[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 tube
On 04/06/2009 Charles Knox wrote: An extensive search for cold cathode tubes (including both Polaroid and Microtek) didn't bring up anything remotely like it. Any help would be appreciated. Philips are the OEM of most scanner tubes, however identifying and sourcing it may be difficult if it is unmarked. You may have to buy through either Polaroid or Microtek. Polaroid http://www.polaroid.com/service/index.jsp - use the 'Contact us' link I guess. I have sourced lamps for a Microtek35 many years ago. Microtek was happy enough to sell to an end user, but it was 3x the price of the Philips part. The Microtek version had part of the tube painted black to cut flare. I bought the Philips part, ordered through a Philips dealer, and applied the paint myself and it worked fine. -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 tube
Thanks, Tony. Have contacted the local (Australian) Microtek site no reply as yet. Regards Charles At 11:42 AM 6/4/2009 +0100, you wrote: On 04/06/2009 Charles Knox wrote: An extensive search for cold cathode tubes (including both Polaroid and Microtek) didn't bring up anything remotely like it. Any help would be appreciated. Philips are the OEM of most scanner tubes, however identifying and sourcing it may be difficult if it is unmarked. You may have to buy through either Polaroid or Microtek. Polaroid http://www.polaroid.com/service/index.jsp - use the 'Contact us' link I guess. I have sourced lamps for a Microtek35 many years ago. Microtek was happy enough to sell to an end user, but it was 3x the price of the Philips part. The Microtek version had part of the tube painted black to cut flare. I bought the Philips part, ordered through a Philips dealer, and applied the paint myself and it worked fine. -- Regards Tony Sleep http://tonysleep.co.uk --- - Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] RE: Polaroid SS4000 - Viewscan
I did my test using a slide not a negative so I don't know if there is a difference between the two. That would be an interesting experiment. Also, it's possible that different times may be obtained by varying some of the settings in VueScan such as selecting a specific preview resolution instead of Auto, focusing only at scan time, etc. I don't scan many slides at one sitting and I can be doing other things on my PC while scanning is taking place so the scanning time is not an issue with me. Tom -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:filmscanners_owner;halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of John Rossi Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 12:53 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] RE: Polaroid SS4000 - Viewscan Tom . . . .. I am running 7.5.59 on ME. The preview time sounds about right but I will check it the next time I scan a negative. It sounds like I am getting similar results, which tends to answer my question: Does Viewscan normally take this much time to prescan. I would like to know why there is a difference between VS and Insite. Perhaps the prescan time in VS can be reduced. Thanks, John -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:filmscanners_owner;halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of Thomas Maugham Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 7:47 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] RE: Polaroid SS4000 - Viewscan I just timed mine using a slide in position one and these are my results. I am using version 7.5.57 with an SS4000 (SCSI) on a PC with W98SE. Preview time: 1 minute 13 seconds Scan time: 3 minutes - This does not include the time to write the image to the disk as that is a function of your PC and hard drive, not VueScan or the scanner. My VueScan settings are: Preview Resolution - Auto, Scan Resolution - 4000 dpi, Auto Focus - Always. Hope this helps. Regards, Tom Maugham -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:filmscanners_owner;halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 7:11 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 - Viewscan In a message dated 11/12/2002 11:13:10 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I have noticed that when using the SS4000+ with VueScan (USB connection as the Firewire consistently crashes VueScan), that before the actual scan there is about 1 minute of waiting along with I think one or two movements of the slide carrier. The bottom of the VueScan window intermittently says Busy with a % next to it. I believe it is calibrating the scanner at this time (it takes longer than the Polaroid software calibration). On many versions ago you could do a calibration (don't know about the Polaroid as I was usng a Canon at the time) with the calibration pull down and it was stored...but when I try that now with the SS4000+ it doesn't do anything so I think the delay at the start is calibration. Not sure if this is what you are experiencing or not. Howard Thanks Tom . . . . I have cleaned the scanner using the supplied brush. This seemed to have eliminated some banding issues that started to show up in the scans. I am not sure the indexing time is a problem it just seems to take . . . well, time. If I use Polaroid Insight there does not seem to be any hunting for the frame. The time to the start of the scan is quicker with insight. John Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] RE: Polaroid SS4000 - Viewscan
