Plustek Opticfilm 7300 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been using this scanner for a couple of days now, and have scanned approx. 50 negs.
Pros: Works as promised. Installation is quick and easy. You can get the software installed and ready to work in minutes. I tried both Quick Scan and Intelliscan. If you are trying to preserve your treasured memory recorded on your negs, don't bother with Quick Scan as its result is quite poor. Intellican, together with SliveFast software, on the other hand can produce very good results. I'm now using Intelliscan exclusively to scan all my negs into digital photos. SilverFast software is powerful and feature rich. There are many switches and knobs you can turn to adjust your scan result. The build quality of this machine is also very impressive.
Cons: I consider these things minor, but they do affect user experience.
1) There are 3 Quick Start guides when you open the box, how will you know which one to go first? Well, let me document it here so everyone else can save some time. Follow the Quick Start guide for hardware and driver installation first. If you don't want to bother with Quick Scan that generates poor result, skip the guide on that. Follow the guide on SilverFast software installation guide. Once finished, you can start scanning your negs and slides using Intelliscan.
2) The learning curve for SilverFast is steep because its documentation is not very well organized. The CD does contain QuickTime movies that explain various features in the software, but there is nothing to connect them together to give you a bigger picture on the work flow that you will go through. But I still find that to be more useful than the doc.
3) The film holder is not the easiest thing to use. I wish it had "teeth" that can quickly and easily hold your neg strips in place.
4) If you plan to scan all your negs accumulated over the years in one weekend, it won't happen.
Conclusion: Overall, it's a very good machine that gets the job done. Result is good, and price is reasonable. For all the memory recorded on your early pictures, spending a bit time to preserve it is well worthwhile.


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High resolution film scanner now offers you with enhanced Multi-Sampling and Multi-Exposure for more quality images...The Plustek OpticFilm 7300, a dedicated 7200 dpi film scanner, now brings you a more powerful scanning device with its added Multi-Exposure for negative film and also the Multi-Sampling functions brings out the best quality on photos and images at the most affordable price.Plustek OpticFilm 7300 bundles the latest LaserSoft Imaging’s SilverFast 6.5 SEPlus (MultiExposure) software. The SilverFast 6.5 SEPlus (MultiExposure) software enhanced with powerful Multi-Exposure, Automatic Frame Detection, , SilverFast-Basic,NegaFix, Selective Color Correction, Auto Adjust, USM, plus many many more(For more information, please visit www.SilverFast.com)Plustek OpticFilm 7300 combined with SilverFast SEPlus ME makes it a perfect combination which outstand all other film scanner in the market. The most ideal film scanner for most users including home users, photographers and small office / workshop users!PLUSTEK MULTI SAMPLINGTo minimize noise, the Plustek multiple sampling function makes 4 scans during scan time, since the noise patterns changes each scans, the image is averaged together and noise cancel out if inconsistencies are present. See the photo below of a normal scan and Plustek MULTI SAMPLING scans.

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Acer AcerScan ScanWit 2720S Film Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Contrary to the first reviewer, a passive terminator is not needed if this is the only SCSI device in the computer and you are using the bundled SCSI card. All I needed to do was plug in the SCSI card, hook up and scanner, install the driver, and boom, it's working! You do, however, need a terminator if you're hooking up the scanner to a third party SCSI card (ex. Adaptec). The scanner produces excellent scans for negatives, and very good results with slide films. Bundled software, Mirafoto, has ver nice features and is easy to use. However, for certain negative films it does not produce the most accurate colors, but that can easily be corrected in any imaging software (Photoshop 5 LE is included). For this price, this scanner is an excellent buy!

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Share your digitally optimized photographs over the Internet using the Acer AcerScan ScanWit 2720S. This impressive film scanner offers professional and amateur photographers excellent digital editing and reproduction capability. The ScanWit 2720S comes with Adobe Photoshop LE and Ulead Photo Express software, providing an expansive range of artistic and creative image editing options. This economical one-pass scanner has high optical resolution of 2,700 x 2,700 dpi and 36-bit color scans that differentiate more than 68.7 billion colors for superb image quality. Maximize the shadow detail of your slides and negatives, from the darkest to the brightest tones, with this scanner's dynamic range of 3.2. You can scan mounted 35mm slides in a maximum four-unit batch, or scan a 35mm negative filmstrip with up to four-unit batches. Automated positioning and focusing features ensure a sharp image, and a push of the scan button allows you to preview loaded frames. The 40-second scan speed makes the process efficient and easy. System requirements include Windows 95/98/NT, 35 MB RAM, a CD-ROM drive, and a PCI slot. Acer provides a one-year limited warranty with its 48-hour Hot Swap policy. --Carol Pierce

