[stevebrot]

Do you know if they use a Noritsu machine and details of the scans they give you - horizontal/vertical pixel size, file format and filesize?

Details are on their scan page...

Information on scanning your negatives - The Darkoom

I downloaded the examples and yes, they are Noritsu-Koki scans according to the EXIF. The examples also took a side-trip through Lightroom.


Steve

[Bassat]

Ok thanks for the further explanation on your reasons to use TDR. I was listening to the owner on a podcast last week and he definitely sounded like they work closely with each customer and scan/supply to suit.

Sorry if it sounded like I was criticising your choice not to scan your own film. I probably should have said earlier on that I’m starting to do home dev more, so happy to keep this all in-house. Having read several more Plustek reviews and seem a bunch of results and comparisons, I’m probably going to go with Plustek 8200i SE.

No offense taken. We all do things our own way(s). I don't do any darkroom stuff; tried it once, hated it, never again. I thought PhotoHut was a Godsend! That is how I roll, I know it's not for everyone. TDR does my developing and scanning. I get my prints at Walmart. My wife prints at FreePrints.com.


I think you'll be happy with the Plustek 8200i. I got good results with it. I just don't care for doing that kind of stuff. As you know, I had to try it! Enjoy your scanner. Post some results, please.

[ZombieArmy]

Perhaps the lab used for scanning matters. I use TheDarkRoom.com, and am extremely pleased with their work.

Shot on Fuji 400 rated @ 200, Pentax 645N, 35mm 645A, Tiffen CPL.

Yah but get enough photos scanned and the value proposition really doesn't make much sense. Even with my meager amount of film shots the coolscan 4000 ED made more sense.

[tuco]

Perhaps the lab used for scanning matters. I use TheDarkRoom.com, and am extremely pleased with their work.

Shot on Fuji 400 rated @ 200, Pentax 645N, 35mm 645A, Tiffen CPL.

FYI, on my monitor you have an excessive red component in both the whites of the dead tree and grey rock for daylight color temperature balance but otherwise decent enough.

---

Last edited by tuco; 06-11-2020 at 01:47 PM.

[Bassat]

Yah but get enough photos scanned and the value proposition really doesn't make much sense. Even with my meager amount of film shots the coolscan 4000 ED made more sense.

I disagree. Value is cost over unit time. Paying TDR $5 per 36 frames (sometimes 24) saves me about 3 hours of work, just for the scanning. On top of that, they do simple density and minor color adjustments for me. Just working with round numbers, the $5 per roll scanning cost saves me about 4 hours work per roll.


On the other hand, you paid way more than $5 for a scanner, so you could spend your TIME NOT spending $5 to pay someone else to do it. My method seems way less expensive, to me. Time is money. Money I've got. I'll gladly buy the time.

[stevebrot]

I disagree. Value is cost over unit time. Paying TDR $5 per 36 frames (sometimes 24) saves me about 3 hours of work, just for the scanning. On top of that, they do simple density and minor color adjustments for me. Just working with round numbers, the $5 per roll scanning cost saves me about 4 hours work per roll.


On the other hand, you paid way more than $5 for a scanner, so you could spend your TIME NOT spending $5 to pay someone else to do it. My method seems way less expensive, to me. Time is money. Money I've got. I'll gladly buy the time.

I think we get it that you are happy with machine scans from TDR and that the rest of us are dumb for not doing using them. You are aware that the OP is in Britain, right?


Steve

[goddo31]

@beepaitch, for 35mm scans have you considered the Pacific image primefilm XAs super / Reflecta RPS 10M

Seems reviews of this scanner are scarce online. A film shooter local to me posted a video review of this scanner recently and it sounds really good.
My takeaway is: ~4000dpi, auto focus, batch scanning of entire rolls, and reasonable cost.

Check out the video if you're interested:

You Tube

You Tube

Also on scandig:
Film scanner Reflecta RPS 10M: slide and negative scanner with automatic film strip transport - ScanDig GmbH

[stevebrot]

@beepaitch, for 35mm scans have you considered the Pacific image primefilm XAs super / Reflecta RPS 10M

Seems reviews of this scanner are scarce online. A film shooter local to me posted a video review of this scanner recently and it sounds really good.
My takeaway is: ~4000dpi, auto focus, batch scanning of entire rolls, and reasonable cost.

Check out the video if you're interested:
A Modern Day Pakon Film Scanner - Pacific image primefilm XAs super - YouTube

Also on scandig:
Film scanner Reflecta RPS 10M: slide and negative scanner with automatic film strip transport - ScanDig GmbH

That was my suggestion earlier on this thread. If I need to replace my Coolscan 5000 ED, it will be with the Reflecta RPS 10M. It checks all the boxes.


Steve

[goddo31]

That was my suggestion earlier on this thread. If I need to replace my Coolscan 5000 ED, it will be with the Reflecta RPS 10M. It checks all the boxes.


Steve

Oops. Oh well, if that scanner is as good as it seems, perhaps it was worth re-iterating.
Personally, I don’t shoot a lot of 35mm however I’m still tempted by it!

[hjoseph7]

I went with the Pacifica PrimeFilm XE instead of the Plustek, back in 2014. The reason was (other than it was slightly cheaper) that there use to be this website that use to dig deep on manufacturers claims of scanning resolution. For example the Epson V750 Pro which I also own, claims a scanning resolution of 4800 x 9600 dpi . This website found that this was complete "marketing rubbish" and that the TRUE resolution was actually around 2800 dpi or less.

