Thanks. I guess I’m just too stubborn. I read up on all these things, opened VueScan, updated it, turned on the scanner, and set the settings mostly to “auto”. Everything worked fine, and I got a perfect scan with far more detail than I expected.
Tomorrow or the next day, I should make sure it still works with my Plustek film scanner.
It’s not because I’m “old”; I’ve always had the problem of forgetting things. Out of sight, out of mind. Maybe being old makes it even worse, but I’m not sure “79” counts as being “old”. Maybe I’ll wait until I’m “89” before I think that.
I would already be shooting more film, but you strongly advised me not to. Probably a good idea, keeping all my creative energy (whater is still left of it) in the more important tasks.
And while you’re at it, use Microsoft Paint to process your images.
Image Capture is VERY basic. It’s fine for reflective scans, but even then not if you have lots to do.
The only problem I’ve had with my V600 is something on my Mac interferes with it such that high resolution scanning (as required for transparencies) frequently fails, leaving the scanner hanging and the software either also hanging or crashing. I finally cured this by setting up a new user account which can run the scanner just fine.
I think you’re on the right track @Prem Last night I wanted to scan a couple of MF negatives, installed my old Epson V700 and updated VueScan. Horrible experience. Only at the beginning I could set VueScans parameters, start the preview and after entering the target size everything I tried just didn’t change that. There appears to be an important update of the scanner’s driver on mac OS 15 (Ventura), but at the time I found that I was so upset with all the software/firmware dependencies that I either postponed the scanning process or avoid it completely by using a camera, macro lens and film holder with backlight to get good results.
I just saw Hamrick software still sucks in terms of usability and obvious malfunctions, but not even getting it to scan a preview alone – no, I need my nerves for a longer while and don’t want to wear it for a very flawed system. Tethered shooting is about the same, a lot of cameras just can’t do it. In the meantime Hamrick fools around with AI yeah, why not? 10 years ago he could not make the frame recognition working reliably, so just open another can of worms. As long a the user’s paying…
Last year I “scanned” 8.000 MF negatives with a self-made repro device, this year so far nearly 11.000 135-negatives. Colour slides not counted. But scanning with a flatbed or film scanner is a very dated, weak and slow process. @cohen5538 you’re right, the manufacturers of (especially ) flatbed scanners are just lying with their resolution. Theoretically I got 13.8 MP out of an Epson V700 135 negative scan. With my “repro-camera in charge”, an old X-T2 with a Laowa lens I get 22.6 MP (true MP, not mathematically up-scaled ones). Files sizes of compressed Fuji RAW and TIF from the scanner are not equal, but 2 MB more for 8 MP more resolution and better images is absolutely ok. Not mentioning the much shorter “scan”-time per batch.
I’m guessing you have already searched, but is there anything different between your two use accounts on your Mac?
I used to enjoy the software that Epson provided for scanning, but that’s now a dead end street unless/until I replace the V500 with a V600 or newer - which seems like a silly idea to me. I now have two choices for software, VueScan, and another fancier one that OpticFilm provides for my Plustek. The thing is though, the VueScan now feels very intuitive. Several people on the forum like it, and to me, it’s now very “obvious”. On the other hand, I’m not asking it to do anything special - just scan my original and create a file that I can then edit using PhotoLab.
I think I’ve done all the updates - not sure how to be certain. I know it works fine now with my Epson V500, and in the next few days I want to see how well it works with my Plustek film scanner.
I too tried Image Capture ages ago, but it lacked all the controls and adjustments that I’ve gotten used to seeing, even if I don’t use most of them. What I think I learned from this forum is that I just need to get a digitized copy of my original image onto my computer, after which I will do everything else in PhotoLab. Contrast, color, and everything else will be done in PhotoLab.
I bought the V500 on a close-out sale at B&H Photo, for a very low price. I thought it was more than enough for my needs, and now that it’s working again, I still feel that way.
I searched endlessly for a solution until someone suggested trying a new account. Once that worked, I decided it warranted no further effort, for now at least. It’s not a simple task figuring out what process (most likely I think) is running under the one account and not the other. A lot of stuff applies to both accounts.
I think your solution is the best, and obviously easiest.
If you have time, you might try running “Activity Monitor” and “XRG-2”.
I expect to have both my V500 and a V600 in a few weeks.
Once I get my V600, you can share your scan settings, and I can try to see if I get the same results as you, but I’m running a Mac mini with fairly high specs - but still an Intel based computer, not the new CPU. But that is probably irrelevant, as you have two user accounts on the same computer.
If you call for a “Senior Supervisor” at Apple Support, they might have things you can do, and maybe examine the crash logs.
I actually ran the equivalent Terminal command on each account and tried to compare the results, but it was pretty extensive and I gave up.
I can go one better, assuming you’re scanning negatives. This was originally written with my V370 in use, but not much changes with the V600. I do need to get around to updating it with a few learnings, like dealing with the V600’s two rows of negatives.
yeah, why not? 10 years ago he could not make the frame recognition working reliably, so just open another can of worms. As long a the user’s paying…