Plustek???

[koraks]

You can still buy new SCSI cards for reasonable prices.

I think in the PC world it's a little easier to hook up legacy devices to modern hardware than in the Mac realm.
If I had a LS2000 sitting around doing nothing, I'd probably try to get it going - just 'because', if only that!

 

[Helge]

I don’t have either (yet), and I generally don’t place too much credibility on reviews, BUT, I did look extensively at both of these and ruled out the Pacific Images devices, due to negative reviews and general lack of reviews. For example, the XAplus has only 5 reviews on Amazon US with an average score of 2.2 out of 5, and on B&H Photo only 3 reviews with same average. By contrast, the Plustek 8200ai has 260 reviews with an average of 4.2 out of 5, and B&H has 201 reviews with an average of 4.1 out of 5. The 8200i has a 4.1 out of 5 rating on Amazon out of 667 reviews.

If I were you, and had to take a chance on importing something, I would not want to go “out on a limb” with a product that has very low volume of sales and negative reviews ( the XAplus), and risk ending up with an “expensive boat anchor” . I’d stick with something that has more and happier users (Plustek)!

I also don’t think that either vendor’s DPI claims should be looked at. I highly doubt that the Pacific Image can do anywhere near “10000dpi”…. Most of the Plustek feedback I got said the Plustek should be used at half the claimed DPI: 3600 instead of 7200. I think both are dealing with “empty magnification” at their peak rating…. Just creating extra unusable data to clog up hard drives, with no gain in real resolution.

Just my opinions!

By the way, looking at Reflekta here: https://www.scandig.com/filmscanner/reflecta/index.html , they appear to be re-badged Paciific Images scanners ( or vice-versa?) . The pictures are identical!

Update: yes they are the same: Pacific Image XA = Reflekta RPS 10M

Your advice is heeded and very much appreciated.
Thanks.

The XA and RPS 10M is the same.
The newish XA Super is probably not.

The XA is the best 135 scanner available on the market “right now” on paper, and I’d pay the premium for even the Reflecta version if it didn’t come with allegedly a number of compromises and vulnerabilities.

 

[runswithsizzers]

I would do that if it was easy, But the LS-2000 has a SCSI interface, and it is basically impossible to interface to any modern computer. I do have a Power Mac G3 tower (23 years old) that I used to run it on, which I may fire up at some point, but that’s probably not a good long term solution

I understand. Not sure how comfortable I would be trying to relearn everything I've forgotten about Mac OS8.

I was actually able to use my SCSI film scanner on Intel Macs under OS10 up until 2019-2020 by using a RATOC SCSI to Firewire adapter (now discontinued).

Honestly, I wonder if any film scanner is a good long term solution(?) It is going to be increasingly difficult to keep the old Nikons and Minoltas in use. Hopefully, the newer offerings will continue to be developed, improved and supported, fingers crossed.

 

[Lew_B]

You can still buy new SCSI cards for reasonable prices. Here's what Newegg offers: link

Mark

Hi Mark,

Thanks, I am aware of that, but then I'd need a cheap windows 7 PC in order to possibly get a working driver, or perhaps Vuescan might support it (??). The question is moot for me though, I'm on Macs with Apple Silicon! Lew

 

[Helge]

Anyone know where to purchase the Plustek 8300i AI in the EU?
Seems to have disappeared from all channels.

Also, any further experience with the scanner?
Has the IR channel offset been fixed?

 

[braxus]

I have the Primefilm XAs scanner and it is indeed a very good scanner. Much better than the Plustek. The thing I hate about it is it doesnt play well with Windows 11. It worked fine with Windows 10. I cant use the forward or reverse buttons to align the film frame, so I end up doing things the hard way. Its also a slow scanner to use at higher DPI's. It takes me 4 hours on average to scan up a 36 roll of B&W. Color adds extra time. Im really thinking of switching to digital cameras for scanning down the road, just to speed things up.

 

[benveniste]

Hi Mark,

Thanks, I am aware of that, but then I'd need a cheap windows 7 PC in order to possibly get a working driver, or perhaps Vuescan might support it (??). The question is moot for me though, I'm on Macs with Apple Silicon! Lew

I'm have a Adaptec 29320LPE Ultra320 SCSI card installed and working under Windows 11 using driver version 7.0.0.12. Admittingly, I don't use it very often, but it works fine with my Canon 4000US.

 

[Dennis S]

I have the Primefilm XAs scanner and it is indeed a very good scanner. Much better than the Plustek. The thing I hate about it is it doesnt play well with Windows 11. It worked fine with Windows 10. I cant use the forward or reverse buttons to align the film frame, so I end up doing things the hard way. Its also a slow scanner to use at higher DPI's. It takes me 4 hours on average to scan up a 36 roll of B&W. Color adds extra time. Im really thinking of switching to digital cameras for scanning down the road, just to speed things up.

I have mine working quite well with Vuescan on my Windows 11. A few quirks to set properly but PrimeFilm XAs works well & fast for me at 2500 DPI

 

[braxus]

I have mine working quite well with Vuescan on my Windows 11. A few quirks to set properly but PrimeFilm XAs works well & fast for me at 2500 DPI

What version of Vuescan are you using? I gave up on Vuescan working 100% on Windows 11 with this scanner. Everytime I press those adjustment buttons, my scanner goes nuts and goes into scanning mode without actually scanning the neg. And you can't get out of that mode. You have to power off the scanner to get it to stop.

 

[Helge]

Is there a EU equivalent of the PrimeFilm XAs in the Reflecta rebrands? Or is it still the same old model?