The Plustek scanner claims were also highly inflated and this was listed on that website. The Pacifica PrimeFilm XE back then claimed a resolution of about 4800 dpi (If I remember correctly) which was actually the closest to their TRUE maximum resolution, although still a little inflated according to this website. The newer model of the Pacifica PrimeFilm XE claims a whopping 10,000 dpi maximum resolution, but I would take that with a Huge grain of salt. My model came bundled with Silverfast which I then upgraded to the Studio version, because of the added features. It also came with the Home grown Pacifica scanning software which in my opinion is a complete waste of time.

The good thing about the Epson is that you can scan multiple frames of 35mm film at a time, plus the VueScan software is much more intuitive and less quirky than Silverfast. The bad is that the scans for 35mm film are not nearly as good as what you get with the dedicated scanner. With the Pacifica you have to sit there and manually push each frame of film through the machine, but the scans come out better ! Sometimes you make mistakes and the film is not aligned properly under the scanner, but you don't realize this until your scan has already begun, this can be a big PITA.

Nevertheless, ever since I got the PrimeFilm dedicated scanner, I use the Epson V750 for medium format and large format film, also for document scanning so I really didn't have to scrap the machine. I found the sweet spot for 35mm film was a resolution of around 2800 dpi or so. Anything bigger than that and you were creating HUGE files that were hard to handle. I also found that it was better to clean your own negatives by hand, rather than use the ICE dust/scratch removal software, or something similar that only seemed to prolong the scans to over 5 minutes or so.

Another important thing when looking into purchasing a scanner is the "D-Max". The D-max determines the Dynamic Range of your scans. A D-max of over 4.0 is highly preferable than a D-max of 3.0.

[stevebrot]

The newer model of the Pacifica PrimeFilm XE claims a whopping 10,000 dpi maximum resolution, but I would take that with a Huge grain of salt.

Very true, though the current version PrimeFilm XAs (aka Reflecta 10M) offers a true 4300dpi from a 5000dpi scan. That is very decent. It is also able to scan a full roll of 35mm unattended (in one side, out the other), which is also very cool.

From filmscanner Web site: Reflecta RPS 10M extensive test report: image quality, resolution and scanning speed


Steve

[jcdoss]

I wish my Pacific Image version of the Primefilm unit you guys like had held together longer. I purchased one, and it had a broken scanner that produced lines in the image. So I replaced it and it worked fine for about two years until it started doing the same. I liked the fact it could do a full roll at once, except when the framing got off center after I stopped babysitting it (ie, underexposed frame, or just random error) which require a re-scan of the entire roll. I know it's supposed to sit on a desk and scan film, but nevertheless I felt like mine was very cheaply put together, and it was quite noisy too... lots of weird knocking noise when it advanced a frame. Maybe mine was defective the whole time? Even so, it was worlds beyond the minute-by-minute handholding that my first Epson flatbed scanner required, and the results were better too. If I ever get the energy, and a few parts, I hope to rescan some of my films with my K-1 mII,

[hjoseph7]

Thank you stevebrot that was the website i was talking about...

[stevebrot]

I wish my Pacific Image version of the Primefilm unit you guys like had held together longer. I purchased one, and it had a broken scanner that produced lines in the image. So I replaced it and it worked fine for about two years until it started doing the same. I liked the fact it could do a full roll at once, except when the framing got off center after I stopped babysitting it (ie, underexposed frame, or just random error) which require a re-scan of the entire roll. I know it's supposed to sit on a desk and scan film, but nevertheless I felt like mine was very cheaply put together, and it was quite noisy too... lots of weird knocking noise when it advanced a frame. Maybe mine was defective the whole time? Even so, it was worlds beyond the minute-by-minute handholding that my first Epson flatbed scanner required, and the results were better too. If I ever get the energy, and a few parts, I hope to rescan some of my films with my K-1 mII,

The frame spacing problem is an issue on my Nikon 5000 ED as well. It will auto-detect the first frame, but often gets the borders wrong. Manual adjustment helps, but may or may not work perfectly. Part of the problem too is that few cameras are fully consistent in frame spacing. As for the noise...my Nikon sounds like a machine shop with lots of grinding and knocking.


Steve

[LesDMess]

The frame spacing problem is an issue on my Nikon 5000 ED as well. It will auto-detect the first frame, but often gets the borders wrong. Manual adjustment helps, but may or may not work perfectly. Part of the problem too is that few cameras are fully consistent in frame spacing. As for the noise...my Nikon sounds like a machine shop with lots of grinding and knocking.
Steve

I've only encountered a handful of color negatives that my Coolscan 5000 got the borders wrong and these were properly spaced and had well balanced exposures. A friend of mine bought a Coolscan 5000 when I bought mine and he was asking me why the borders were off so I scanned those same frames on mine and they came out off centered too. The solution I stumbled upon was to reverse the frames from normally inserting 1-2-3-4-5-6 to 6-5-4-3-2-1 and they came out perfectly.

I finally got the SA-21 (strip feeder) for a Coolscan V I acquired and scanned a few rolls with it and everything works fine. It scans a frame of color negative in about 2 minutes without ICE and 3 minutes with ICE. It is not half as noisy as the 5000 and results are exactly the same except slower. I would definitely recommend the V.