Digital BW, The Print

>I read a review of silverfast ai 6.0 which claims a major advance in
>scanning B&W films as there are a large number of specific profiles
>available.  The author argues that if you experiment with the canned
>profiles you can find one for most medium speed films that virtually
>elimates posterization and provides good shadow detail.
>
>Now, we are talking about $300 for a Nikon 2000 scanner.  That is a
>lot of money -- does anyone have any experience with Silverfast ai?
>Any opinions as to whether it is worth the price.  The Nikon software
>seems to work reasonably well, but...
>
>Steve

I've used LaserSoft's Silverfast Ai, Steve, both with my Epson 836XL 
flatbed, which came with Silverfast 4 bundled, and with my Polaroid 
SprintScan 4000 (not Plus), which was also had Silverfast bundled 
with it, and which I wanted partly because it did. Both have been 
upgraded to Silverfast 6 by now. And I'm still frustrated with the 
software but only, as far as I can tell, because it's still so poorly 
documented in English, at least for a "newbie". Even that, I think, 
might not be a problem for someone who reads German and can get it in 
German, which I guess is probably not a problem. But the software is 
expensive, and technical support has recently become expensive. If 
you decide you want it, I'd consider waiting in hopes of getting it 
bundled with a scanner the next time you upgrade. But I don't say 
that because of anything to do with the new B&W film profiles; I've 
only scanned color film.

Tony Sleep has a film-scanner list you might want to consult. A quote 
from his welcoming e-mail:

At 11:12 PM +0100 7/10/02, ListServer@... wrote:
>To join the LIST,
>  email listserver@...
>  with SUBSCRIBE FILMSCANNERS as the message subject or body.
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>To join the DIGEST,
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>  with SUBSCRIBE FILMSCANNERS_DIGEST as the message subject or body.


Sam

Sam McCandless      samcc@...