Primefilm XA Plus vs XE Plus Film Scanners 35mm

I currently already have the XA-S film scanner, and seeing if upgrading is worth while. My main issue with the XA-S is its really slow to use at 5000 and 10000 dpi. And I do use those resolutions as well. B&H currently has both the XA Plus as well as the XE plus scanners available, and the XA Plus is more expensive. Both seem to do 10000 dpi. What is the differences between these two scanners, and which one is technically the better unit (in all senses of the word)? Will they at least have the same, if not better scan quality that my XA-S gives me? And have they solved the film advance issue with these new models that I run into with my XA-S? My unit advances the film in inaccurate ways at times and its a pain to correct. Whos bought these? And I assume both new models have digital ICE onboard?

Just did an AI question. The XA-Plus is the better scanner. 4.2 density, faster speed, auto focus, and automated batch scans.

Anyone have anything else to contribute?

Just installed the XA-Plus (replaced my old, but still working PrimeFilm XA Super edition). Seems that the cable provided by the manufacturer didn’t work on my machine, so I used the cable from the XA Super which seems to work—at least the CyberView software finds and works with the new scanner. Everyone probably knows that the CyberView software is a little creaky, but works.

VueScan cannot find the scanner, however. I do no yet know if this is a hardware issue … maybe related to the cable issue? i will try different ports switching out the older but working cable with the manufacturers’ cable provided with the new scanner. I also filed a report with VueScan and I await any suggestions they may provide. I also purchased a mid-level license from SilverFast: the good news there is that the SilverFast software recognizes the scanner; the bad news is that SilverFast software cannot manage to properly feed a six-frame strip; it invariably takes up the film strip and aligns the scanner perfectly but at the second frame.

I will provide additional information pending what I can get done. Naturally, I kept the older model because …. well that’s what you do if you want to continue work whilst debugging other peoples’ products and software.

Honestly, if someone provided a dependable scanner at the 1 - 2 K (US) price point, I’d purchase it and spend more time making images and less time revisiting software/hardware problems.

TomR55 said:

Seems that the cable provided by the manufacturer didn’t work on my machine, so I used the cable from the XA Super which seems to work—at least the CyberView software finds and works with the new scanner.

Click to expand...

Then Vuescan not detecting the scanner is likely not a hardware issue. Either a USB device enumerates, or it doesn't. There's generally no in-between. If it enumerates, it will generally be detected by the application software and it will then also generally work. It's exceedingly rare to have a device enumerate successfully and then not work reliably, although intermittent connection issues can result in the device 'dropping out' from time to time.

VueScan is a bit of a special case since it basically ignores the device drivers installed on the operating system and uses its own, internal device drivers. Still, this makes it reliant on the same USB enumeration process as any other hard/software combination. So my guess is that for some reason your VueScan version just doesn't work with this type of scanner. Is it explicitly listed as compatible? Also, I assume you tested with the CyberView software closed when you opened VueScan; I can see how there will be a conflict if you try to have both open at the same time.

braxus said:

My main issue with the XA-S is its really slow to use at 5000 and 10000 dpi.

Click to expand...

What's the realistic upper limit of what it resolves? 3000-4000dpi or so? I never got the use of tying to scan something at 10kdpi with a consumer scanner. No way on earth it resolves anywhere close to that. It's basically just a waste of time and digital space. YMMV, you do you and all that, of course.

I use the 10K scans in 8K videos, whether they are oversampled technically over the optical resolution or not. I downrez them a little during that process to end up with the 8K file. Also it helps with half frame shots too with oversampling. Im aware the scanners rez isnt higher then 5000 dpi, but I'd have to uprez the file one way or another for the video anyways.

braxus said:

Im aware the scanners rez isnt higher then 5000 dpi, but I'd have to uprez the file one way or another for the video anyways.

Click to expand...

That would be a massively faster process, even if you use an AI uprez tool that optimizes sharpness (although don't expect too much from that).

koraks said:

Then Vuescan not detecting the scanner is likely not a hardware issue. Either a USB device enumerates, or it doesn't. There's generally no in-between. If it enumerates, it will generally be detected by the application software and it will then also generally work. It's exceedingly rare to have a device enumerate successfully and then not work reliably, although intermittent connection issues can result in the device 'dropping out' from time to time.

VueScan is a bit of a special case since it basically ignores the device drivers installed on the operating system and uses its own, internal device drivers. Still, this makes it reliant on the same USB enumeration process as any other hard/software combination. So my guess is that for some reason your VueScan version just doesn't work with this type of scanner. Is it explicitly listed as compatible? Also, I assume you tested with the CyberView software closed when you opened VueScan; I can see how there will be a conflict if you try to have both open at the same time.



What's the realistic upper limit of what it resolves? 3000-4000dpi or so? I never got the use of tying to scan something at 10kdpi with a consumer scanner. No way on earth it resolves anywhere close to that. It's basically just a waste of time and digital space. YMMV, you do you and all that, of course.

Click to expand...

Correct. Ed Hamrick replied to my inquiry (within 24 hours!), and after several email exchanges we discovered that the CyberView installation somehow put the CyberView application in an unexpected place. Once I moved it back into the Applications (on a Mac) directory, things worked.

This is the second PIE scanner I’ve owned (replaced the first, a PrimeFilm XA Super with this XA Plus). IIRC, PIE doesn’t provide very clear documentation re: installation. For anyone considering this unit, note that on the rear of the scanner is a yellow sticky note which says (something to the effect) to make sure to download and install the CyberView software BEFORE connecting and powering up the scanner. The instructions that ship with the scanner do not say specifically that the software must be loaded on the machine BEFORE the scanner is connected and powered-up. I don’t know if this accounts for this particular problem, however.