I've been using Vuescan (in its various versions) for more than six months.
All in all I'm happy with the software. Each release has had some
improvements beyond new device support and bug fixes which is great. I'm
using a Minolta Scan Elite II with version 7.6.79 without overt trouble.

I have a couple of suggestions on how I think the product could be further
improved. Mostly this relates to my personal workflow method. I was never
able to get satisfactory colour profiles for transparencies, and with
negatives the results were for a different reality. I developed a technique
of different manually setup and locked configurations. With addition of
more sliders and graphs this process has been made easier.

Ideas:

1) Being able to adjust the scanning exposure without loosing dialed in
values for whitepoint, filmbase etc... Like wise not having the preview
display or the last scan deleted if the exposure number is changed.

2) Similar to above, if I eject the film holder I shouldn't loose anything.
This is a problem for me as I use E6 control strips for some of my
adjustments. These are scanned with a strip film holder, if I unload this
holder and load a mounted slide film holder, then my settings are lost.
I've gotten used to this and write everything down that I'll need to
re-enter. For some reason I can't tell Vuescan to use the values from
holder A with holder B

3) I've really gotten into using the graphs and sliding control points.
Many times I've wished that I could turn off a channel so that I can see the
one underneath. Particularly turning off that black trace.

4) Continuing with graphs and sliders. I manually balance my whitepoint,
but many times the scene maybe dark as I haven't clipped enough high-light
detail. It would be very handy to be able to lock together the sliders and
move them together to another position with their relative offsets intact.
It might also be worthwhile to add sliders for the brightness adjustments.

5) One of the original reasons for seeking scanning software was how bad
the Minolta OEM software is. I particular their application of ICE, kind of
all or nothing, with all producing an unusable scan. Perhaps the dust and
scratch filter could be enhance from four steps to continuously adjustable.
From 0 to 1 (.999), with zero being none and 1 being full removal.

I'm not sure if this is true or not but Vuescan seems slow. I don't know
about the colour calculations, but just saving an uncompressed file takes
much longer than say, Photoshop.

Anyway, Ed, thanks for one of the few really truly usable scanning software
applications out here.

Best

David O'Rourke