Does the roll scanning work with this scanner? Yeah or nay?
People are very divided on this. Some claim that is the best thing since sliced bread, and others say it doesn’t work at all, and is actually making the scanner far worse than the Plustek scanners.

 

[brbo]

Computer required

reflecta.de

 

[Helge]

Computer required

reflecta.de

The S version.
The above appears to just be the same old machine offered since 10 years ago.

 

[brbo]

There is no Reflecta RPS 10S. Reflecta RPS 10M is PrimeFilm XAs. PrimeFilm XAs was replaced by XA Plus.

 

[Helge]

There is no Reflecta RPS 10S. Reflecta RPS 10M is PrimeFilm XAs. PrimeFilm XAs was replaced by XA Plus.

Sorry meant the Plus of course. Is the Plus version available under the Reflecta rebrand?

And how well does the auto feed work?

 

[Dennis S]

What version of Vuescan are you using? I gave up on Vuescan working 100% on Windows 11 with this scanner. Everytime I press those adjustment buttons, my scanner goes nuts and goes into scanning mode without actually scanning the neg. And you can't get out of that mode. You have to power off the scanner to get it to stop.

I just make sure the settings are all correct before I activate it and not use preview just scan. It did what you mentioned as the preview scanned them all but saved nothing. I mostly go with 12/6 frames at a time to make sure it was set properly then do the rest and I have the latest version of VueScan.

 

[braxus]

I dont even get the preview stage if I use those forward or reverse buttons. Sounds like yours does the same.

 

[Dennis S]

I dont even get the preview stage if I use those forward or reverse buttons. Sounds like yours does the same.

There are just so many options available it took quite a bit to get it set properly so it took me several/many tries to get it properly set but once I did it was working great and with films that have a lot of curling it is a great scanner to have.

 

[braxus]

Does it still do the scan loop with no scans (after pushing those two buttons) if the computer is off, but the scanner is on? Im wondering what you mean by setting it up properly? How so?

 

[Dennis S]

Yours is with the PlusTek 32 bit as 64 bit will work but uncontrollable.? Mine with computer off nothing works the only time I am at my scanner is when I do the first one and make sure it is centered properly and then controlled with all the PlusTek controls (DPI, Crop, Color, and output)

 

[Helge]

Just had this conversation with Plustek customer support.

Answer to initial query about the 8300i

“Dear Helge,

thank you for your interest in Plustek products!
OF8300i AI is only available in US Amazon.
You can consider OF8200i Ai instead.”


Me “Dear Elena

Does Plustek have any plans of bringing it outside the US? If not, then why not?
I don't want to buy an outdated model when a new improved one is available.
The advantages with the 8300i in software and speed is significant.

Kind regards
Helge”


Answer

“Dear Helge,

No, there are no such plans.
This is our company policy.


Best regards,
Elena Shakhova”



I don’t know about you, but I find that pretty unacceptable.
The 8200 is ten years old and comes with Silverfast 8 where 8300 comes with 9 as default.

Even if a free upgrade to SF within 3 months exists. It’s still more limited in use with other scanners than the plain 9 that comes with the 8300.
It’s high time for an upgrade.
In all territory’s.

Importing is stupidly expensive and you run the risk of transport damage and difficult returns. And then you need to worry about power and plugs.

 

[albireo]

Helge, is this the one you're looking for?

Plustek 8300i Amazon.de

It's on Amazon Germany, dispatched by Amazon, and sold by the Plustek EU store. Seems pretty legit, and the fact that Amazon takes care of the logistics means you can return it no problem during a 1 month window.

EDIT - I think this is the same hardware-wise as the AI but doesn't bundle the IT8 target

 

[Helge]

Helge, is this the one you're looking for?

Plustek 8300i Amazon.de

It's on Amazon Germany, dispatched by Amazon, and sold by the Plustek EU store. Seems pretty legit, and the fact that Amazon takes care of the logistics means you can return it no problem during a 1 month window.

EDIT - I think this is the same hardware-wise as the AI but doesn't bundle the IT8 target

Yeah, I eschewed that early in the process of looking and forgot about it.

Sucks that you don’t get the IT8 target and the full version of SF.
But I’d rather have the faster scan time and overall newer hardware, as this is not going to be my main scanner (DSLR scanning is).
This is for when away from home and when I need IR channel and to reverse a lot of C-41.

Ordered it to get it over with.
Research before purchase is good, but there is such a thing as research to paralysis.

Anyone know of an alternative source for a IT8 target?
SF you can upgrade from Lasersoft.

 

[koraks]

Anyone know of an alternative source for the for a IT8 target?

You can get them from Wolfgang Faust in Germany.

Affordable IT 8.7 (ISO 12641) Scanner Color Calibration Targets

IT 8.7 (ISO 12641) Scanner Calibration Photos for ICC Colour Management Profiling

www.targets.coloraid.de

 

[_T_]

I've used a few different dedicated 35mm film scanners over the years and I was very unhappy with the PrimeFilm XAs. It was a big pain in the butt to get the film aligned and it took forever to scan, the film rollers never held the film perfectly flat so some parts of the frame were always out of focus, but all of that was within the realm of acceptability. The main problem I had with it is that it would occasionally create deep scratches across the entire strip of film that I fed into it. Ruined quite a few negatives just by feeding them into XAs before I got fed up and switched to a flatbed.

 

[250swb]

There's a lot of emotional energy in this thread dedicated to getting working properly what is essentially an obsolete piece of kit. If anybody has a DSLR that has 24mp or above put your energy into that as a scanning tool.