First Scanner; Epson 600 or Plustec 8100

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I have 1,000 plus B&W FP4 Plus -135 negatives developed in XTOL 1:1 to review and scan for end output. My computer is an iMac dating back to 2016, MAC OS Monterey. My end use is to post images on line and create a quality photo book with its images sized to 5x7 inches

I retired 10 years ago so my computer skills go back to Windows 10. My preliminary research indicates the listed choices are practical. What is the best choice for my situation and would I get the quality of my Summicron semi-condenser prints, RC Ilford WT Pearl surface, onto a page for publication. It seems a key point is the print size is only 5x7. I have no idea what DPI one would need to scan to with that size while retaining shadows and detail.
 
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1600bpi would work giving you 300bpi printing which is under the best out of an Epson V600 which I usually scan at 2400. (24mm=0.944882" x 1600bpi scan= 1511/300=5.03" on the short side and 36mm=1.417" x 1600bpi scan=2268/300=7.6" on the long side).

I'm not familiar with the Plustek so I don't know which scanner is better. Epson has Epsonscan 2 software for Apple computers. Since I run Windows, I've operated the V600 on Windows 7, 10 and 11, maybe even previous ones. However, I would check with them to see if your Apple computer operating system is compatible. I also don't know if you'll be satisfied to match the paper you're selecting. You'd have to test it. Note, Blurb does a photo book for around $40 (with 20% discount) with approximately 50 photos. They have different papers you can select.

You can check Epson software compatibility here: https://epson.com/Support/Scanners/Perfection-Series/Epson-Perfection-V600-Photo/s/SPT_B11B198011

You can see my scans on the FLickr linked below for both a V600 and V850 on various format films. Feel free to ask any other questions. Good luck.
 

Kodachromeguy

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I agree with Lew_B above. If you are scanning 35mm film, use a dedicated film scanner. I suggest you scan at 3600 dpi as 16-bit TIFF files. The Plustek has a setting for 7200 dpi, but the true optical resolution is probably closer to the 3600. Do not sharpen while scanning. Later resize and sharpen as desired using another software package. You may want to clean up scratches and chemical spots with the heal tool in Photoshop or and equivalent tool.
 
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Lew, I read the linked post prior to bringing this up again. There is now a Plustec 8300 which is reported to be 40% faster. One wants the best tool which many say a is Nikon 5000. But that requires setting up an older windows machine to run it. Its too much trouble vs a Plustec product with current SW and tech support.

Dedicated film scanners have higher reviews. On the other hand I have 120 negs and could use a flatbed.

I have a 20 year project to finish and its time to stop shooting hoping for a handful of better images. Quality wise I was hoping for a step above the Blurb books….something with a cloth binder.

If the Epson and Plustec have equal quality output for my file size the Epson seems a more flexible choice.

Also can I produce quality by only using Lightroom image adjust tools. I am aware of photoshop layers and understand there is a learning curve that may not be worth it for me. I’m pretty happy with my iPhone image adjust tools.

My iMac only has 8 megs of Ram. That may be an issue. If so I may be able to buy a mini Mac and upgrade to 32 or 48. I want to keep the 21 inch tapered screen iMac
 
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albireo

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I have 1,000 plus B&W FP4 Plus -135 negatives developed in XTOL 1:1 to review and scan for end output. My computer is an iMac dating back to 2016, MAC OS Monterey. My end use is to post images on line and create a quality photo book with its images sized to 5x7 inches

I retired 10 years ago so my computer skills go back to Windows 10. My preliminary research indicates the listed choices are practical.

You have a lot of material to scan. The Plusteks 8100/8200/8300 do not have motorised frame advancement. You will have to manually push/pull the film holder inside the scanner after scanning each frame.

Given you're looking at Plusteks, why not consider their new-ish motorised 35mm scanner?


This will allow you perform batch scanning of all frames in a 6 frame film strip. Swapping strips in and out of the holder would still be done manually. And of course, this expects your film is cut into strips of (ideally) six frames each.
 
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I noticed the 135i scanner does not come with Silverfast SW. Not sure if that becomes an issue. My output is to web images and small photo books with images no larger than 5x7.
 
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Lew_B

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I noticed this scanner does not come with Silverfast SW. Not sure if that becomes an issue. the output is to web images and small photo books with images no larger than 5x7.
Good excuse to buy Vuescan instead, my understanding is it's an awful lot easier to use...check with them on compatibility, but I'm pretty sure this model is supported. Lew
 

blee1996

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I have been using an Epson V700 since 2008, and a Nikon Coolscan V since last year. Even though they are not the exact same models you were considering, they are similar in principle. And here are my perspectives

1) Flatbed vs dedicated 35mm scanner

- Format support: obviously if you shoot medium format and large format, you have to have a flatbed.

- Quality: for 35mm film, there is clear advantage of dedicated scanner in terms of dynamic range and resolution. I use 3600 DPi for Coolscan, and 2400 for V700. For 120 and large format, flatbed is more than good enough unless you do wall size prints. My buddy Jan scans in 4800 DPi for his flatbed (Microtek M1 Pro, which is similar to V700), and then downscale to 2400 dpi in Photoshop using the bicubic sharper option. He said he got better results than just scanning at 2400 DPI. I tried it but the results were inconclusive.

- Convenience: definitely more convenient with V700, since you can load 24 frames of 35mm at a time and let it run automatically. So two feeds per 135-36 roll. My Coolscan V only takes 6 frames at a time, so I need to feed 6-7 times for one roll.

- Scanning speed per frame: I have never timed them scientifically, but they are comparable when set to appropriate DPi and quality

- Film flatness is more important than anything else, otherwise all those precision optical / digital processing is for nothing.

2) Scanning software:

Even though I use Macbook mostly, I have a dedicated older windows 10 PC as my scanning station.

In my humble opinion, both the factory software are quite good and I don't think it is necessary to get 3rd party. I use Epson Scan with V700 in Professional mode and Nikon Scan for Coolscan V. They are simpler than Silverfast Ai or Vuescan, and more user friendly to get high quality results quickly. I have tried both Vuescan and Silverfast Ai in the past: their learning curve is substantially steeper. And in the end, the results are not necessarily that much better.

For B&W and color slides, I don't see any reason to get 3rd party software. For color negatives, there might be some advantage of Silverfast Ai since you can calibrate and fine-tune individual profile for each particular film stock. My buddy Jan swears by Silverfast Ai for that reason. But for me, I just shoot a few frames with a X-rite colorchecker and then adjust in Lightroom post-scanning. I shoot a mixture of many different film stocks, some of which are expired, and in different lighting conditions. So it is actually easier to adjust roll by roll, instead of say one Fujifilm Reala 100 profile for every roll.

Conclusion for me: If I can only buy one, I will go for the flatbed. If I can afford it, I will buy both the flatbed and the dedicated 35mm scanner. Ideally I can upgrade my Coolscan V to Coolscan 5000, which can scan one whole roll without re-feeding, but that is a convenience luxury at several times the cost.

Recommendation for you @Richard Jepsen : since you are entirely 35mm B&W, I would probably go for a dedicated 35mm film scanner to get the most out of the film. In addition to the new scanners, do consider the Coolscans. I got my Coolscan V for about $500 locally, in excellent condition. If you are short in time to get everything scanned, a Coolscan 5000 with the bulk loader might be your best bet.
 
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OP
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Blee, thanks for the informative post. I’m leaning 1st towards the dedicated -135 scanner. I have 5,000 negs, about 15% in medium format. The work I must convert into book form is based on 35mm. I want to self publish at least one book modeled from Robert Adams work.
 
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