Nikon Coolscan software

jbarrettash · Nov 17, 2022

I am dusting off my Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED (for the 2nd time in a decade!) and I was wondering what software people use/prefer to run it.

My first dusting off yielded, with a little research, two possibilities: Vuescan and Silverfast. I tried Vuescan because of its free trial/watermarking before investing, and I found it useable, but with a moderately difficult interface.

What software would you recommend? Vuescan, Silverfast... or something else? Is there any software out there that will allow you to pull RAW images straight out of the scanner?

Thanks,

jbarrettash

webestang64 · Nov 19, 2022

I swear by Vuescan. HATE Silverfast, to me it's just too complicated and expensive. And you can scan to RAW with Vuescan.

Rickbb · Nov 19, 2022

Another vote for Viewscan, been using it for years.

jbarrettash · Nov 20, 2022

webestang64 said:
I swear by Vuescan. HATE Silverfast, to me it's just too complicated and expensive. And you can scan to RAW with Vuescan.

Testing Vuescan and so far so good. Thanks for the recommendation. Question though - for me quality is paramount as I may be doing/attempting fairly large fine art prints. I don't mind a steep learning curve and pushing through overly complicated software idiosyncrasies (as frustrating as I know that can be. Is vuescan just as good, pixel for pixel? Should I expect to be able to make 24" enlargements (or larger)?

Thanks,

JBAsh

Rickbb · Nov 20, 2022

Since you can scan to raw you won't lose anything, but a lot depends on the scanner condition and its abilities. I'm not familiar with the Coolscan models though.

webestang64 · Nov 20, 2022

jbarrettash said:
Testing Vuescan and so far so good. Thanks for the recommendation. Question though - for me quality is paramount as I may be doing/attempting fairly large fine art prints. I don't mind a steep learning curve and pushing through overly complicated software idiosyncrasies (as frustrating as I know that can be. Is vuescan just as good, pixel for pixel? Should I expect to be able to make 24" enlargements (or larger)?

Thanks,

JBAsh

Vuescan will give you all that scanner can muster. I scan to full 4000 res 16-bit Tiff. Have printed 40x60's from those scans and they look great.