11 replies to this topic

[Oleg]

Hello,

I have a Super Coolscan 8000 and a MacBook Pro that just died due to graphics card failure.  I also have a Windows Vista computer (the last version supported by Nikon Scan 4.03) BUT it has no firewire card.  I have been looking online to find how to fix this, most people are using 3rd party software and drivers, I'd rather stay with the Nikon software if possible.  I have read  many posts that say that Nikon scan is very picky about which  IEEE 1394/Firewire interface board it will detect, some said it must have a Texas Instruments chipset, others said NEC as this was the original issue that came with the scanner.  Is there a board known to work, one that will insure that the scanner is detected or are there any particular specifications about the board or chipset that should be observed?  The scanner's great and I'd like to get it working, I'm hoping someone can help me out.

Thanks

Chris

[Merco_61]

Nikonscan is by now very dated and, as you say picky about IEEE1394 cards.

 

I would much rather go with Silverfast and get a fully working dust and scratch removal algorithm that doesn't misidentify branches against the sky or wisps of hair as scratches and try to repair them. In that case, any good IEEE1394 card can be used, just stay away from the no-name offerings from the Pacific rim. That said, I kept an old G4 DA with Tiger around for ages just to run the Coolscan 4000 with it's factory software. Switching to Silverfast was a revelation.

[Oleg]

Thanks for responding Merco,
I have heard a lot of conflicting opinions on both Silverfast and Vuescan and I think it comes down to your equipment, software and personal preferences as to which is better.  What i think they do have in common is they don't need Nikon drivers and they are more compatible with firewire interfaces.  So the first step I guess is to buy a firewire card and see if that works with Vista and the scanner, if there is a problem, I can then go to a third party software with no money wasted.  Can I ask what else you liked about Silverfast over Nikon Scan which as you said is very old (10 years without an update).
Thanks
Chris

[Merco_61]

Silverfast handles slides on strange substrates better, for example Agfachrome, Kodachrome and eastern European monochrome film from the 80-s and earlier. It also handles the dense masking layer of some early negative colour film better than NikonScan did. Like I wrote in my previous post, the repair algorithms are much better. As both my parents were shutterbugs in the analog days, I have scanned lots of old film.

 

Vuescan is easy to work with, cheap and doesn't need a license for each model of scanner you use. I haven't used it for film scanning in the latest versions, so I don't know how it handles damaged slides and negs these days, it used to lag behind.

[Oleg]

Hi Merco,

I found it wasn't good with Kodachrome too and I do have some Agfachrome from the early and mid nineties I haven't got to yet.   I got use to the Nikon interface but I have always thought it slow and it hangs and crashes easily as did the early versions of View and Capture but I did like their curves, the contrast was more like film. I'll get a decent Firewire card, and I'll keep what you've said about Silverfast in mind, if there's a trial maybe I'll try it even if Nikonscan does work.

Thanks again,

Chris 

One last thing if that's ok, may sound stupid but the cards I see are either sound cards or they say for sound cards

"PCI FIREWIRE 400 CARD - IEEE1394a - TEXAS INSTRUMENTS - TI DUAL CHIPSET / FOR SOUND CARDS"

Does this make any difference?  I thought it was just fast input.

Chris

[Merco_61]

Outside the Apple world, IEEE1394 has mostly been used for professional recording and mixing sound cards.

[Oleg]

Thank you.

[Ron]

Outside the Apple world, IEEE1394 has mostly been used for professional recording and mixing sound cards.

 

Strangely, I have an old Dell that sports a Firewire port. It was also a Vista machine. My newer Dell workstation only has USB 2/3 ports though.

 

--Ron

[Oleg]

Hi again,

 

I'd I'd like to give a definitive answer to this question for Vista computers in 2018. most of what I have read are older posts (2015 and earlier)  with newer operating systems W 7-10.

I found that on my machine at least the StarTech $ Port 1394a FireWire Card Part # PCI1394MP worked out of the box, Scan 4 recognized the scanner right off, a visit to prefs. and I was scanning in 10 min with the Nikon software and my old settings.

 

My machine is ;

 

Lenovo

Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E6550 @2.33 GHz

3 GB RAM

 

Running;

 

Windows Vista Business 32 bit

 

I had read several times that a Texas Instruments chipset was best but when I saw this

"Compliant with IEEE 1394a - 2000 as well as 1394-1995 standards"

in the description I thought it would be better than most.  Any way I profit from these forums daily so I wanted to put this out there.

 

Nikon 8000 Scanner with Nikon Scan 4.03 on Windows Vista SP 2 worked with the StarTech $ Port 1394a FireWire Card Part # PCI1394MP 

You can get it on-line @ Amazon, Staples & Best Buy $35 bucks CDN.

 

One last word, I found that this software works 10 X faster on this machine than my old MacBook Pro of the same era, 10 X !!  Maybe there was a problem with the mac, but only with Nikon software.?

Who Knows, Thanks for your time Peter.

 

Chris

[Merco_61]

Good to hear that it works for you.

 

Was the Nikonscan software ever ported to a intel-native platform? I never used it on Intel macs as I had a G4 available that had only the scanner software on it and ran *very* stable, even when running the slide loader or uncut film attachments on the LS-4000.

[Oleg]

Yes it was, happy as I am now I can't help thinking that I could have done this long ago.

[Merco_61]

I thought it ran under Rosetta as Nikon never optimized the code for the new processors. That would explain the slowness on Intel macs.