Better Light ViewFinder 7 User manual

Large Format Digital
Scanning Camera System
Revision D
March 2007
User’s Manual
featuring…
Digital Scanning Camera Software

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Acknowledgements
Better Light acknowledges and is grateful for the hard work and dedication of its employees.
Additionally, Better Light acknowledges the contributions of its Beta testers and industry colleagues.
is manual may not, in whole or part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or con-
verted to any electronic form without written consent of Better Light.
All product names and trademarks are the property of their registered owners.
1200 Industrial Road, #17, San Carlos, California 94070-4129
650-631-3680 fax [phone] www.betterlight.com email: [email protected]
©2000-2007 Better Light, Inc., All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

CAUTION! PINCH HAZARD: DO NOT OPERATE INSERT OUTSIDE CAMERA.
ATTENTION! DANGER DE PINCEMENT: NE PAS EMPLOYER AVEC L’INSERTION
A L’EXTERIEUR DE LA CAMERA.
ACHTUNG! ZWICKGEFAHR: NICHT AUSSERHALB DER KAMERA BETREIBEN
VERLETZUNGSGEFAHR.
Warning: This is a class A product. In a domestic environment this product may
cause radio interference in which case the user may be required to take ade-
quate measures.
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a
Class A digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are
designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when
the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment gen-
erates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interfer-
ence to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential
area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be
required to correct the interference at his own expense.
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Contents
Parts List .......................................................................................................................................10
Connector Identification ...............................................................................................................11
Getting Started ..............................................................................................................................12
Installing and Configuring the ViewFinder™ Software ...............................................................12
Memory Requirements ........................................................................................................13
System Requirements ..........................................................................................................13
Quick Start Guide .....................................................................................................................14
Prescanning ...................................................................................................................................19
Making a Prescan .......................................................................................................................19
Fast Prescans ..............................................................................................................................20
Cropped Prescans ......................................................................................................................21
Super View Prescans ..................................................................................................................22
Saving and Viewing Prescans .....................................................................................................23
Cancelling a Prescan ..................................................................................................................23
Color Managed Prescans ............................................................................................................23
Rulers ........................................................................................................................................24
Guides .......................................................................................................................................24
Image Capture Settings .................................................................................................................25
Resolution .................................................................................................................................25
Line Time ..................................................................................................................................27
ISO ...........................................................................................................................................28
Exposure Lock ...........................................................................................................................29
Capture Mode ...........................................................................................................................29
Scanning .......................................................................................................................................30
Scanning to the Camera Disk ....................................................................................................30
Canceling a Scan .......................................................................................................................30
Naming the Image .....................................................................................................................31

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Automatically Naming Images ...................................................................................................31
Adding Notes to Your Picture ....................................................................................................32
Exposure Evaluation ......................................................................................................................33
Digital Spot Metering ................................................................................................................33
RGB Data Values, EV Units ................................................................................................33
Determining Relative Exposure ...........................................................................................34
Static Spot Meter Tool ...............................................................................................................35
Setting the Spot Meter Size ........................................................................................................36
Histogram .................................................................................................................................37
Judging Overall and Spot Exposures ....................................................................................37
Static Spot Meter Location Readings ...................................................................................38
Tool Bar ........................................................................................................................................39
Magnify Tool .............................................................................................................................39
Hand Tool .................................................................................................................................39
Measure Tool .............................................................................................................................40
Panorama Tool ...........................................................................................................................40
ToneZones™ Tool .......................................................................................................................41
Crop Mask Tool .........................................................................................................................43
Grid Tool ...................................................................................................................................43
Tab Panels .....................................................................................................................................45
Size Panel ...................................................................................................................................45
Scan Area and Cropping .....................................................................................................45
Lock Crop Ratio .................................................................................................................47
Lock File Size ......................................................................................................................48
Locking Both ......................................................................................................................48
Faster Scans for Free! ...........................................................................................................49
Color Panel ................................................................................................................................50
Establishing Neutral Color Balance .....................................................................................50
Saving Color Balances .........................................................................................................51

