The best Scan Software

There is not such a thing as the "best" software for every scanner. First it does depend on the scanner model you use. SilverFast and VueScan have to customize their software for every single scanner, and the quality of this customization may differ. Commong symptoms are, that the software does not or inadequately support all film adapters delivered with the scanner. This can happen sometimes. Secondly it really depends on what kind of slides or negatives you are going to scan. Here I give you three examples.

1. Scan of E6-slides with Canon CanoScan 8800f

SilverFast does not support FARE of the flatbed scanner Canon CanoScan 8800f at all. That means there will be no infrared-based dust and scratch removal when using SilverFast with this specific scanner and that is bad. In this case you might be better off with with VueScan. VueScan has its own implementation of scratch removal called IR Clean, that works with Canon Scanners, too. In this case I would prefer VueScan to SilverFast.

2. Scan of E6-Slides with Nikon Coolscan 5000

Completely the opposite situation we have when using a Nikon Coolscan 5000. Here SilverFast supports - at least with all Windows operating systems - Digital ICE. In my humble opinion Digital ICE is superior to IR Clean by VueScan. In this case I would prefer SilverFast to VueScan. The software shipped with the scanner - Nikon Scan - is not really an alternative, as it does not support IT8-calibration.

3. Scan of Colour Negatives with Nikon Coolscan 5000

When scanning colour negatives, the missing IT8-calibration does not matter at all. If you have a Nikon Scanner, Nikon Scan would be my first choice for scanning software. Colour correction by Nikon MAID is at least of same quality than corresponding functionalities of VueScan or SilverFast. In this specific case, there is not urgent reason to buy additional software.