Thanks Tom . . . . I have cleaned the scanner using the supplied brush. This seemed to have eliminated some banding issues that started to show up in the scans. I am not sure the indexing time is a problem it just seems to take . . . well, time. If I use Polaroid Insight there does not seem to be any hunting for the frame. The time to the start of the scan is quicker with insight. John -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:filmscanners_owner;halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of Thomas Maugham Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 7:41 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] RE: Polaroid SS4000 - Viewscan I'm also using VueScan with an SS4000. I suggest that you clean the scanner with the cleaning brush according to the directions and see if that clears up your problem. It may simply be dust obscuring the sensor that determines the position of the carrier. Regards, Tom Maugham -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:filmscanners_owner;halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of John Rossi Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 9:22 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] Polaroid SS4000 - Viewscan Hello all . . . when using Viewscan with the SS4000 it seems to take a long(er) time to zero in on a frame when I am scanning. I really don't know how the scanner indexes itself but it seems to jog around a bit before it starts the scan process (for preview also). This jogging process seems to take about a minute or so for each preview or scan. Does this sound normal to you folks that have been using these products? Thanks, John Rossi Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 - Delay in calibrating scanner...
I'm unfamiliar with this problem, but I suspect your neg film carrier has developed a problem. Make sure the track on the bottom is clean or grim and grease. If you have not been using the little brush (which either should have come with the scanner new or should have been offered to you ages ago) it is also possible enough dust and such has gotten over the sensor to cause a problem that the brush can't fix now. But that seems unlikely because I believe the sensor is the same for both film carriers. That leads me to think that perhaps some type of switch that is actuated when you change carriers may be slow or damaged. Before sending it in for repair which can be costly if out of warranty, try a new film carrier or borrow someone else's (maybe your dealer?) to try. Art VC wrote: While my Polaroid SS4000 has been behaving properly till recently, it suddenly decided to take about two minutes' time to calibrate itself after I click the scan button. The preview operation is as expected but calibration seems to take for ever, while an ugly noise comes from its depths. I have spoken with dealer service and they sent me a brush to attach on the film strip carrier and clean the sensor three times. I did but nothing changed. The problem occurs ONLY with film strip carrier. With frame carrier there no problem. Anyone familiar with the problem? Vasilis Caravitis Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 - Delay in calibratingscanner...
Hi Vasilis, You can always try reinstalling the software and the firmware in the scanner. The film carrier is heavier, and if something is not grasping the carrier tightly enough, it may slip more easily than the slide carrier. If there is any slippage, the calibration will be delayed because the scanner needs to get the carrier in place so that the front cut out is positioned in the scanner to allow for light to go through that window for each calibration. There are both gross and fine movements made and if the gross movement is slipping, it can take time to get positioned correctly for calibration. Art VC wrote: Owen, Thanks for your response. I wish the problem were that simple. I checked the indentations on the holder and they look intact. The Film strip holder has not been used much, anyway. If that were the problem, don't you think that it would delay also in calibrating scanner for preview scanning? Could it be that there is something wrong with the software? Vasilis -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Owen P. Evans Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 6:41 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 - Delay in calibrating scanner... Hi Bill, I had a similar experience a year ago. The exception was that the problem occurred with the slide holder. The problem was that the indentations on the plastic holder were getting worn and a replacement of the carrier sorted everything out. Hope this helps as the carriers cost about $20 Canadian. Good luck, Owen - Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] RE: Polaroid SS4000 - Delay in calibrating scanner...
Owen, Thanks for your response. I wish the problem were that simple. I checked the indentations on the holder and they look intact. The Film strip holder has not been used much, anyway. If that were the problem, don't you think that it would delay also in calibrating scanner for preview scanning? Could it be that there is something wrong with the software? Vasilis -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Owen P. Evans Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 6:41 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 - Delay in calibrating scanner... Hi Bill, I had a similar experience a year ago. The exception was that the problem occurred with the slide holder. The problem was that the indentations on the plastic holder were getting worn and a replacement of the carrier sorted everything out. Hope this helps as the carriers cost about $20 Canadian. Good luck, Owen - Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] RE: Polaroid SS4000 - Delay in calibrating scanner...