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Changing Existing Color Balances ......................................................................................52
Deleting Color Balances ......................................................................................................52
Altering Color Balance for Mood or Effect ..........................................................................52
Reverting to a Previous Color Balance .................................................................................53
Tagging Images with ICC Profiles .......................................................................................53
Tone Panel .................................................................................................................................54
Tone Curve Selections .........................................................................................................54
Saving a High Bit Depth Image ...........................................................................................55
Brightness/Contrast Tone Curve Adjustments .....................................................................56
Manual Tone Curve Adjustments ........................................................................................57
Limit Line ...........................................................................................................................58
Spot Meter Reference Points ...............................................................................................58
Negative Curves ..................................................................................................................58
16-bit Tone Curves ..............................................................................................................58
Tone Curve Histogram ........................................................................................................59
Selecting an Output Tone Scale ...........................................................................................59
Setting the EV Scale Reference ............................................................................................59
Saving Tone Curves .............................................................................................................60
Deleting Tone Curves ..........................................................................................................60
Focus Panel ................................................................................................................................61
Large Focus Display ............................................................................................................61
Selecting a Focus Site ..........................................................................................................62
Reading the Focus Displays and Adjusting Focus ................................................................63
Audio Focusing Aid ............................................................................................................64
Multiple Color Focusing .....................................................................................................64
Infrared Focus .....................................................................................................................65
Image File Management and Retrieval ...........................................................................................66
e ViewFinder™ File Manager ..................................................................................................67
Sorting Image Files .............................................................................................................68

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Adding Notes to Your Pictures ............................................................................................68
Exporting Notes ..................................................................................................................68
Automatically Saving Files to a Folder .................................................................................69
Automatically Opening the Image .......................................................................................69
Retrieving Image Files .........................................................................................................70
Selecting the Retrieval Tone Curve ......................................................................................71
Deleting Image Files ............................................................................................................72
Menus ...........................................................................................................................................73
File ............................................................................................................................................73
Edit ...........................................................................................................................................74
Display ......................................................................................................................................75
Camera ......................................................................................................................................76
User Preferences ............................................................................................................................78
Automatically Retrieving Images (Saving Files) ..........................................................................78
Automatically Save Prescans .......................................................................................................79
Auto Naming .............................................................................................................................79
Appending a File Type Suffix .....................................................................................................79
Automatic Scan Viewing in an Application (Auto File Open) ....................................................79
Auto-rotate Retrieved Files .........................................................................................................80
Mask ..........................................................................................................................................80
Grid ...........................................................................................................................................81
Guides .......................................................................................................................................81
Using Sounds .............................................................................................................................82
Line Time Synchronization ........................................................................................................82
ISO Increment Selection ............................................................................................................82
Baseline ISO Setting ..................................................................................................................82
Time Lapse ................................................................................................................................83
Crop ..........................................................................................................................................83
Pano Settings .............................................................................................................................83

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Appendices ....................................................................................................................................84
Appendix A - Cleaning the CCD Cover Glass ...........................................................................84
Appendix B - Manipulating Exposure ........................................................................................85
Exposure Adjustments .........................................................................................................85
Line Time ...........................................................................................................................85
Color Balance (Sensitivity) ..................................................................................................86
Tone Curves ........................................................................................................................86
Lens Aperture ......................................................................................................................86
Lighting ..............................................................................................................................87
Appendix C - Line Time Settings ...............................................................................................88
Appendix D - Resolution Selections ...........................................................................................89
Appendix E - Status Indicators ...................................................................................................92
Appendix F - Pano/WideView Adapter ......................................................................................93
Scene Panorama ..................................................................................................................93
Hardware Setup ............................................................................................................93
Software Operation ......................................................................................................93
Rollout Panorama ...............................................................................................................95
Hardware Setup ............................................................................................................95
Software Operation ......................................................................................................95
Object Panorama ................................................................................................................96
Hardware Setup ............................................................................................................96
Software Operation ......................................................................................................96
Appendix G - Error Messages ....................................................................................................97

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Parts List
1. Control Unit (1)
2. Insert (1)
3. Double shielded cable (1)
4. USB cable (1)
5. Power supply(1)
6. Power cord(1) [not shown]
7. Filters (1 daylight, 1 tungsten)
8. Focus card (2)
9. Viewing overlay (3)
10. Holster (1)