Plustek 7600i SE and 35mm prints?

Hi everyone,

I've been doing a lot of reading around the web but am not really sure of some things so I thought I'd post here.

First, I currently use an Epson 4490. It's a pretty good scanner but I find that my 35mm scans are quite a bit softer and lower resolution than my 645 medium format (120) film scans. I did a whack of 8 x 10 prints to check and it seems to be the case.

Second, I shoot street and photojouralistic and documentary stuff, and including events and occasionally weddings.

So I've been comtemplating just shooting medium format for everything (love the look of film) but it's heavy! However, if it's a sacrifice I have to make then I gues I'll just have to work out. However, I want to make use of my 35mm gear as it's very capable and a bit lighter but the prints I'm getting from the scans from my Epson 4490 are... well, lacking.

My question is:

Is the Plustek significantly sharper than the Epson 4490 (I shoot black and white on my 35mm gear) and have enough resolution to make nice files that can be used to create sharp black and white prints (8x10 is all I need. Maybe 11 x 14 max?)? ... I can get 8 x 10's from the Epson 4490 but, as mentioned, they're quite soft compared to the medium format scans on my Epson 4490.

Thanks!

The Epson can make a very decent 8x10 provided you use a good quality film holder when you scan.
Check out Custom film holders for Agfa, Microtek, Canon and Epson film scanners..

I have the Plustek and love it

Although I can't make any comparison to your scanner, never had it or seen a scan from it, I can tell you the (test) prints I've made with the Plustek so far look really good. The reflecta Proscan 7200 should deliver the same quality, but with faster scanning times. In the US reflecta is sold as Pacific Image I believe.

I have no experience with scanning and have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, so I assume they can only improve if you have more knowledge. I just adjust the prescan till it looks about right. I find slide films scans best, followed by negative. B&W is more difficult for me, I read somewhere that it needs to be treated differently when scanning, but haven't practiced this yet.

The prints I've made so far are from ISO 100 and 400 slides and they look great up to A3 and A2. Everybody has their own tolerance for grain, I find even the ISO 400 ones acceptable at A2. In A3 there is almost no grain, only if you put your nose to the print there is some. But this is according to my standards, you would have to see it yourself. The scans show more grain on screen than in print.

Downsides: manual feeding and loading of the film. There are also options for multiple pass scanning and scratch/dust removal, which make scanning times quite long.

If you would like to see some of the test scans I made let me know. I posted some on my flickr account for someone else, but I'd have to add you as a contact and a family member, because I don't want the images to show im my stream, they're just test shots.

Cheers,

Daniel

i vote plustek

I have the epson v700 and also the plustek 7600i and am able to get better results from my plustek. I actually love the plustek. I actually enjoy scanning film. I use silverfast, of course. I find it nails the color and give me great resolution. I do want to add scanscience's film holder and glass to be able to wet scan 35mm in my plustek.