Plustek opticfilm 120

<p>Hello everyone.<br>

I need help with buying a film scanner , I use two cameras Rolleiflex 2.8f and Mamiya 7 so my film is color negative 120 Kodak Portra 400 and 160 only. And I need to scan negatives and print for local show , I plan to print 70x70cm and 70x80cm for 6x7 film or something like that. I also would like to scan some other negatives to post online.<br>

Anyway I have several options like Epson V750 used Nikon Coolscan 8000 and what most interests me is Plustek opticfilm 120<br>

About 6 month ago I bought Epson V750 in scanned some 120 negatives but the result was horrible all comes out soapy all out of focus, pink lines on the sides color was off etc. Film holders was cheap plastic , so I return it back . May be I should have used betterscanning adjustable holders. Or maybe wet scanning? But it did not work for me,<br>

Nikon Coolscan 8000 also has cheap plastic film holders and as far as I understand can not be use with glass film holders to keep film flat. ( can not afford Coolscan 9000 even used.)<br>

At this moment I read about Plustek Opticfilm 120 and it seems to be a great scanner for $2000 but very few people using it, and not that many test reviews to trust. Few people had focussing issues, and as far as Iv read Silverfast soft has some issues also. Also focus can not be adjusted on this scanner, I am not into scanners and I am do not know if it is a problem with focus adjustment but all I need is a good and reliable machine to scan my negs<br>

There are several Plustek opticfilm 120 scanners are selling on ebay new by Adorama and B&H for $2000 but people still buying Nikon 8000 and 9000 used ones. Is there something that is wrong with this scanners that I am not aware of?<br>

Any thoughts on this would be very helpful <br>

Thanks<br>

Alex</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I know little about the Plustek scanner, but the Nikon Coolscan 8000 and 9000 are usually considered excellent scanners. The two versions share all the same film holders as far as I know, so there is no discrimination to be made between the older and newer models on that basis. All the holders are plastic, but I am not sure that "cheap plastic" is a fair description of any of them - they are at least a lot more robust than the holders I have seen on some scanners! While it is true that many have expressed qualms about the standard (non-glass) holder in terms of film flatness when trying to get critically sharp scans, most end up happy with one or another of the glass holders that are available. The best bang for the buck with the Nikons is probably the 8000, especially if you are willing to modify the standard holder for glass. The latter is actually a pretty common activity among Coolscan owners, due to the high cost of the original glass holders.</p>

<p>There are some sample images from the plustek 120 scanner on flickr. I think there is also a user group there, so you can pose some questions. I sold my Nikon 9000 scanner with glass holder for a good deal of money....enough for a re-manufactured transmission for my SUV! So yes, I know what you mean about the high prices. But the Plustek 120 looks like a very nice scanner.</p>

<p><em>Nikon Coolscan 8000 also has cheap plastic film holders and as far as I understand can not be use with glass film holders to keep film flat.</em> <br>

The 8000 has very robust film holders, both for 35 mm and for 6x6. The film can be made perfectly flat by purchasing a piece of ANR glass from betterscanning.com for $29.99. This piece of glass fits the Nikon holder perfectly, like it was made for it. I think it's better than the Nikon glass holder, which only does one frame at a time.<br>

I think the 8000 is going for about $800 right now, which is not that much more than the Epson 700 series. If you buy it and it doesn't work for you, you won't lose much selling it again. Don't bother with Nikon scan--just get Vuescan.</p>

<p>I recently bought a Plustek 120 after my excellent Nikon 9000 died. With the Nikon, scanning 120 b/w film, I always used the glass negative holder as Nikon's regular holder never kept the film flat enough. The Plustek holder is more solid and I have not had any problem: the scans are in perfect focus throughout. Not having to use a glass holder saves me a lot of time in spotting, and the Plustek is also faster than the Nikon. The Silverfast software bundled with the Plustek is a little more complex than I need (I'm basically just looking for a good histogram and do all my fine tuning in Camera Raw and then Photoshop), and it requires some workflow adjustments. But it's certainly useable, and the scans are superb. </p>

Do any Opticfilm 120 owners know if Silverfast supports scanning of XPan type 24x64mm frames ? It looks like the 35mm film holder has

a position for them, but I can't find out if the software supports it... TIA