Using Silverfast With Epson V600

[Laila Berri]

Myquestions : does RT read the HDR TIFF format from Silverfast? Or, to put things in another perspective : is there an advantage to scan in HDR 48 bits TIFF instead of 48>24 bit TIFF ? I guess that RT does not read the infrared channel (no tools to use it) - no need for HDRi.

I understand that RT 5.8 does not recognize DNGs coming out of a scanner (will / should be the case in 5.9 with negative inversion of TIFF/DNG). In other words, should I worry about TIFF when DNG is available ? Is there any advantages of DNG over TIFF ?

I do not have answers to your question, but I will be following this post with interest as I have an Epson V850 and I find both the Epson and the Silverfast software really disappointing. Previously I had a Canon 9000F for scanning the film and the software was much nicer and produced good scans capturing the highlights and the shadows. Currently when scanning negatives I scan as positive and use negadoctor in Darktable to invert and fix the image.

I am also following this post with interest because I did a lot of scans both from negative and from dia using an old epson 4870 and a newer epson V600. The old 4870 is much better but also a lot slower. I with the epson software, using properly curves and adjustment layers, I have always obtained quite satisfactory results. Much less with Vuescan who disappointed me deeply. Silverfast was once given with the 4870 in the Se version: unfortunately the version I have no longer works with win 10 so I can no longer use it. I have tried to scan and treat the file with rt but I find it impractical and the results quite mediocre.

does RT read the HDR TIFF format from Silverfast? Or, to put things in another perspective : is there an advantage to scan in HDR 48 bits TIFF instead of 48>24 bit TIFF ? I guess that RT does not read the infrared channel (no tools to use it) - no need for HDRi.

The HDR-formats in SilverFast are just normal TIFs with 3 images (or DNG, see above) but they are linear scans, i.e. without gamma-correction and without any image processing applied. So it is not a proprietary format! The IR-channel is just the third image in this set of 3 (RGB-scan full resolution, preview scan, IR image). However, there is no software around which can use the IR-channel to correct for dust and scratches except for SilverFast HDR (and if you use VueScan, the IR-channel is the 4. channel with each pixel holding 4 values: R, G, B, IR. You have to use VueScan to make use of the IR-channel in this case).

If you use RT for the HDR-images they appear very dark due to the lacking gamma-correction. You should either apply the gamma-correction before opening the image by another software or - better - use an ICC-profile which has the gamma-correction incorporated, i.e. being derived from a target scan in HDR-format.

The HDR format is a 48 bit TIFF that has additional information for Silverfast software. But since it is primarily a TIFF, then Rawtherapee is able to read 3X16 bits and all the other basic information of a TIFF. The other informations are just not read by RT.

Definitively, if you are going to do some image processing. 8bits/channel is at the limit of what the eye can discriminate. So if you work on the image and loose some depth, you will see this in the result. So go with 16bit/channel in TIF and at the very end convert to JPG with 8bit/channel.

Recently, though, I inherited hundreds, perhaps even thousands of historical slides that need to be digitized. After researching a scanner that would allow me to scan more slides faster but with precise image control at high-quality, I selected the Epson Perfection V850 Pro (V850).

Why? Because the V850 has all the resolution I need, saves into uncompressed formats like TIFF and PNG, has the image controls I need for high-quality scans from 35mm slides, and can scan up to 12 slides at the same time in a batch.

In one line, if all you need is to scan documents and photos, the V600 is the scanner of choice. If you need to scan transparencies as well as photos, or need better dust and scratch control, the V850 is the better choice.

Epson makes excellent scanners which live in the sweet spot of providing high-quality, high-resolution professional-grade scans without breaking the bank. Both systems, depending upon the scanning software you use, can scan up to 6400 dpi and save into PDF, PNG, TIFF, and JPEG. Epson scanners are popular (which means lots of third-party support), reliable and high quality.

Both scanners scan photos, 35mm slides, 35mm negatives and medium format film. Both have optical resolutions up to 6400 dpi (which you will never need). Both scanners work at 48 bit depth for color and 16 bit depth for black and white. Both scan images up to 8.5 x 11.7 inches. The V600 has an optical density of 3.5 Dmax, while the V850 has an optical density of 4.0 Dmax. (Dmax only applies when scanning slides, the higher the Dmax, the greater the image detail in shadow and highlight areas.)

