to a lot of manipulation. FWIW.
Main thing: Congratulations on your good luck!
Count me as one of the SFAS detractors. Maybe there is some mojo in those extra tools but hundreds of dollars worth of mojo? Vuescan already enables multi-exposure and multi-sample. SF want's $500 dollars for their AS.
What I would propose is that you drop the $60.00 dollars on Vuescan, and then use the remaining $440 dollars to fund drum scans in the incredibly rare instance that the Vuescan is not sufficient for your intended purpose. We're not talking about night and day differences here, if there really is any difference at all. With Vuescan's muli-exposure and sample I've been able to get a significant amount of detail throughout the curve with very low noise. Just my two cents.
Larry Cloetta
Veteran
This is pretty much exactly what I was referring to. There was a time when I might have said the same thing, the time when I really didn't know how to use Silverfast as intended, or, specifically, was not using the entire Archive Suite.
My level of expertise with Vuescan pretty much mirrors being able to do any and everything as outlined in the Vuescan bible. No more, no less. I used Vuescan for years.
The reason I posted originally was that moving to the entire Silverfast Archive Suite was the best thing I have ever done as far as scanning is concerned. It made my photographic life better; all I wanted to do was to share that and perhaps open the door to the same experience for someone else.
If Vuescan satisfies your needs, that's great.
However, the differences are not remotely encapsulated in the fact that Vuescan already enables multi-exposure and multi-sample. If that was all we were talking about then, yes, there would be no point in shelling out the extra money for the entire Archive suite and learning how to use it correctly.
The differences are indeed "night and day", that's just a fact. Yes, it is a lot of money, but depends on how you look at it. If you look at it as the cost versus the cost of Vuescan or the free thing that came with the scanner, it is very expensive. On the other hand, buying and using the entire Suite did this for me: it gave me, in effect, better film bodies, better lenses, and much better film stocks. Looked at it that way, it was worth the money. To me.
Having said that, the entire Silverfast Archive Suite was perhaps one of the least intuitive software applications I have ever used. It is very easy, possibly inevitable, to not scratch the surface of the capabilities of the software and walk away thinking it's not that special. Comments to that effect are plastered all over the internet. Seem to dominate the discussion, in fact.
I was only trying to move the ball down the field a bit, but, again, if you are happy where you are, it's hard to improve on happy, so there's that.
My reason for not just "letting this go" is not because I enjoy what seems like an argument, it's because I ask myself "where would I be if I had believed all the internet chatter that Vuescan was as good as it gets?" Maybe I can add some small something that helps someone else enjoy what I have, that's all.
Peace.
brbo
Well-known
Sell the damn thing, buy the second most overpriced photographic equipment you can find out there and you will still have more than enough to buy a scanner that's at least as good as LS-5000.
SaveKodak
Well-known
As someone who truly wants to get the absolute best out of my 35mm scans, I can earnestly say, prove me wrong. If it truly is a night and day difference share some results of this in action. I'm honestly curious where I'm missing out...
hlockwood
Well-known
Larry Cloetta
Veteran
If you are interested in doing the work it takes to get better, you will do it. Am hoping you understand it is not my job to take the time to "prove you wrong". Lead a horse to water, etc. I'm not a nursemaid, was just trying to counter some very common misconceptions, by pointing to alternatives.
For the sake of clarity, if this helps, what I am referring to is using the Silverfast Ai8 studio 8 scanning software to make 64 bit HDRi RAW (a proprietary format) scans, then processing those scans in the separate Silverfast HDR8 software by opening the file (find it on the VLT table) and processing it in HDR8- and no, this isn't some kind of HDR software, regardless of the name.
A 35mm negative will generate a 64 bit RAW file in Silverfast Ai8 Studio of around 176-177MB in size. A 6X6 120 neg will generate a RAW file sized around 780MB if memory serves. There is a huge amount of information in these RAW files.
Once processed in Studio Ai8m, you get a TIFF file around 76-78MB in size, which you can process in PS. These files are very robust in terms of what you can do with tone curves, etc.
I think you can download trail versions of both software programs, though the trial period is not long enough to completely come to grips with it, by any means.
