Scan's The Word

Scanning, the scourge of every film shooter. Many (most?) send away their film for development and scanning. Some of us like to torture ourselves and scan our own negatives, whether or not we developed them. I fall into that second group, preferring to do everything from start to finish myself.

Why?

Well, mainly because I am cheap. Sure, the upfront cost of developing equipment was a bit a bit pricey and I'm still paying off the scanner, but when I consider that one roll at my local place costs roughly $21 to dev and scan I figure my own time and energy pays off after a dozen or so rolls. Come to think of it, I guess I probably have paid for the stuff already with all the rolls I've done so far.

But scanning... Ugh. I love my scanner, it does great work. But the native software? It's awful. So I searched and searched and found something called "Silverfast". For some reason, even with the same scanner, it just works better.

When it works...

With Silverfast

With Epson scan

After a few months of use I have concluded that the software is super glitchy. My latest roll I didn't even bother with it, since the previous three rolls have been a bust. I scanned everything with the Epson software and was mostly disappointed but still a bit happy just to have scans.

Then I decided to try Silverfast again, just to see what happened.

Silverfast

Epson

Of course it worked this time, after I had scanned the entire roll with the Epson software. And of course most of the scans were better. Not all though.

Silverfast

Epson

Actually, looking at them side by side I must say I do indeed like the Silverfast better.

The only issue I have with Silverfast is the lack of dust removal. With a million cats in my house, dust removal is crucial.

Epson, with ICE dust removal

Silverfast, without dust removal, note the giant hair

While it adds "character", I don't always like the dust and hair. With 35 mm film it's especially noticeable.

I guess I can't complain too much. I like qualities of both apps, but I just think Silverfast does better overall. Maybe no one else can see the difference, but I can.

Anyone else have experience with these programs? Which do you like better?

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S. D. G.

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