Both can remove dust and scratches, though the V850 does a much better job. As well, dust removal works best with slides, rather than prints. Both scanners are excellent at scanning documents as well as photos.

If all you need is to scan photos and occasional slides, the V600 is an excellent choice. If you need the highest quality slide and film scans, along with great photo scans, the V850 is a better choice. The V850 is also marginally faster than the V600.

From a spec point of view, the two scanners are essentially identical. Epson Scan 2 supports connecting and scanning from multiple scanners on the same computer, though only one scanner can be active at a time.

When I first wrote this article, I adjusted the Histogram of each image before scanning to get the best image possible. Epson Scan 2 provides Histogram, Curves and Color Balance adjustments. Then I realized that it would be better to use the default settings from the software for each scanner. Using the defaults gives a better idea of the results a new user would get.

Based on multiple tests, the two scanners create very similar scans at their default settings, though the V850 does a better job of dust removal. However, remember, image quality is a combination of both hardware and software; and the software was the same in both cases.

The V600 can scan up to 4 slides at a time. However, while the plastic slide holder holds the slides, it does not do so very securely. They can be easily bumped out of position. (The open strips to the left are for holding film negatives.)

The slide holders for the V850 are more carefully thought out. The plastic guides feel a bit heavier (though you need to be careful as they can still break), and they hold the slides in place with little clips.

Here are the file size and timing results for the V600 scanning the image at 4800 dpi, 24-bit color. (Note: I think the key reason these times are so close is that Epson Scan 2 software does not properly implement the infra-red scan required for dust removal.)

Although it took longer to scan each slide, the quality difference using Digital ICE dust removal on the V850 is significant and worth waiting for. There was only a slight loss of detail when ICE was turned on, as these close-ups show (image shown at 100% size, scanned at 1200 dpi.)

If you are only scanning documents and printed photographs, the Epson Perfection V600 Photo scanner is an excellent choice. It creates scans that are the equal of the V850 for 1/4 the price and at roughly the same speed.

If you are scanning documents, photos, slides, negatives, or transparencies, the quality of the Epson Perfection V850 Pro is unsurpassed, especially when you want to remove dust and other blemishes without degrading image quality. And it is slightly faster than the V600.

My question is regarding software and the Epson V600 / V850. How much does the software play into the performance of the scanner, for dust removal, resolution, etc? I have an M1 Mac and Silverfast was painful and crashed repeatedly when I briefly owned a Plustek 8200. I am running on a budget, but also need the highest quality scans for my prints. Also, any thoughts on the epson wet mount?

I picked up an anti newton ring (ANR) glass insert for my Epson v600 which fits into the stock plastic 35mm film holder. Some of my film becomes very curved and does not lay flat in the film holder. I did some research on ways to deal with this issue and some suggested buying new film holders and I also saw that you can get glass inserts for the stock film holder. I opted to get two ANR glass inserts since that was fairly cheap and the easiest method. Below I am going to go over the results from using the ANR glass inserts.

These photos were shot on a Contax RTS with Carl Zeiss 50mm 1.7 T* Planar. I think the car one may have been shot on my Carl Zeiss VARIO-SONNAR T* (C/Y) 35-70mm; I do not remember. All of the shots were shot on porta 400 shot at box speed of ISO 400. Scanner is Epson v600. The ANR glass I got is from scantech.

I sampled three photos from my collection to rescan with and without the ANR insert. I cropped the three photos in regions that I thought would be good patches to determine if the ANR insert is useful or not. Looking at the overall photo is hard in this context; It makes more sense to dissect one patch to see the perceived improvements.

Overall I would say the bottom image with ANR insert is better. The shadow and highlight detail is better with the ANR insert. Also the entire image looks sharper than the image without the ANR insert.

This is another good example. The ANR insert again helped the shadow detail in the grill of the car. Some of the lettering (427 on the side of the car) and the license plate is a bit sharper. Overall I would say the image is slightly sharper with the ANR insert.

These tips were packaged with my ANR glass inserts from scantech. I did clean my ANR inserts before using them. There was some debris on the glass itself. I haven't tried any of the other methods that they suggested. I only used them directly over the film within the stock Epson v600 filmholder.

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