[MD Optofonik]

I've been reading so much about scanning slides; flatbeds, scanners, cameras with macro lenses, copy stands bellows, aps-c, full frame, etc., its making my brain bleed.

Anyway, I read somewhere, goodness knows where at this point, that the XE is very close in IQ to the old Nikon Coolscans. Anyone here use one or read anything similar?

[wombat2go]

The XE is no good for me because I do both 35 mm and 6x7
I just ordered
Pacific Image PrimeFilm 120 Pro Multi-Format CCD Film Scanner with 3200dpi Optical Resolution

These might be on run-out because the price has dropped to about 55% of original retail.

I don't have an old o/s to run this thing, so I am preparing to purchase a refurbished Mac server to hook it on to.

[MD Optofonik]

The XE is no good for me because I do both 35 mm and 6x7
I just ordered
Pacific Image PrimeFilm 120 Pro Multi-Format CCD Film Scanner with 3200dpi Optical Resolution

These might be on run-out because the price has dropped to about 55% of original retail.

I don't have an old o/s to run this thing, so I am preparing to purchase a refurbished Mac server to hook it on to.

It received a good review here (EU version):

Review Reflecta MF5000: medium format scanner for digitizing medium formats from 4,5x6 up to 6x12 as well as 35mm negatives and mounted slides

[Eyewanders]

I received one about 4 or 5 days ago and I am in love with it. It came bundled with their software "CyberView" as well as "SilverFast SE". Other than a couple test scans with CyberView I've only worked with SilverFast and it's output using that comes close to the Noritsu scan I get back from the couple labs I use. I'm new to scanning in this way, and it certainly has been a learning curve to get consistent results but overall it's rather amazing. Clearly if I were to know that I'd want an entire series or set of rolls scanned, I'd likely have the lab do it, but for more casual 1s and 2s, it's remarkable.
I was about to order the PrimFilm 7200u when I saw this had just come out. There's very little info on it so I took a chance and am not disappointed whatsover. B&H had a deal for $270 or thereabouts - not sure if it's still going, but I'd assume so. At that price it's a steal.
Most of my scans have been in the 2700dpi ballpark which produces files in the ballpark of 6-11mb (scanned 48-to-24bit) at approx 3,792 x 3,024 resolution. You can get FAR more detailed scans than that, but I've found 2700 is a happy medium for my work. The files handle curve adjustments and sharpening etc extremely well in Lightroom, but once I got my head around SilverFast I'd have to say they can look quite good directly out of the scanner depending on how you set the scan up intially.
Essentially my entire weekend thus far has been spent in front of this awesome little thing.

One tip - if you do pick up one of these I highly suggest ordering an additional negative holder (and an additional slide holder if you'll be working this slide - to-date I have not).... They are about $12 and allows you to prep another set of negs while the other is in the scanner.

---------- Post added 04-20-14 at 09:08 AM ----------

Here is one example I've posted to Flickr. A very old negative from 1981 shot by my father on Canon Beach. The dust&scratch cleanup works mightily well. I've done some curve adjustment and sharpening/clarity tweaks in LR on this, but it is not so different from the original at all.



---------- Post added 04-20-14 at 09:10 AM ----------

Also, FYI... I scanned a large number form this time period which were all shot on Kodacolor II 200 which Silverfast does not have a profile for, but I found that the Portra profiles work very well for Kodacolor.

---

Last edited by Eyewanders; 04-20-2014 at 09:12 AM.

[MD Optofonik]

I received one about 4 or 5 days ago and I am in love with it. It came bundled with their software "CyberView" as well as "SilverFast SE". Other than a couple test scans with CyberView I've only worked with SilverFast and it's output using that comes close to the Noritsu scan I get back from the couple labs I use. I'm new to scanning in this way, and it certainly has been a learning curve to get consistent results but overall it's rather amazing. Clearly if I were to know that I'd want an entire series or set of rolls scanned, I'd likely have the lab do it, but for more casual 1s and 2s, it's remarkable.
I was about to order the PrimFilm 7200u when I saw this had just come out. There's very little info on it so I took a chance and am not disappointed whatsover. B&H had a deal for $270 or thereabouts - not sure if it's still going, but I'd assume so. At that price it's a steal.
Most of my scans have been in the 2700dpi ballpark which produces files in the ballpark of 6-11mb (scanned 48-to-24bit) at approx 3,792 x 3,024 resolution. You can get FAR more detailed scans than that, but I've found 2700 is a happy medium for my work. The files handle curve adjustments and sharpening etc extremely well in Lightroom, but once I got my head around SilverFast I'd have to say they can look quite good directly out of the scanner depending on how you set the scan up intially.
Essentially my entire weekend thus far has been spent in front of this awesome little thing.

One tip - if you do pick up one of these I highly suggest ordering an additional negative holder (and an additional slide holder if you'll be working this slide - to-date I have not).... They are about $12 and allows you to prep another set of negs while the other is in the scanner.