You could, however, probably just do a straight 64bit HDri Scan without really knowing what you were doing, open it in HDR8, process it there, again even without knowing exactly how to manipulate all the parameters, just process it, then open it in PS and see how things look.
As a simple, not nearly enough to really understand the total difference, make several scans, say 10-20 using your favorite Vuescan method of a variety of negatives, open them in PS and just hit "Auto Tone" as a crude test. Do the same thing with the Silverfast 64bit HDRi RAW scans processed in Silverfast HDR8.
I think you will quickly appreciate the unsubtle difference regarding what you can accomplish with the Silverfast vs. the Vuescan files in PS. If not, that's okay too, but I think you will.
brbo
Well-known
Minolta 5400 will beat LS-5000 handsomely in anything (except speed with batch scanning the whole roll). At which Noritsu LS-600 or Fuji SP-500 will trash Nikon.
So, you never heard of scanning to 64bit raw files with Vuescan? You don't have to pay for another software to process those files. You can do it with Vuescan. And since it's not a proprietary format you can even do dust cleaning in PS (which will do a far better job than Silverfast/Vuescan will ever be able to do). Manually setting exposure time for the scanner in Silverfast is a maddening experience. And NegaFix is the worst, BTW.
Larry Cloetta
Veteran
Am now regretting trying to be helpful. My cursory post on what the other person might be able to do to be able to compare software, and decide for himself, was not an exhaustive class on the software. Not sure why you felt that gave you license, in your complete ignorance of what I might or might not know, to assume I'd "never heard of scanning 64 bit raw files with Vuescan", just because I didn't spell it out. I have used Vuescan for years, there is litttle or nothing about it I don't understand. You immediately assume you know more about the software and how to use it than I do, based on nothing. It's such an internet thing, the anonymity, the unearned cockiness.
I have spent hundreds of hours scanning thousands of transparencies and negatives with Vuescan over the last decade, from a backlog of negatives going back to the 1940's, now supplanted by thousands of scans with Silverfast. (Starting with the Minolta 5400, then moving up to a Nikon LS-9000.)
I get better results with Silverfast. If people prefer Vuescan they should use it and be happy, as I said earlier.
Kamph
Established
Agree on the negafix part, I had to rescan a bunch of rolls after noticing just how much shadow and highlight detail was lost when using the profiles. The scans actually looked fine, but after I began scanning RAW instead and do the inversion proces myself I noticed just how poor the profiles were.
If your film is perfectly exposed the profiles will do a decent or perhaps even a great job, but as soon as the film is a little over or underexposed? Not so much. You can of course always play with the curves/levels of each color channel in SF to get at good match, but then why use the profiles at all?
If your film is perfectly exposed the profiles will do a decent or perhaps even a great job, but as soon as the film is a little over or underexposed? Not so much. You can of course always play with the curves/levels of each color channel in SF to get at good match, but then why use the profiles at all?
brbo
Well-known
That's exactly the thing. You brought nothing tangible to the debate. You haven't mentioned a single thing that Silverfast does so well that it will deliver scans "far ahead" (your words) of anything else. Except that it can do 64bit raw files (same exact feature Vuescan also has had since forever). My question about you being familiar with certain Vuescan feature was genuine. I made no assumptions about the depth of your knowledge of Silverfast/Vuescan. And yes, I agree, sometimes certain undertone can be lost (or imagined) on internet forums, but it's actually better not to immediately assume the other person is just a random d**k.
I've used Silverfast with so many scanners I'm almost embarrassed to say (Epson V4990, V700, Minolta 5400, 5400 II, Microtek 120tf, Nikon LS-8000, Howtek 4500 and probably more) in Standard, SE, Ai versions... And coupled with HDR.
So, will you be the one that finally tells us all what exactly Silverfast does so much better? It's not raw scan, not multiexposure, multisampling (definitely not, since they dropped it in v8), iSDR (lol!!!), NegaFix, hardware exposure control, individual hardware channel control (something Silverfast never heard about), color integrity, post processing controls...
You said that you tried to be helpful and that intention is great. Lets see if you actually can be helpful.
Mpox
Stiff upper lip...
Thanks for the suggestion, but I'd rather just enjoy it.