Vasilis -- I've had a similar experience after the SS4000 has been on for awhile and I'm using Viewscan. I eject the film holder and reboot both computer and scanner. That fixes it. There's no obvious consistency as to when the problem occurs and its not that frequent. The sounds the scanner makes varies from Insight to Viewscan. The sounds are more varied with Viewscan and a bit more interesting! Hope this helps. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of VC Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 12:42 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] RE: Polaroid SS4000 - Delay in calibrating scanner... Owen, Thanks for your response. I wish the problem were that simple. I checked the indentations on the holder and they look intact. The Film strip holder has not been used much, anyway. If that were the problem, don't you think that it would delay also in calibrating scanner for preview scanning? Could it be that there is something wrong with the software? Vasilis -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Owen P. Evans Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 6:41 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 - Delay in calibrating scanner... Hi Bill, I had a similar experience a year ago. The exception was that the problem occurred with the slide holder. The problem was that the indentations on the plastic holder were getting worn and a replacement of the carrier sorted everything out. Hope this helps as the carriers cost about $20 Canadian. Good luck, Owen - Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000
I just noticed, for any UK residents, that Polaroid UK is showing the SS4000 for sale with a 599 pound list price. It seems to be a still active product there. Art Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000
Hi Ed, To my knowledge, you will be hard pressed finding this scanner new. Polaroid sold off the stock in their warehouse just prior to the SS4000+ coming out. They also were liquidating them to bring in some money during their Chapter 11 proceeding. At that time, the SS4000 scanners were selling mainly via on-line dealers for, as I recall, between $700-750 US, and Polaroid was offering a $200 US rebate at that time off of that. I don't know if there are any new units left in the channel, and I rarely even see them used on ebay. But you might be able to find some new Microtek 4000t models, which are very similar, but I don't know what the price is. There aren't specifically any bad SS4000 models. There were three problems I know of. The very early units has a problem with a wiring harness which sometimes pulled loose, but these were all fixed under warranty. The other problem is there is a sensor on the scanner which determines the position of the film carrier. If this sensor gets too much dust build up over it, the scanner gets confused and gives an error. Polaroid resolved this problem by providing a small brush that attaches to the carrier and can be used every so often to keep the sensor clean. In some cases, prior to this brush fix, some scanners had a large enough build up that the brush wasn't enough to clean the sensor or the carrier wouldn't move properly, due to the dust in on the sensor. The last situation was a problem with some of the slide carriers. There was a problem with the molding process on some which cased the small plastic springs to break. The carriers sell for about $12 from Polaroid, if you need to replace one, or buy extras. Other than these three situations and perhaps doing a firmware upgrade, which you can do via a download, I know of no other specific problems with these models. They've been quite reliable, overall. Art Edward F. VanderBush wrote: I think I have finally settled on the SS4000 (non plus) as the scanner to purchase. I am still tempted to just get a slightly cheaper Minolta scan elite II or something but it seems like there is an abundance of satisfied ss4000 users on here. Is there any version of this first scanner that I need to look for? Also, can anyone recommend the cheapest place to purchase one? (US only) Also any word on an upcoming rebate. Thank you all! Regards, ED Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 shadow detail