---------- Post added 04-20-14 at 09:08 AM ----------

Here is one example I've posted to Flickr. A very old negative from 1981 shot by my father on Canon Beach. The dust&scratch cleanup works mightily well. I've done some curve adjustment and sharpening/clarity tweaks in LR on this, but it is not so different from the original at all.



---------- Post added 04-20-14 at 09:10 AM ----------

Also, FYI... I scanned a large number form this time period which were all shot on Kodacolor II 200 which Silverfast does not have a profile for, but I found that the Portra profiles work very well for Kodacolor.

Thanks you so much for the detailed opinion. That shot looks wonderful. I was hoping to see more scans from the XE on your Flickr page. Soon perhaps?

[Eyewanders]

Thanks you so much for the detailed opinion. That shot looks wonderful. I was hoping to see more scans from the XE on your Flickr page. Soon perhaps?

Yup they'll be coming - I just got a large number of rolls back from the lab prior to picking the XE which were all scanned for me there. Seriously adjusting my workflow. I also picked up a Pakon F135 which I intend to use for everyday whole-roll batch processing, proofing and less critical shots. The XE will blow it away for anything I'd like to really work with though.

So for the moment, other than a couple comparison shots I did early on (Noritsu lab scan vs PrimeFilm - I should do a few more of those now that I've gotten the hang of the XE), I'm going through older negatives. I've gone through a TON over the weekend but I don't like mass-dumping onto my Flickr. I'll try and get them all up on my google+ account and post the link in the next day or two. A bunch are from old B&W negs from my highschool photography class more than 20 years ago. Hadn't seen most of those since - been a blast!

---------- Post added 04-22-14 at 01:28 AM ----------

They are uploading now... may take a bit.

1981 scans: https://plus.google.com/photos/117658803310762693600/albums/6005029299949995...CMnkysriiMefJQ
1991 scans: https://plus.google.com/photos/117658803310762693600/albums/6005028680302497...CNGuop_l1OKLdA

---------- Post added 04-22-14 at 01:30 AM ----------

FYI no iSRD (dust/scratch removal) done on the B&W shots as it does more harm than good for a true B&W emulsion.
** I've also just realized that these are for the most part straight out of the scanner. The export I shared with family on Facebook was via Lightroom where I did a bit of cropping, curve/clarity adjustments etc... but the images in the linked albums here have had nothing done to them except perhaps a couple that were briefly touched/tweaked with Picasa. Many are directly from SilverFast SE. All of them responded extremely well to adjustments in LightRoom later on.

[Nesster]

Looks very interesting... here's the flickr group for it
https://www.flickr.com/groups/1725665@N20/

[Not a Number]

It received a good review here (EU version):

Review Reflecta MF5000: medium format scanner for digitizing medium formats from 4,5x6 up to 6x12 as well as 35mm negatives and mounted slides

It's known as the Reflecta ProScan 10T - available in Germany only at the moment
Reflecta ProScan 10T 35mm film scanner totes 10,000 spi resolution - SlashGear
https://reflecta.de/en/products/detail/~id.734/reflecta-ProScan-10T.html

With a resolution of 10.000 dpi , a dynamic range of 3.9 Dmax and an extreme fast scanning time of 7 Min. for a color scan with 10.000 dpi and 24 Bit color depth,

[MD Optofonik]

Lots of confusion on the web about Reflecta and Pacific Imaging and their various models. The XE is the one we're discussing here which is the same as the 10T and either only accept 35mm.

---------- Post added 04-22-2014 at 07:36 AM ----------

Looks very interesting... here's the flickr group for it
https://www.flickr.com/groups/1725665@N20/

It appears that is for a different scanner, not the XE or 10T.

---------- Post added 04-22-2014 at 07:36 AM ----------

Looks very interesting... here's the flickr group for it
https://www.flickr.com/groups/1725665@N20/

It appears that is for a different scanner, not the XE or 10T.

---------- Post added 04-22-2014 at 07:47 AM ----------

Yup they'll be coming - I just got a large number of rolls back from the lab prior to picking the XE which were all scanned for me there. Seriously adjusting my workflow. I also picked up a Pakon F135 which I intend to use for everyday whole-roll batch processing, proofing and less critical shots. The XE will blow it away for anything I'd like to really work with though.

So for the moment, other than a couple comparison shots I did early on (Noritsu lab scan vs PrimeFilm - I should do a few more of those now that I've gotten the hang of the XE), I'm going through older negatives. I've gone through a TON over the weekend but I don't like mass-dumping onto my Flickr. I'll try and get them all up on my google+ account and post the link in the next day or two. A bunch are from old B&W negs from my highschool photography class more than 20 years ago. Hadn't seen most of those since - been a blast!

---------- Post added 04-22-14 at 01:28 AM ----------

They are uploading now... may take a bit.