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Microtek ScanMaker 8700 USB Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have to add this to my previous review, in all fairness to reviewing. I had to return my 8700 to Microtek. After a phone call to tech support, he determined that my unit may have had a hardware problem due to the inconsistent manner my scanner would or would not work. It would or would not scan the image-it might do a partial scan then black out the rest-or it might scan correctly-I just never knew what it would do.
When you would click the arrow in the toolbar to shut it down, it would not respond.
I did not get an owner's manual with my first scanner. So I sent it off; the replacement was a different story. It worked! It has not given me any "partial" scans; it has shut down properly everytime, and it had the owner's manual.
After e-mailing tech support to find out about the dynamic range, (indicates how a scanner might produce shadow detail) I found out it was a 3.2. This is not so great; I had noticed on more than a few slides that the shadow detail was lacking.
For me, this scanner prints better from negatives, as the film I use has very good latitude. 2400x1200 dpi optical for 35mm is okay but if you are serious about your work, wanting enlargements, your negatives or slides better be super sharp, with good contrast-otherwise I would look for a higher dpi output, or try a larger negative format.
To wrap this up, I wish this scanner had a better dpi output and a higher dynamic range-I would say the two most important characteristics, besides very sharp scans. Otherwise, the scanner is easy to use; the other features make it enjoyable to use. I would give it 3 stars, but the ability to print from larger negatives-4x5, 6x6-6x9 film negatives or unmounted slides, or 8x10 transparency holder w/glass hopefully will help out the quality of my enlargements-will have to wait and see.

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The Microtek ScanMaker 8700 features an exclusive, patented dual-media design that allows you to scan both reflective surfaces and transparencies. It accepts legal-size documents, 35mm film slides, acetate sheets, and full-size books.
Microtek's innovative EDIT (Emulsion Direct Imaging Technology) eliminates Newton rings (blemishes caused in some scanners by interfering panes of glass) to ensure perfect, unadulterated image quality every time. True single-pass 2,400 x 1,200 optical resolution captures an unprecedented 1.44 million pixels per square inch, combining razor-sharp detail with the vivid clarity of 42-bit color depth.
Standard Macintosh and PC USB connectivity is augmented with the renowned FireWire linking kit. FireWire's lightning-fast transfer rates and superior data integrity maximize the 8700's efficiency while retaining the versatility of previous ScanMaker models with the regular USB port connection.
Enhanced interface software and an expanded utilities package provide powerful tools for user-friendly graphics and document manipulation.Included are Adobe Photoshop 5.0 LE, Trellix Web designer, Microtek ScanWizard, Kodak Digital Science color management, and more.

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Canon CanoScan 8800F Color Film/Negative/Photo Scanner (2168B002) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I also bought this to scan slides -- however, while the slides are the standard slide size in terms of the holder, the slide film itself is square instead of rectangular like most modern slides (mine are about 1.44" x 1.44"). For some reason, the default size of the cropping the 8800F uses when you select 35mm slides is not user-changeable. I wrote the company and got a standard answer back that basically said "we're not changing the software to make you happy". I think they misunderstood me, but whatever...
Fortunately, I found the answer quite by accident. It turns out that in order to make the scanner work for my situation (and maybe yours), I simply had to uncheck the "Switches On/Off the Thumbnails View Mode" button and that allowed me to manually create the right size crops. It also means I can use the 35mm strip holder instead of the 35mm slide holder and leave the old slides in their metal slide magazine holders, saving me even more time.
After figuring that out, I'm happy to say this scanner exceeds my expectations and makes me a happy camper now that I can no longer use my Konica Dimage Scan Dual IV with my Vista-based PC. The hardware is very sturdy and speed is great. 1200 DPI scans take less than a minute each.
If you want more information on how to manually set-up to scan older slides, leave me your email as a comment to this review.
Hope that helps.
Steve

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The Canon CanoScan 8800F Color Film/Negative/Photo Scanner features high-luminance white LED lamps, which means it can scan immediately without warming up. Its simple, streamlined design includes seven simple buttons you use to scan, copy, create emails and multi-page PDFs, and automatically scan with an incredible color resolution--up to 4800 by 9600 dpi. With the CanoScan's sophisticated retouching technology, you can improve old and precious photos by digitally removing dust and scratches from antique, faded, or otherwise aging prints. The CanoScan 8800F is able to simultaneously scan up to four slides or twelve 35-millimeter frames, using either positives or negatives. In addition, a USB 2.0 interface makes scanning and image transfers faster than ever.
The CanoScan 8800F includes a compact 10.7-by-18.9-by-4-inch design and weighs 9.2 pounds. This flatbed, color, and monochrome scanner is compatible with Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Mac OSX 10.2.8 through 10.4.x. It includes a CD-ROM with printer driver, setup software, and user's guide, Adobe Photoshop Elements, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, MP Navigator EX, NewSoft Presto! PageManager (Windows only), and ScanSoft OmniPage SE. In addition, the manufacturer offers a 1-year limited warranty.
What's in the Box CanoScan 8800F color scanner, AC adapter, Adobe Photoshop Elements CD-ROM, cross sell sheet, quick start guide, setup software and user's guide CD-ROM, warranty card, film guides (35-millimeter negative/positive, 35-millimeter negative/positive mounted slides, 120 roll film strip), power cord, and USB cable.

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