[sane-devel] Nikon LS50/5000

[Ariel Garcia]

Hi Spiro,

answering your two last mails here, hope it is not too mixed up

> the package I use is: media-gfx/xsane from http://www.xsane.org/

yes, thanks, i had seen it long ago and already forgotten ;-(
Now i've been testing it with the LS50 and it worked fine, it is quite a 
nice frontend. (tested with a slide, 8 & 14 bits depth)

> > If you get an error there you should enable debugging output and send
> > us that output. Something like this will be helpful:
> >
> > export SANE_DEBUG_SANEI_USB=4
> > export SANE_DEBUG_COOLSCAN2=255
> > scanimage > photo.pnm
>
> It all points to my Epson scanner even if both scanners are turned on.
> So, I am not able to test it this way. Please provide more info so I can
> directly scan with the Nikon scanner.

Henning told you already how to call it,

> scanimage -L
> device `epson:libusb:001:002' is a Epson GT-9300 flatbed scanner
> device `coolscan2:usb:libusb:001:005' is a Nikon    LS-5000 ED      
> film scanner
> So, the command would be scanimage -d coolscan2:usb:libusb:001:005 >
> photo Which reproduced the same exact error, which is:
> scanimage: sane_start: Error during device I/O
>
> So, we are back to square one. Any idea on this?

please, don't get upset so fast, the answer was in my previous mail  ;-)
Please do
export SANE_DEBUG_SANEI_USB=255
export SANE_DEBUG_COOLSCAN2=255
scanimage -d coolscan2:usb:libusb:001:005 > photo.pnm

and send me the debugging output you'll get.
If the error you get is with the film feeder adapter, please also test it 
with the mounted slide adapter.


> Well, this is not sufficent for allowing a user to fully utilize what
> was purchased (in my openion). I purchased this device becaue of all its
> features. Leaving some out would not match purchasing goals.
> For sure you know this scanner better than I do just because you are
> deveoloping the driver, but I wish to ask you a question then: How come
> VieScan allows all customizations?

Please, again, don't get upset with the sane developers which do it for 
free/pleasure/etc. You can always go to the manufacturer and request them 
to provide you with a linux software having all the same features as in 
windows :-)

The coolscan2 sane backend supports most if not all the scanner (ie, 
_hardware_) features (of course, something is failing in your case, but 
that's another issue). All the other "customizations" as you call them 
(dust and scrcatch removal based on the hardware IR data, ROC, GEM, DEE) 
are _software_ functions, not a feature of this particular scanner, so you 
could have them in xsane or other frontends, 
it is just that somebody (with the right knowledge) has to write the 
code... it is probably not trivial to get good results, so experience in 
the subject counts here.
It does not make sense to have these software features in the nikon sane 
backend, because they are general to many scanners so that code would go 
either to a frontend like xsane or even better in a library.

Note that even if there is no direct support for the ICE, ROC, GEM 
functions , you can (try to) replace that with the Gimp and some manual 
work... somebody wrote a Gimp plugin which is able to clean the images 
using the IR data from sane:

http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/sane-devel/2004-December/012759.html

And the other two functions are "just" color enhancement and grain 
reduction (some blur filter could give you something similar)

BTW, xsane can be used as a gimp plugin, so you can scan directly from 
within gimp and run the dust-off pluging/color corrections directly there 
also.

> me. I hope sane or your development will bring the software to a level
> where full customizations and infrared scan become reality.

try the gimp plugin

> came to the conclusion that VewScan is the only application (as of now)
> that is capable of running this specific device. I was/am counting on
> SANE because I like the idea to use it 

well, if you have a relatively big scanning project and you already spent 
1000+ bucks in the scanner, it could be worth spending 50 more in a piece 
of software which could allow you a more time-efficient work or higher 
quality output with the same effort. From what people say, vuescan seems 
to be quite nice, supports lots of scanners, and is in many cases better 
than the manufacturer provided programs.

> and am only thankfull to Ariel 
> and whoever worked with Ariel for spending time for development.

no, you should be thankful to Andras who wrote the coolscan2 backend and to 
all the sane developers who wrote the framework/frontends/libraries also. I 
did just a few patches.

> far, after I will solve my device I/O failure, what does SANE offer for
> this specific device? 

you get the full color depth (14 bits) and full res 4000dpi scans. You get 
the IR channel, autofocus, you can select the focus point, etc (and if 
something does not work it can be fixed, or if it is not yet implemented 
it can probably be supported more or less easily :-)

> I also offer my time and hardware for allowing some testing for as much
> as I am capable of.

yes, if you enable debugging as said above and mail me the output it will 
be great.

Cheers, ariel