Plustek Scanners: What are the practical differences?

[msbarnes]

From what I gather the differences among the 7400, 7600i, and 8100, 8200i is the IR dust cleaning capabilities and software packages; similarly the differences between the 7200, 7200i, 7300, and 7500 with respect to the newer models (7400 and up) is the light source (LED vs Cold Cathode).

1. So does this mean that the image quality (dmax, resolution, and etc.) among these many models is essentially the same? I don't care about the IR dust/scratch cleaning.

2. All the auto features and Silverfast versions confuse me...I'm a little lost here. I don't think I really need auto-anything because I typically just scan my B&W as positives and do the rest in photoshot (invert, adjust levels & curves). So can't I just get vuescan and scan everything as 16-bit B&W negatives using any of the models?

It seems to me that if I do decide to go with plustek then all I need is the 7200 or 7400 (if I want something faster). I know there are other scanners out there (minolta, nikon, and reflecta) but I'm trying to get this plustek thing figured out.

 

[Ansel]

Yes, they are all the same except the IR. I have the 8100 which I picked up new for very little on eBay. Once you get your settings right it produces results, which in my experience, exceed the Nikons

 

[BlackXList]

Very glad you asked this, I've been thinking that it was about time I started properly scanning my negs, and on the surface the Plustek options are way more appealing to me than using a flatbed (I only shoot 120 very occasionally).

So I look forward to learning from this thread.

 

[Mablo]

For B&W negs I think the 7400 is the sweet spot for price and quality. I usually scan my B&W negs as 48bit RGB because I feel I get more consistent scanning results that way. See my Flickr for some examples.