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Nikon Coolscan V ED or Plustek Opticfilm 8200i SE


Xícara de Café

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Hello,

I'm wanting to purchase a 35mm scanner. I currently have my negatives scanned on a commercial Noritsu Koki QSS machine which gives good images sized 3089 x 2048px. I was thinking of buying a new Plustek Opticfilm 8200i SE, however someone recently suggested to me that I consider a Coolscan V or 5000 which would offer "real 4000dpi scanning".

A Coolscan V ED has just appeared on the local market for a price a little cheaper than the Plustek, so I'm considering it.

I wonder if anyone has experience with both the Coolscan and the Plustek Opticfilm 8200i? Will both offer advantages over the Noritsu?

The Coolscan is apparently in full working condition and I can return it at no charge if it's not, but I also wonder if these machines give much work to keep clean/service etc. Is the new machine a safer bet?

I have a Windows 10 machine and various Linux machines to connect via USB. Is Vuescan the recommended software?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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One point to consider - Nikon stopped any service support for their scanners four years ago. And stopped upgrading the software in 2004 (but I've run my 5000ED with Vuescan in the years since.)

As to general maintenance, I have not required much. Only time it had to go to Nikon was after a slight drop, after which the scanner would not pass its self-test on startup.

With only one "port" for the film-carrier, and that with a trap-door to close it when not occupied, it has not needed cleaning - although I think Nikon cleaned it as part of the repair mentioned above.

While the Nikon does deliver full 4000-ppi scans (excellent lens), I noticed that it occasionally produces jaggies or doubled scan lines at that setting (as did the earlier Coolscans I used: LS-10 and LS-20). The stepper motor that moves either the film (LS series) or the CCD array (5000ED/V) either causes vibration, or just skips a bit. I tended to limit the output res to 3000 ppi, which prevented the artifacts. I suppose Nikon could have fixed that, but I have no time for "hangar-queens" that need constant maintenance - I just worked around it. (Ironically, I got spoiled by using Nikon F cameras - which could go 15 years without servicing ;) ).

I have no experience at all with Plustek scanners, but I'm sure either one can do better than the 6-megapixel scans you are getting now. As well as allowing more user-control of the settings - getting good scans requires as much care and attention as getting a good darkroom print.

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Thanks Adam and thanks frame-it. I'm going to check with my camera technician on Monday if he services this machine - if it ever come to that. The link above, and i hope i didn't miss anything, doesn't have any comments with direct knowledge of both machines.

I suspect the Plustek may be slower to use. One review of the 8200i says the following. "For the 8200i SE, prescanning a single slide or frame of film consistently took between 18 and 19 seconds. The actual scanning ranged from 34 seconds at 1,800ppi to 4 minutes 11 seconds at 7,200ppi". The Coolscan V ED: "In about 38 seconds, you’ll have a high-quality digital image at 4,000 dpi." 

The coolscan comes with what I believe is a nikon sa-21 film strip feeder. Here are the pics - i hope they show up in the post:

scaner-de-filme-nikon-coolscan-v-D_NQ_NP_957028-MLB40520801740_012020-F.webp

 

scaner-de-filme-nikon-coolscan-v-D_NQ_NP_906998-MLB40520839171_012020-F.webp

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Hi Xiara

I have the Coolscan V I bought almost 20 years ago and it still works like new. I am afraid I can't comment on the Plustek (but you might ask in the I like film thread as I believe there are some friends there who have experience with Plustek models). I just wanted to say that the V ED is a terrific scanner and that it works really well with Vuescan. Below are a few examples of larger scans to show the quality. It's very good. Yes there is the risk that it might break down and the lack of warranty and difficulty (impossibility?) to have it serviced, but they are available on the second-hand market if you need a second one.

Good luck

Philip 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/philipus/12276108183/sizes/k

https://www.flickr.com/photos/philipus/12276503176/sizes/k/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/philipus/8107907102/sizes/h/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/philipus/27676351653/sizes/l/

And here you have lots of size, including maximum resolution.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/philipus/28144308742/sizes/l/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/philipus/28170378251/sizes/l/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/philipus/27967482920/sizes/l/

 

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  • 1 year later...

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Hi,

I use Plustek 8200Ai edition with SilverFast Ai version of the software.

It makes perfect scans with very details.

In comparison with best flatbed scanner Epson V850 it is much better.

All pictures in my profile here were scanned with this scanner https://www.flickr.com/people/georgestoichev/

 

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