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(More customer reviews)I'm still at the bottom of a very steep learning curve. The good news is the Plustek scanner and the comes-with software started up and ran with minimal fuss on my old G4 Macintosh. I've been able to get a few decent, useable scans after a modicum of fussing around.
But I'm overwhelmed and intimidated by the incredible number of adjustments that can be made in SilverFast AI Studio -- the software package that takes the input from the scanner and turns it into digital files, with corrections. There are video introductions to the features of SilverFast, but that is all they are -- introductions. If you aren't familiar with the intricacies of digital image processing and color correction you are going to feel very lost.
You can find a link to a very large -- 480 page -- PDF file on the SilverFast website that purports to be a complete manual to the software. But then there is also a 48-page addendum. You can download these for free. But you can't buy a printed manual. It isn't offered in hard copy.
SilverFast isn't the only company that feels providing a PDF file is providing documentation. Far from it. But it appears they used to provide a printed manual, of course at extra cost. Not any more.
I'd pay the money to get a printed manual. Even if it is the size of a dictionary. No one yet has solved the problem of providing clear, comprehensive directions on the same screen where you are trying to work. A printed manual is still an extremely useful tool. The only downside is they are hard to keep current.
Eventually I hope to scan and archive my thousands of 35mm color negatives. It's a big job, but I can peck away at it, for years if necessary. What I'd really hate is doing all that work and finding out, towards the end, that I didn't set up my scans properly. With all the knobs, buttons and sliders the chance of lucking into the right settings is almost zero.
I'll update this review if I find a good, useable, comprehensive guide that gets me comfortable with my scanning software. Or if I don't.
I'll probably end up printing out the PDF manual, hole-punching it, and putting it in a (huge!) 3-ring binder. It would be nice if it were well-written, clearly illustrated and comprehensive, but I'm not confident it will be.
It would be even nicer if David Pogue put out a "Missing Manual" on SilverFast AI. The "Missing Manual" series is the very, very best. But I'm not holding my breath.
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Update April 2, 2010
I have, in fact, printed out the 480-page PDF manual. It is now in a 3-ring binder. I've been studying it, but I can't say it has helped me that much.
Mostly what I have learned is that there are a ton of features in SilverFast Ai that I don't need and will never use. I am starting to get an inkling of what I do need and can use, but what looked like a learning curve before looks more now like a learning cliff. I'm at the bottom, looking up, with no idea how to get from where I am to where I'd like to go. The manual assumes that the user has so much knowledge going in that the text is all but unintelligible. It makes it extremely difficult to figure out what is important to me and what isn't, which settings are appropriate and which aren't.
What I really need is a task-oriented guide. Something that says, if you want to archive negatives, you do this, this and this. If you want to do additional processing to your archived negatives, once you have scanned and saved them, then you have these tools available, this is what they do, and this is how to use them.
I suppose there are places I can find this information -- possibly online user forums -- but I'm going to have to hunt for them, and then see if I can figure out how to ask the right questions of the right people. And really hope someone is willing to be helpful.
It annoys me that Plustek and SilverFast don't understand that there are people like me who, as amateur photographers with lots of photographs they want to preserve -- willing to pay the money and put in the time to do so -- need just a little guidance in how to get started.
I've encountered this kind of "we're all professionals here" attitude before, primarily in the CAD world. I don't understand it. There are a hundred potential sub-professional users for every professional, and we're not stupid, or poor. We just have more basic needs. We don't have the luxury of living and breathing this stuff every hour of our working lives. A little consideration would be appreciated.
It is really very insulting that these vendors don't consider sub-professional users to be a market. How can they be so blind to such a huge potential? I don't know, but if they're like the CAD folks, they're really, really good at being blind.
I am going to try to send this review to Plustek and SilverFast. Maybe they'll take pity on me. Here's hoping.
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Update May 1, 2010
I really have to split this review into two parts: the hardware and the software.
I have no complaints about the hardware. The Plustek Opticfilm 7600i works and works well. I am very happy with the unit.
I have given up on the software. The SilverFast software may be a terrific toolset for the professional who is immersed in this stuff every day, all day, but for anybody else I think they'll find it is pointlessly difficult to understand and use. On top of that I received no support from SilverFast. None worth mentioning. A very form-letterish response to my email is all, not telling me anything new or useful.
Fortunately the folks at Plustek are much, much more supportive. One of their tech support people spent, frankly, far too much time talking to me, trying to get me up to speed with SilverFast. Ultimately the best advice he gave me was to try another brand of software, 'VueScan' (available at [...]). VueScan was designed to be fully-featured but 'discoverable'. That is, an intelligent person who knows what he wants to do can figure out how to do it, without learning a whole new language and a whole new way of thinking. You can start at a pretty basic level and get very good results. As you get more experienced you can dive deeper, a bit at a time, and be rewarded with more and more capability, with a good chance of success on your first try.
VueScan comes with an 'Archive' setting. That feature in itself shows someone gave thought to the needs of the poor befuddled user. The rest of the features in VueScan are in line with that level of consideration for the user. And it doesn't seem to me like there are any features missing from VueScan that are found in SilverFast. If there are, they are pretty arcane.
You can try out VueScan for free, and you can buy a limited license for US$40. But that license only lasts you a year. You are much better off buying the Professional license -- a one-time charge of US$80 with unlimited free upgrades.
VueScan comes with personal email support. I've tried it, and got a helpful response. Apparently the guy who wrote and maintains the software also answers user questions. I like that kind of customer support!
So, I've upgraded my review to 4 stars out of 5. The comes-with software is a disappointment. I'd really like to get my money back. I'll try to see if I can. But lousy comes-with software seems to be a tradition in optical products. At least there is a good alternative. The bad news -- you have to pay extra for it. The good news -- it is worth the money.
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