The Plustek 8200i is a great way to get started archiving all of those memories. The scanner is well built, includes trays for both slides and film negatives, and has very robust software for both the Mac and PC included in the box. They also included a nice carrying case to store the unit dust free when it's not in use.
The process of scanning is slow and about the same as it would be with a comparable flatbed scanner. The included software is a bit complex and takes some time to learn. It's disappointing that the scanner won't work directly with Photoshop or Aperture. The scratch detection works ok, but is sloppy in complex images. You might be better off fixing things in a recent version of Photoshop which has more advanced algorithms for pixel replacement.
Those gripes aside, this is an excellent way to archive old photographs. I plan to use this quite a bit this winter to archive family memories.
What a horrible ordeal it was to get the drivers and software loaded. The instructions are terrible. I could actually do a QuickSan on a slide but the results would only render a negative and there are absolutely no controls/adjustments available via QuickSan. When pressing the IntelliScan button that brings up SilverFast, the software would pop up but the Source box was always empty. This would not allow me to enter my license number and therefore could not use the software.
I have a Lenovo W530 laptop running Win8.1 with an i7 processor and 32gbs of memory. Plenty powerful for this scanning system. For three days now I have been trying to get this scanner to work. I would load the OpticFilm drivers from the hardware CD and then load the SilverFast software. SilverFast would never find the scanner! So, I found upgrades for both PlustTek drivers and SilverFast, loaded them and even that would not work. So here is the final process that did work.
- I attached the scanner and turned it on (the later part was not noted in the instructions!)
- I loaded the UPDATED scanner drivers and NOT what was on the provided CD
- Rebooted the laptop
- Went into the Registry (regedit on the command line) and had to enter the scanner serial number for the first find on OpticFilm 8200i (this seems to be the big problem!)
- Rebooted the laptop
- Loaded the SilverFast software from the provided CD as this contains the license authentication information
- I opened SilverFast and noted it still did not find the scanner
- Rebooted the laptop
- Loaded the UPDATED SilverFast
- Opened SilverFast and now it finally found the scanner!!!! It asked me for the license number and wanted to validate it against the original CD so had to put that back in the CD player. From here I finally could access the software.
I have scanned a couple of slides and they are FANTASTIC! I am only giving this 4 stars because of the hassle in getting the software to load. I so did not want to pack this scanner up and send it back. I have been a technical person for 30 years. All the reviews talked bad SilverFast customer service so I knew that is somewhere I wouldn't be going. This seems to be a great scanner and only takes about 3-5 minutes for a 3800 dpi scan with dust correction. Listen to the videos and take notes as this is a somewhat complex software that I do not find as intuitive to use as the developer of the software does. But as with any software, you eventually learn how to use it. I hope this review helps someone who experienced the same problems I did.
For the price I hope you have a lot of film to scan. I have been using this item for the last 2 weeks nearly every day scanning slide film and negative silm. Silverfast is awesome! I will say that scanning at full resolution of 7200 ppi with Multi-exposure and iSRD on will take a lot of time (something like 18 min per frame). The quality of the scans depends on the quality of your film. I have the analog prints for a lot of the photos I scanned and the noise is very visible. With the super high resolution I am able to process the pictures much better and create a clean image to output.
Getting your photos scanned by a company at the same level as why you can get from this unit will cost about $0.90 so you will need to scan about 556 pictures to make the scanner worth it. That's about 23 rolls of film with 24 exposures. If you have less film and want more versatility get an Epson V600 for less than $200. The quality is not the same, but its still pretty good for digitizing your family photos.
I'm getting acceptable results with this unit when scanning at half (3600 dpi) resolution. At 7200dpi it's almost unbearably slow- especially if you use the IR scratch removing feature. In any case, this is still the best film scanner w/software package I've found for under $1000. It cannot perform miracles with badly faded, dark or color-shifted photos- even if you spend a lot of time tweaking the settings in the software. But for film and slides that are in pretty good shape, the quality of the scans is very good.
Purchased new April 2017 and as of September 2018 the scanner has averaged about 800 color slide/negative scans per month with no reliability problems or degradation of quality. Great black and white negative scans too. Typically scan at 40+ MB per imagine. I use VueScan scanner software but purchased the 8200i SE model with Silver Fast SE software, but have not used the SilverFast software.
Feature Product
- Built in infrared channel can detect dust and scratches on the surface of the original negatives and slides. It is highly useful for defect removal without retouching the images
- Bundles Lasersoft Imageing SilverFast Ai Studio 8 ( US 299 )
- Standard IT8 Calibration Target (ISO 12641-1 compliant 1997) helps you ensures accurate color results , reducing the need for repeated scans or extensive post processing color correction
- HDRi function - captures this information into a 64bit color HDRi file or a 32bit greyscale HDRi file
- Support Windows XP/ Vista/ 7/ 8/ 10 and Mac OS 10.6.x ~ 10.14.x (Mojave) , user can download driver from Plustek website.
Description
The Plustek Optic Film 8200i Ai is a powerful scanner with 7200 dpi resolution. Its sharp optical system produces excellent detail in shadow areas and remarkable tonal range. A built-in infrared channel helps users remove dust and scratches on the original negatives and slides without additional post-processing. With the included IT 8 calibration slide, this powerful scanner consistently delivers accurate colors and detail. The well-designed hardware features of the Optic Film 8200i Ai combine perfectly with the professional scanner software Silver Fast from Laser Soft Imaging. Silver Fast Multi-Exposure increases dynamic range, reduces noise and increases picture details. Silver Fast iSRD for dust and scratch removal can save images from dust and scratches and optimize images. Silver Fast Auto IT8 Calibration color calibrates the scanner device in just 2 minutes. The Plustek Optic Film 8200i Ai scanner is bundled with the newest version of Laser Soft Imaging’s acclaimed scanner software - Silver Fast 8. The Workflow Pilot guides users through all scanning and processing steps. Silver Fast 8’s new graphical user interface reduces the learning curve, and the preview mode allows users to immediately see the results of any adjustments made, even the results of complex functions. Silver Fast 8 supports Multi-Tasking and the latest 64-bit hardware and is extremely fast and efficient. The Plustek Optic Film 8200i Ai gets professional quality results from any photographic original. It is used by professional photographers, amateur photographers, graphic designers, image enthusiasts, and those who highly demand image quality on photo enlargements.
I am happy to say that with a little work, this scanner scans just as good as the noritsu over at the photo lab.
Just gotta be patient since it is not an automatic process, but in my opinion this gives you more time to admire your images and you catch things you probably would have not seen otherwise.
Overall great film scanner!
The bundled SilverFast software is very easy to use. The color balance adjustments are very good and the infrared scan really does a great job to remove dust and scratches from old negatives and slides. I now almost never need to do added touch-ups with PhotoShop. Very very happy with the results
I've been looking for a good way to scan 35 mm slides and negatives I've been accumulating since the 1970's and this is it. The resolution of the scanner and included software allow one to convert old slides/negatives into digital format. It takes a little time to learn the software, but once you've got that down, scan to your heart's content and know your images will be saved more or less forever. Highly recommended.
It will help us get the records we need
Has done an excellent job on slides. Have not tried it yet on color negatives. It took a great deal of trial and error in order to get the software to do a good job. The "edit" mode is the one I am currently using, which seems to be a general usage setting.
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