SilverFast 8 and Epson V800 Scanner: I just bought an Epson V800 scanner for its medium and large format film capabilities and they included a CD with "SilverFast 8" scanner software.

DonWauchope Loc: Brevard, NC

I just bought an Epson V800 scanner for its medium and large format film capabilities and they included a CD with "SilverFast 8" scanner software. The manual for the scanner doesn't even mention it. A little superficial Googling indicates it has some very cool capabilities for photo restoration, but before I abandon the Epson driver (which is similar to what I'm used to on a V330 and has served me exceedingly well) I'd like to know if anyone would encourage me to do so? I have hundreds of very old medium and large-format B&W negatives...

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

DonWauchope wrote:

I just bought an Epson V800 scanner for its medium... (show quote)

I've been using a different model. Epson Perfection 3200. Initially, I purchased it to run on a 32 bit system. I really liked their scanning software. It was intuitive and worked very well. It was called from within PS scanned and brought the image immediately into PS, from where I'd store the initial scan as a tif.

I upgraded my computer to a 64 bit. Even though there was a process to let the system know that I'd like to run a 32 bit program, the Epson software just wouldn't run.

So, I purchased Silverfast. It's not intuitive, has some settings that might escape your notice. After frustratingly attempting to get on the learning curve, I finally got it working half way decently. Though, some of the features are still mysterious. The mention of settings for some are not included in any help files. Nothing on the web or youtube, either. But I have got it working.

So, take it from there and make your decision as to which driver you wish you use.
Regards,
Bob

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

As Bob said, it's like Photoshop, lots of capability but a bit of a learning curve.

You'd do much better with answers if you asked this in a film forum, which the 'hog doesn't have.

Even a Google search would turn up lots of answers.

The short answer though, is; it's up to you. Do you like easy and simple with no choices or do you like lots of control over the finished image?

DonWauchope Loc: Brevard, NC

rmalarz wrote:

I've been using a different model. Epson Perfectio... (show quote)

Not exactly a blazing endorsement! Still I like the features enough to give it a try.

DonWauchope Loc: Brevard, NC

rpavich wrote:

As Bob said, it's like Photoshop, lots of capability but a bit of a learning curve.

You'd do much better with answers if you asked this in a film forum, which the 'hog doesn't have.

Even a Google search would turn up lots of answers.

The short answer though, is; it's up to you. Do you like easy and simple with no choices or do you like lots of control over the finished image?

I would like easy to use with complete control but its like the old saying "good, cheap, quick--pick two." Thanks for the response, I'm gonna give it a try.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

DonWauchope wrote:

I just bought an Epson V800 scanner for its medium... (show quote)

SiverFast is the best software period for scanning!!

KennyMac Loc: Lynchburg, VA

I started scanning my neg's & slides about a year ago with my epson 4490. I struggled with adjusting color tint & a few other issues. I ran across Silverfast and it has solved all my color correction problems ! I hesitated with the $$, but went ahead and purchased. With my display calibrated (Spyder), when I scan a print, it looks extemely close to print ! Late last year they made made AT8 calibration available on 8.8 SE software. The whole pkg is WORTH THE MONEY ! I only use Epson software for PDF packages because you can keep adding pages before saving. Not sure was is available on the packaged software.
Agree with speters !

DonWauchope Loc: Brevard, NC

speters wrote:

SiverFast is the best software period for scanning!!

THAT's good to hear!

DonWauchope Loc: Brevard, NC

KennyMac wrote:

I started scanning my neg's & slides about a y... (show quote)

Thanks very much for this.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

https://www.silverfast.com/buyonline/en.html
Price $49, $119 with Printer Calibration.

As Rpavich said: "Photoshop, lots of capability but a bit of a learning curve." IMO, There are times, many, when new programs or using programs for a new application , rarely used, are not worth the learning curve. This is especially true when you have an adequately, just as good as the new, functioning software that you have used for years. Example: Ya gotta love MS Word ribbon menu!!! (NOT)

At times I am tempted to use on of my 120 Gig SSDs for an XP program drive. My computer is equipped with Hot swap HD doors and also an external SATA connection tray on top!! Rarely used programs like my old Epson software worked quite well... for it's day. Like my Black Bean can says "new improved" new is a 12oz can vs the old 16oz can!! price the same.... software is often new-improve for profit like the beans. Same beans, same flatulence. :thumbup:

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

DonWauchope wrote:

I just bought an Epson V800 scanner for its medium... (show quote)

I use SilverFast with my Epson scanner for all my photo scanning needs. As noted, there is a learning curve, but the software is awesome.

There is a book on SilverFast scanning software. If I can find the reference, I'll post it later.

bw79st Loc: New York City

I found the Epson software with my V700 was inadequate for scanning slides or negs as it had no option for saving as a DNG file. For a number of years I have been using Vuescan and find it to be a great all-around scanning program. I use it every day to scan documents as PDFs and it can easily scan multiple pages to a single file. It works great with my old Canon film/slide scanner. Whenever I get a new scanner I will not have to learn new software as Vuescan continuously updates to accommodate the latest equipment. Also, whenever I have had questions about a particular operation I have gotten e-mailed advice from the owner, Ed Hamrick.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

DonWauchope wrote:

I just bought an Epson V800 scanner for its medium and large format film capabilities and they included a CD with "SilverFast 8" scanner software. ...

SilverFast also came with my V750. I installed and tried it for a while but found it much more difficult to use than the Nikon Scan that came with my Coolscan 9000.

The fact that it is given away free with the Epson scanner is an indication that it is grossly overpriced. It is also available at a 70-75% discount and that is still overpriced.

SilverFast has a steep learning curve and in the final analysis it does not provide any functionality that I cannot get from the much simpler Epson Scan that came with the scanner.

I do not use the scanning software for editing the image. I just use it to capture the full range of the image. If I expect to be doing tonal corrections I scan to TIFF, otherwise I just go directly to JPG.

The real work of scanning is performed by the hardware itself. The software does not need to add anything to that and it should be easy to use. For editing the scanned image I use Capture One 9 (color) and Picture Window Pro (B&W).