Stan Schwartz wrote: What type of film are you using? Mainly Fuji Sensia but also some Kodachrome 64. I previously used mostly Fujichrome Velvia. With the SS4000, it was difficult to pull any detail from deep shadows with this high contrast film. Useful to know! I don't know whether that was due to the range of the scanner or whether it was just a characteristic of Velvia. I don't have access to another scanner for comparison. I don't use Velvia so I can't comment but my old Minolta Elite certainly seemed better at getting into the shadows than the SS4000. I have used the technique described in earlier posts in which I make two scans, one for shadow detail and one for highlight detail and combine them into a single image. I was hoping to avoid doing this. But then again, it's not every shot that needs this technique. It's a pity that Ed Hamrick never enhanced the Long Exposure pass option in Vuescan to accurately match up the 2 scans. I know he felt that the SS4000 didn't need it because of the very low noise in the shadows but it isn't noise that is the issue but the poor shadow definition and separation. So far, like you, a second longer pass it is the only way I have found of getting the shadow detail out in good shape. I am using Insight 5.5. It isn't better for this problem in my experience. Again, that's good to know. In fact, I have just found the ICC profiles that Insight 5.0.3 installs and I'm starting to try generating raw scans with Insight and use the profiles to convert them in Photoshop and do any other tweaking in there. That way (assuming the profiles are half decent) I should be able to discount the possibility of it being a problem with Insight or the way I'm using it. So far using the standard SS4000 slide profile and the curves in Photoshop is getting better results than processing the file in Vuescan and using its Brightness setting. Incidentally, has anyone else had success with any other canned profiles for the SS4000? Especially with dense slides? Al Bond -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 5:07 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [filmscanners] Polaroid SS4000 shadow detail Hi folks, I recently managed to get one of the last SS4000 units at a reasonable price (reasonable by UK standards that is!). As I expected, scans are sharp and noise is very well controlled. However, trying to bring up the shadow detail in dense slides, the shadows get very blocked up and start looking weak and posterised. I got much better shadow definition from my old Elite but that was only after months of finding the best workflow to do this (raw scan from Elite software processed with Vuescan). Since my initial attemps with the Elite we no better, I suspect I'm simply not getting the best from the SS4000 yet. After all, they are both 12 bit scanners with probably a similar OD. I've tried the underexposed slide option in Insight (it shipped with 5.0.3 by the way is 5.5 any better?) and, although the colours and general balance is good, the shadow definition is poor. Scanning as a normal slide and using the other tools improves it but not amazingly so. I've tried Silverfast (briefly!), tried exporting a raw file from Insight and processing it in Vuescan and also tried doing everything in Vuescan. I get different results but still not as good as the Elite yet. Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000 shadow detail
Hi Al, I tried to send this in pribvate mail, but it is claiming an illegal or unknown alias... I see you mentioned Insight 5.0. Although there has been mention that shadow detail isn't improved with 5.5, if you have not done so, you may wish to try 5.5.1, and also make sure that you have the most recent firmware upgrade. Polaroid did come out with a newer slide profile that was specifically designed to improve underexposed slides. When I was working on it, it was called Slide 2b, but it was in beta then. It is possible it has been renamed, and it is probably part of the 5.5.1 update. Write me in private mail if you can't get hold of it, and I'll see if I can help you. Art Also, have you tried using Vuescan, and do you find any improvements there? Art Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] RE: Polaroid SS4000 shadow detail
I have used the technique described in earlier posts in which I make two scans, one for shadow detail and one for highlight detail and combine them into a single image. You ought to use the scan exposed for the shadows and try Digital SHO on it. A trial version is available for free from www.asf.com. Jack Phipps Applied Science Fiction Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000, noise, and oversampling (was: VueScan 7.5 beta
On Fri, 08 Feb 2002 16:28:20 -0600 Eric ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: Why wouldn't oversampling and averaging help reduce hardware-caused noise? It can be a pointless exercise. If the noise is down below the black point of the image, you can just discard it by clipping the histogram. With properly-exposed originals this is largely the case with the SS4000. However if you want to increase shadow separation by editing the curve in that region, or apply extreme gamma or contrast increases overall, you will amplify the residual noise as well. In those circumstances multiscanning might have something to offer. Regards Tony Sleep http://www.halftone.co.uk - Online portfolio exhibit; + film scanner info comparisons Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000, noise, andoversampling (was: VueScan 7.5 beta
