I already owned Silverfast Ai Studio 8 and had the program installed for use with my 8200i. My experience during setup may be a bit unique, but it’s an acceptable use case, and highlights what will likely be a common problem that both Plustek and LaserSoft Imaging didn’t take the time to preemptively remedy.
DRIVER SCANNER PLUSTEK SOFTWARE
And while I understand that users might opt for VueScan instead, I wanted to test this scanner with the software that I would ultimately be paying money for. Plustek bundles this scanner with Silverfast Ai Studio 8 a very powerful yet horribly designed piece of software. That was not the case with the OpticFilm 120. It’s loud as the carrier enters the scanner body and gets even louder when the CCD makes its optical passes over the negatives.Īs a consumer paying a premium for this scanner, I expect the experience of setup to be smooth. Lastly, if silence is important you may want to look elsewhere because this thing sounds like a ninth grade robotics experiment gone bad. The carriers themselves are quite long, so the additional length is something that users with shallower desk space should be cognizant of. Moreover, the front loading entry point of the negative carriers only adds to the awkward form factor of the scanner. I suspect the flap is intended as a dust prevention measure during transport, but this doesn’t make much sense to me. When the scanner is plugged in, the flap makes it impossible to sit flush against a perpendicular angle. The back of the scanner houses two plug entry points (one for power and one for data) which are confusingly hidden by a plastic flap. Unfortunately, that’s where the industrial design strengths come to an end. Both the front and rear negative carrier openings are sealed by a plastic door when the carrier is not inserted. Plustek scanners are famous for having great dust control, and the OpticFilm 120 affirms that reputation nicely. This is in stark contrast to my 8200i’s 35mm carriers, which feel flimsy by comparison. Opening them up to retrieve the film is simple as well, made possible by a small knob on the end of each carrier a design choice that feels both purposeful and attractive. Supplied with carriers for 35mm, and every flavor of 120/220 film (6 x 4.5, 6 x 6, 6 x 7, 6 x 8, 6 x 9, and 6 x 12), each carrier has strong magnets that snap tight and force flat even the most curled of negatives. Scanning veterans know the importance of keeping film flat, and the OpticFilm 120 does an outstanding job at this due to its extremely well-designed negative carriers. It’s roughly double the girth of my 8200i (and about four times as heavy), which isn’t bad for a dual format scanner, and its aesthetics aren’t anything to turn away from either. Marketed as a scanner for both professionals and amateurs alike, the Plustek OpticFilm 120 is quite a remarkable piece of hardware. The unit feels hefty and solid like I’m dealing with a pro-level machine. I’d already achieved stellar results with my Plustek 8200i, so I figured the OpticFilm 120 would be a cut above. I looked into purchasing a Noritsu or Frontier machine, but the fear of it breaking and the scarcity of parts was just too much for me to swallow.įortunately, James was able to get his hands on a Plustek OpticFilm 120 to demo. Do-it-all scanners like the Epson v800 produce decent results, but the v800 lacks the resolution I was yearning for (at least on 35mm). Sadly, this dumped me into a rather depressing category of film shooter I was shooting too much film to justify the cost of having a lab do it, but I needed a scanner that was going to scan both 35mm and medium format film (and here’s the important part) do so at lab quality.įlatbeds were out. It worked fine for sharing images on Instagram, or just simply digitally archiving old photos, but as my shooting volume and printing requirements increased, it became clear that I was going to need a more professional-level scanner. When I returned to shooting film a few years ago, I picked up an Epson v550. But if you’re the type of shooter that’s interested in more than just sharing photos on social media or the web, then a consistent and reliable scanner is of paramount importance. It’s time consuming, and confers the same level of enjoyment as things like yard work, dusting the house, or attempting to converse with your drunk uncle at a holiday gathering at least for me, anyway. By the time I’d tested the Plustek OpticFilm 120 scanner, I’d tried plenty of scanners and was pretty worn out.
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