Plustek scanners?

[mrred]

More scans

Perhaps for more interest I posted a strip test for borax and rodinal. These would give you a better look at detail through vuescan.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterbcarter/sets/72157621747994875/

 

[pellicle]

Hi

Perhaps for more interest I posted a strip test for borax and rodinal. These would give you a better look at detail through vuescan.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterbcarter/sets/72157621747994875/

quite interesting. I hope you'll be able to provide that negative for our testing. The weather it looking unpredictable (sadly today was picture perfect).

Personally I feel that while there is additional detail visible (I've been peeping this sort of thing since 2000) that the benefits in scanning that are moot.

Its key to consider the destination size of print in this, which is often ignored.

For instance, this scene:

scans to this detail at 2700dpi on a Nikon LS-20 (pre ice, sharper than LS-30 but marginally less res than LS-40 and later).

while peeping down a x30 Pentax microscope at the slide itself shows more detail in the building...

Its not as blurry as that, but my microscope does not have a camera attachment and that's as good as I could focus and hand hold down the eyepiece ... note the slight blur to the distance scale which is sharp through the eyepiece too.

But the point becomes strained when you actually wish to do large prints with these as there is a character (tonality) which is strained at this magnification too ... so ultimately I found that moving to larger film formats (6x9cm or 4x5 inch) made an enormous contribution to image quality.

Interestingly I do find that 35mm is right at the point where its swings and roundabouts with APS sized sensor digital (or even 4/3rds).

If you haven't read this article I wrote then I think there may be something of worth in there for you.

 

[mrred]

quite interesting. I hope you'll be able to provide that negative for our testing.

I generally don't keep strip tests, but I have some strips left from that run and I can re-develop them in the same way. Just let me know which ones you want to see.

It's kind of funny with KB400. I bought 2 100' cans of this stuff and thought it was a big mistake blaming it on the $17 I paid for each. I could not get the extreme grain out of it. So I decided to use it for all my alchemy; and experiment I did. This is the film I discovered what using infra-red bw conversion could do for me then optimizing the development accordingly. Two cans later, I now like it. Sadly only those strips are left..

 

[gmikol]

What are the forums opinions on Plustek scanners. I'm thinking in particular of the 7600AI model. A (very) cursory search throws up some differing opinions on the earlier models; but what about the above? A friend has suggested I trawl the used market for a Nikon coolscan or Minolta Dimage.

Another one I was planning on trying or learning more about is the Pacific Image Primefilm 7250.

My first post on this forum, but I happen to have had the unique opportunity to test out the Plustek 7500i (same optics as the 7600, but the 7600 has an LED light source instead of CCFL), the Nikon LS-5000 and the PrimeFilm 7250 Pro3 side-by-side.

Here's what I think: The Nikon beats the pants off the other 2.

Here's the more useful response... In terms of the trusty USAF bar patterns, they all do about the same: Group 6, Element 1 or 6,2 (the Nikon). But the Nikon is far sharper than the other 2 (has better MTF all the way out to extinction.) If the Nikon can be considered a true 4000 dpi scanner, then the other 2 are, at best, soft 3600 dpi scanners.

The Plustek does not have AF, and it cannot automatically feed film strips, nor handle strips longer than 6 frames. I also found that while most scanners have good control over exposure, the Plustek can only change exposure in full-stop increments, and that the base exposure is a little strong. It might be better served by hacking it with a 0.1ND over the light source. (Since the 7600 has a different light source, I don't know whether this still applies). You can get the 7500 and 7600 packaged with SilverFast AI for a reasonable price, so that is a plus.

The PrimeFilm 7250 Pro3 can feed a whole roll of film (if you're careful to keep the film clean), has AF, and seems less prone to chromatic aberration on high-contrast edges. But the stock software is horrible IMO, so plan on purchasing VueScan or SilverFast. The 7250u (the one nsouto linked to), is non-af, and no automatic film transport, but as far as I know the same optics.

In terms of color, while all 3 produced slightly different renditions straight off, all 3 scanners profiled very nicely, and the profiled results from all 3 are very similar. The Nikon has the best Dmax, followed by the Plustek and the PrimeFilm. The PrimeFilm tends to be a bit noisy in the shadows, but cleans up nicely with multi-pass scanning (which can be slow relative to multi-sampling). I could not detect any registration problems, even with a 16-pass scan for the PrimeFilm, but the Plustek did show some registration problems on the multi-pass scans.

I didn't test ICE or GEM performance, and I didn't measure scan times.

For 35mm only, I think any of the 3 are a better option, and in general, better performers, than the Epson V750, which is the other choice in this price range, though the Epson is very noise-free, and has great DMax. If you need MF or LF capability, the the Epson is really the only budget choice.

Well...that's a really long-winded introduction to the forum, hope I didn't put you all to sleep.

--Greg

 

[pellicle]

Greg
welcome aboard

My first post on this forum, but I happen to have had the unique opportunity to test out the Plustek 7500i (same optics as the 7600, but the 7600 has an LED light source instead of CCFL), the Nikon LS-5000 and the PrimeFilm 7250 Pro3 side-by-side.

Here's what I think: ...

Well...that's a really long-winded introduction to the forum, hope I didn't put you all to sleep.

--Greg

and no, not at all Glad you posted

 

[Blighty]

I thought I'd just update you all. I got a Nikon Coolscan V ED. I'm totally blown away with the results. I'm very impressed with the ROC feature on this little scanner. A lot of my slides from the 70s (when I was 'nobbut a lad') were less than accurately exposed, but the ROC feature does just what it says on the tin. The Nikonscan 4 interface is a little counterintuitive, for me at any rate, but otherwise fine. Many thanks for your advice. Regards, B.

 

[pellicle]

I thought I'd just update you all. I got a Nikon Coolscan V ED. I'm totally blown away with the results.

bewdy ... glad to hear you like it.

I know the nikonscan is bewildering, but just don't forget to set a focus point (ctrl+click the icon and click location)

if scanning negatives definitely read my blog post on that!

Ohh ... don't forget to set up colour management too ... you know, assign the right profile ... makes things even easier