At 10:15 PM 2/10/2002 -0500, Hemingway, David J wrote: One minor detail I forgot to mention. The firmware in the Sprintscan 4000 Plus was changed to support multi-scanning. The version of Silverfast shipping with the Plus supports multi-scanning. Any chance there will be a firmware update to the SS120 to allow this? Jeff Spirer Photos: http://www.spirer.com One People: http://www.onepeople.com/ Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000, noise,and oversampling (was: VueScan 7.5 beta 8 Available)
I think the issue is one of pragmatics. All CCD scanner have some noise in shadows. It appears though that some keep that noise near or below the black point, and therefore it becomes basically moot. Further still, in isn't as if multipass scanning is free. It adds 2-3-4 or more times the amount of time the scan takes to accomplish. It becomes a matter of loss/benefit ratios. If I had a scanner which was particularly noisy in an area of the scan that was visible, (in other words within the scanner's ability to create meaningful gradients) then certain problematic images might be worthwhile using these methods to improve. BUT, if the noise was basically near the black point floor (even if that black point was high due to poor dynamic range) then the advantage is questionable. The SS4000+ I have worked with exhibits minimal noise in shadows, and none that I could see in highlights. The green channel is minimally noisy on the one I used. I don't expect the advantage in image quality would be large enough to justify running the scanner 2-4 times more per scan, the extra time the scans take, the extra light exposure to the film, and the risk of offset registration. Even on the Minolta Dual II, which does have a noisy blue channel (more about this in another posting), I got no more detail from a 4 x or long scan. It was slightly less noisy in the blue channel but the problem was that the blue channel gives up well before the true black point, and that wasn't helped by extra scans. I probably would affect a similar result by a simple levels output adjustment on the blue channel in Photoshop, taking a heck of a lot less time, and less wear and tear on the machinery. Art Eric wrote: David: You have to have noise to be able to reduce it. Noise or the lack of it is a function of hardware design and in some cases profiles. Does a noiseless scanner exist? Why wouldn't oversampling and averaging help reduce hardware-caused noise? Hardware problems can often be somewhat fixed in software, after all. Eric Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000, noise, and oversampling (was: VueScan 7.5 beta 8 Available)
David ... You have to have noise to be able to reduce it. Noise or the lack of it is a function of hardware design and in some cases profiles. Eric ... Does a noiseless scanner exist? Why wouldn't oversampling and averaging help reduce hardware-caused noise? Hardware problems can often be somewhat fixed in software, after all. Eric I'm surprised anyone is even arguing about this. Surely Eric is right that doing multiple passes (and averaging them) will reduce noise (obviously only random CCD noise). This is not meant to be a criticism of a scanner make/brand. My Minolta Dual II has some random noise - it's actually a pretty good scanner and I'm not complaining about it - but I'd still like to be able to get rid of that noise, especially on slides which are slightly on the underexposed side. In addition (at the start of this thread) we also said we'd prefer it if Vuescan could do this averaging rather than us having to mess about in PS - in my case at least my scanner does not produce perfectly aligned images each time. Steve Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Polaroid SS4000, noise, andoversampling (was: VueScan 7.5 beta 8 Available)
Steve wrote: Eric ... Does a noiseless scanner exist? Why wouldn't oversampling and averaging help reduce hardware-caused noise? Hardware problems can often be somewhat fixed in software, after all. Eric I'm surprised anyone is even arguing about this. There's no argument, it's just that scanner mileages vary! My Acer has effectively zero noise in shadows (and its dynamic range is actually pretty good), so multiple passes are effectively worthless to me (for slides). However, if I get the black point just slightly wrong, I can certainly introduce noise. The important thing is to *try* all the possibilities, and not just assume that multi-scanning is getting the best out of your scanner.. I've been caught before thinking that I had got the best out of a problematic slide, only to discover days/weeks/months later that using a slightly different approach (and not necessarily the one suggested by conventional wisdom!) solved the problem. In some cases multi-scanning may well be the solution - in the case of the Acer, and I suspect the Polaroid, I doubt it. But the only way to know is to try.. mark t Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
Re: filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000
Ther is a fairly decent printable version on the software CD.
filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000
It sounds like the scanner isn't being recognized during the boot process. The SCSI bios not found message just means that the bootstrap enabling bios isn't on your scsi card (or not enabled in the scsi card's setup). I believe that this is the problem. If the SCSI BIOS is not installed, then the driver under XP cannot access the very same SCSI BIOS to access the scanner. During the DOS portion of your PC's boot process, does the scsi card announce the presence of the scanner? NT/2K/XP does not *have* a DOS portion of booting, as far as I know. (I run NT4, but I run under onboard SCSI (adaptec, too) and boot from SCSI disk. So if my SCSI BIOS does not install, I definitely don't boot up!) If not, it might be a termination problem. It might also be something as prosaic as the scanner not being powered up when booting. This is a deal breaker with scsi under NT/2K/XP. When I don't power on my SS4000, it just does not show up as a device during SCSI installation. And of course, I cannot access it later when NT is up. I agree on this being possibly a termination problem. Are there other devices on the board? If you do a ctrl-A on the black screen (lets you access the SCSI setup), make sure that the scanner is marked as a SCSIII device (less than 10MB data transfer rate - there's a writeup on the Polaroid site citing the specifics). I only had my SCSI BIOS not install when I had changed the BIOS inherent termination for SE/UW devices (my board is an Asus P2B-S, similar to adaptec AHA2940U2W card) to none. Best regards, Barbara -- GMX - Die Kommunikationsplattform im Internet. http://www.gmx.net
Re: filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000
I mis-spoke(wrote?) when describing a DOS portion of the boot process. I should have said the POST portion (power on self test) when hardware initializes prior to OS loading. WinNT/2k/XP do not, in fact, have DOS boot routines. However, the scsi bios not loaded will not prevent non-bootable scsi devices from working (I have such a setup on my pc; bootable scsi card on which I don't load a scsi bios, and only scanners and cdr/rw drives attached.) Pat --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It sounds like the scanner isn't being recognized during the boot process. The SCSI bios not found message just means that the bootstrap enabling bios isn't on your scsi card (or not enabled in the scsi card's setup). I believe that this is the problem. If the SCSI BIOS is not installed, then the driver under XP cannot access the very same SCSI BIOS to access the scanner. During the DOS portion of your PC's boot process, does the scsi card announce the presence of the scanner? NT/2K/XP does not *have* a DOS portion of booting, as far as I know. (I run NT4, but I run under onboard SCSI (adaptec, too) and boot from SCSI disk. So if my SCSI BIOS does not install, I definitely don't boot up!) If not, it might be a termination problem. It might also be something as prosaic as the scanner not being powered up when booting. This is a deal breaker with scsi under NT/2K/XP. When I don't power on my SS4000, it just does not show up as a device during SCSI installation. And of course, I cannot access it later when NT is up. I agree on this being possibly a termination problem. Are there other devices on the board? If you do a ctrl-A on the black screen (lets you access the SCSI setup), make sure that the scanner is marked as a SCSIII device (less than 10MB data transfer rate - there's a writeup on the Polaroid site citing the specifics). I only had my SCSI BIOS not install when I had changed the BIOS inherent termination for SE/UW devices (my board is an Asus P2B-S, similar to adaptec AHA2940U2W card) to none. Best regards, Barbara -- GMX - Die Kommunikationsplattform im Internet. http://www.gmx.net __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month. http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1
RE: filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000
Tris, If you go to www.polaroidwork.com , select service and support, then the Frequently Asked Questions section you will find the correct procedure. You should also be using Insight 5.x which can be downloaded from the same web site. David -Original Message- From: Tris Schuler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2001 1:20 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000 I have a question re the Polaroid SS4000 installation with Windows XP. This scanner ran okay on my Win 98 SE setup, but since I installed Windows XP I'm told the system can't find my SCSI board. XP itself says the board is there and running properly, and it's listed as a device driver. I've read what I could at the Polaroid site, where a fairly comprehensive guide is provided for getting this scanner to operate in XP, but so far it's a no go. When I boot up my system, ,when it's still a black screen, I'm told the SS4000 is installed but that I have no SCSI BIOS installed--again,, even though once inside XP the OS tells me everything is fine. But then when I try to load Insight I get an error message telling me that no SCSI board can be found. XP does have the correct driver from my Adaptec Ultra SCSI 2930U card, and I've installed the latest version (5.03) of Polaroid Insight. I've checked the Microsoft Knowledge base but there's no reference there to this. Has anyone experience a similar issue? Does anyone have a clue what the problem might be? Any help would be appreciated. Tris