1981 scans: https://plus.google.com/photos/117658803310762693600/albums/6005029299949995...CMnkysriiMefJQ
1991 scans: https://plus.google.com/photos/117658803310762693600/albums/6005028680302497...CNGuop_l1OKLdA

---------- Post added 04-22-14 at 01:30 AM ----------

FYI no iSRD (dust/scratch removal) done on the B&W shots as it does more harm than good for a true B&W emulsion.
** I've also just realized that these are for the most part straight out of the scanner. The export I shared with family on Facebook was via Lightroom where I did a bit of cropping, curve/clarity adjustments etc... but the images in the linked albums here have had nothing done to them except perhaps a couple that were briefly touched/tweaked with Picasa. Many are directly from SilverFast SE. All of them responded extremely well to adjustments in LightRoom later on.

Thanks for sharing those. I won't be back at my workstation till tonight but even on my phone the images look great. This could be a better solution for me than trying to get a film era Auto Bellows Slide Copier to work with my APS-C sensor for about the same price.

[Eyewanders]

Lots of confusion on the web about Reflecta and Pacific Imaging and their various models. The XE is the one we're discussing here which is the same as the 10T and either only accept 35mm.

---------- Post added 04-22-2014 at 07:36 AM ----------



It appears that is for a different scanner, not the XE or 10T.

---------- Post added 04-22-2014 at 07:36 AM ----------



It appears that is for a different scanner, not the XE or 10T.

---------- Post added 04-22-2014 at 07:47 AM ----------



Thanks for sharing those. I won't be back at my workstation till tonight but even on my phone the images look great. This could be a better solution for me than trying to get a film era Auto Bellows Slide Copier to work with my APS-C sensor for about the same price.

Precisely - it's my understanding that for most Relfecta models there is a corresponding Pacific Image model, the latter being their U.S. distribution. Same scanners, but they'll be difference in software sometimes. Not certain, but yeah my PIE PrimFilmXE is the same scanner as the Reflecta ProScan 10T found in Europe.

In terms of Flickr groups the most useful I've found this one.. https://www.flickr.com/groups/isf_scanner/ There's a discussion about this scanner there as well.

Optofonik, I'd thought of that sort of setup as well, but every time I began to consider it starting to put it together it just seemed like so much work. Awfully happy with this choice though.

[MD Optofonik]

Precisely - it's my understanding that for most Relfecta models there is a corresponding Pacific Image model, the latter being their U.S. distribution. Same scanners, but they'll be difference in software sometimes. Not certain, but yeah my PIE PrimFilmXE is the same scanner as the Reflecta ProScan 10T found in Europe.

In terms of Flickr groups the most useful I've found this one.. https://www.flickr.com/groups/isf_scanner/ There's a discussion about this scanner there as well.

Optofonik, I'd thought of that sort of setup as well, but every time I began to consider it starting to put it together it just seemed like so much work. Awfully happy with this choice though.

It's a bit later in the day now and I'm looking at a few more on my phone while we wait for actors. Again, I'm looking forward to seeing these on my workstation but on my phone they look like the grain is resolving well. Have you had a chance to examine just how sharp the grain actually is to your eyes?

[Eyewanders]

It's a bit later in the day now and I'm looking at a few more on my phone while we wait for actors. Again, I'm looking forward to seeing these on my workstation but on my phone they look like the grain is resolving well. Have you had a chance to examine just how sharp the grain actually is to your eyes?

I'm at work now also so can't access the original scans (and those on the Google+ links are resized by about 1/2). The attached crop here below is pretty unscientific but should give you some idea. This one has some post done to it and can't tell you at what settings I scanned it in with but the original file (which you should be able to see the original of from the flickr link) is 3788x2579 and 10.6mb.

Original post-processed (not original scan)


Crop of that file attached:

[MD Optofonik]

Wow. It begs the question, are all those overpriced, used, unsupported, Nikon Coolscans finally obsolete?

Can't wait to see them on a calibrated NEC.

[Eyewanders]

A couple images here for comparison. Just got another couple rolls back from my lab here, so I put one image through the PrimeFilmXE and did some LR post work on it and put it up against the Noritsu scan of the same image. Shot with Pentax MX on Portra 400.

Noristu lab scan:


PrimeFilm XE scan + LR post:

[MD Optofonik]

A couple images here for comparison. Just got another couple rolls back from my lab here, so I put one image through the PrimeFilmXE and did some LR post work on it and put it up against the Noritsu scan of the same image. Shot with Pentax MX on Portra 400.

Noristu lab scan:


PrimeFilm XE scan + LR post:

I'm finally back at my workstation. Had to Google what a Noristu was. I'm a bit shocked. Under close examination the grain from the Noristu has been reproduced better, as is to be expected. What I find unexpected is that the XE is not doing a bad job at all; on the contrary, it's doing an amazing job. It's only when I look closely at the scarf and the bokeh that I see a real difference in detail. Considering the vast difference in specs I would expect either much better from the Noristu or much worse from the XE. I also compared your XE scans to the Nikon Coolscan 9000 pool on Flickr. With the Coolscan having been heralded as the gold standard for amateur scanning for so long I almost expected the XE to fail miserably but it doesn't. Chickentender, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to post all this.