Re: filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000
Thank you, Pat. You're right regarding the SCSI BIOS message on boot. I called Adaptec and the tech guy got me into the utility program to rid myself of this nuisance--I didn't mind the message so much as I knew that wasn't the problem (my scanner worked perfectly in Win98 SE) but it seemed to hang up the OS installation for a short time. Anyway, my scanner works again. Two changes: the SCSI card wasn't recognizing it internally, probably due to an ASPI layer issue (this is not supported in 2000/XP I'm told). Curiously, the Adaptec fellow sent me back to Polaroid for a fix on this, whereupon Polaroid told me the patch already existed over on the Adaptec site. I loved that. No matter, as I was able to get the SCSI card to recognize the scanner correctly by simply using Insight's Driver IO Utility and toggling that from ASPI to STI. It's also possible that part of my problem revolves around my installation of XP on top of Win98 SE. I intend to reformat my drive and do a clean install of XP, but I'd prefer to wait until early next week when I have a couple of weekdays off with peace and quiet and no time pressure--plus better phone support from companies like Adaptec should that prove necessary (knock on wood). Does anyone know of decent tutorial for SilverFast? That looks to be a superior scanning program, but I can't make heads or tails of the copy that shipped with my SS4000--the documentation's slim. Tris sounds like the scanner isn't being recognized during the boot process. The SCSI bios not found message just means that the bootstrap enabling bios isn't on your scsi card (or not enabled in the scsi card's setup). It shouldn't prevent the scsi card from working. During the DOS portion of your PC's boot process, does the scsi card announce the presence of the scanner? If not, it might be a termination problem. It might also be something as prosaic as the scanner not being powered up when booting. This is a deal breaker with scsi under NT/2K/XP. Pat
RE: filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000
Tris, Lasersoft has recently posted new documentation on their web site but the very best tutorial in on Ian Lyons site. www.computer-darkroom.com David -Original Message- From: Tris Schuler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2001 12:02 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:Re: filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000 Thank you, Pat. You're right regarding the SCSI BIOS message on boot. I called Adaptec and the tech guy got me into the utility program to rid myself of this nuisance--I didn't mind the message so much as I knew that wasn't the problem (my scanner worked perfectly in Win98 SE) but it seemed to hang up the OS installation for a short time. Anyway, my scanner works again. Two changes: the SCSI card wasn't recognizing it internally, probably due to an ASPI layer issue (this is not supported in 2000/XP I'm told). Curiously, the Adaptec fellow sent me back to Polaroid for a fix on this, whereupon Polaroid told me the patch already existed over on the Adaptec site. I loved that. No matter, as I was able to get the SCSI card to recognize the scanner correctly by simply using Insight's Driver IO Utility and toggling that from ASPI to STI. It's also possible that part of my problem revolves around my installation of XP on top of Win98 SE. I intend to reformat my drive and do a clean install of XP, but I'd prefer to wait until early next week when I have a couple of weekdays off with peace and quiet and no time pressure--plus better phone support from companies like Adaptec should that prove necessary (knock on wood). Does anyone know of decent tutorial for SilverFast? That looks to be a superior scanning program, but I can't make heads or tails of the copy that shipped with my SS4000--the documentation's slim. Tris sounds like the scanner isn't being recognized during the boot process. The SCSI bios not found message just means that the bootstrap enabling bios isn't on your scsi card (or not enabled in the scsi card's setup). It shouldn't prevent the scsi card from working. During the DOS portion of your PC's boot process, does the scsi card announce the presence of the scanner? If not, it might be a termination problem. It might also be something as prosaic as the scanner not being powered up when booting. This is a deal breaker with scsi under NT/2K/XP. Pat
RE: filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000
Thanks, David. I've been there many times and have grabbed everything pertinent. I'm back up and running at the moment. Tris
Re: filmscanners: Re: Polaroid SS4000
At 09:01 AM 11/28/01 -0800, Tris Schuler wrote: Does anyone know of decent tutorial for SilverFast? That looks to be a superior scanning program, but I can't make heads or tails of the copy that shipped with my SS4000--the documentation's slim. Hi Tris, SilverFast does a very good job of scanning Olympus shots once you get your hands around the program. You'll probably want the $10 upgrade to NegaFix if you're shooting negatives though. A good tutorial can be found at: http://www.rgbnet.co.uk/ilyons/sf5_contents.htm Later, Johnny __ Johnny Johnson Lilburn, GA mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
