Using the Plustek 120 tips, tricks, how-to's

[fventura]

Hmm... Not encouraging to hear Fabio !
I really don't understand why Plustek gives not a bit more of information about what they updated in the latest patch. A simple text file would have been enough !

btw Did you have to re-install Silverfast ?

No issues with Silverfast,
but the driver refused to install after several tries, thus, Silverfast or Vuescan would not recognize/see the scanner.

I am unsure yet of what the update does....

I am going to scan a roll of B&W 35mm now, but then, I did not have any issues with 35mm before.


Fingers crossed

 

[sdotkling]

Wow. You guys just talked me out of buying a Plustek.

 

[fventura]

Wow. You guys just talked me out of buying a Plustek.

to be fair, I do get great scans from it, and the problem installing the new firmware could be a combination of things, some of Plustek's fault, some not.

Yes, the frame alignment problems I have are an indicator of an "unfinished" , or under developed product.


I just scanned a roll of 35mm, no problems there.


Unfortunately, not a whole lot of options out there anymore. (with "support" and warranty)



Fabio

 

[Fernando2]

Hello,

Vuescan 9.4.45 claims a few improvements for this scanner:

What's new in version 9.4.45

• Document feeders no longer require Professional Edition
• Added support for multi exposure on Plustek OpticFilm 120
• Added support for multi sampling on Plustek OpticFilm 120
• Improved infrared cleaning on Plustek OpticFilm 120
• Improved support for other Plustek OpticFilm scanners

I'm expecially interested in the "Added multi-sampling" bit: could it be that Hamrick found a firmware entry to enable SINGLE-PASS multisampling (not multi-pass multisampling as it is now in Silverfast)?

Did anyone tried this version?

Thanks!

Fernando

 

[V-12]

Wow. You guys just talked me out of buying a Plustek.

Any problems are Silverfast based, not the scanner.

You do need to install Silverfast in order to install the drivers, but after that you can use Vuescan and even un-install Silverfast.

V

 

[kanzlr]

No idea but "Improved infrared cleaning on Plustek OpticFilm 120"!
yay!

I had huge problems with that in VueScan in that the IR channel was off by a few pixels, whereas in Silverfast it worked fine.

 

[hanskerensky]

No issues with Silverfast,
but the driver refused to install after several tries, thus, Silverfast or Vuescan would not recognize/see the scanner.

I am unsure yet of what the update does....

I am going to scan a roll of B&W 35mm now, but then, I did not have any issues with 35mm before.


Fingers crossed

Well, last week i installed the new Plustek driver.

Power Off scanner.
Uninstalled old driver from Plustek by using start programms shortcut.
Re-started PC (W7 32b)
Re-started PC again
Installed new driver.
Re-started PC
Re-started PC again
Power On scanner
Start Silverfast the normal way (no reset)

Everything went very well.

Some time ago i had reported Silverfast an issue with the Scanner when scanning parts of 6x6 color negative at 10500 ppi. Scan was a mess.
Silverfast acknowledged that problem (could be reproduced by them)
However did not have a solution at that time.

2 weeks ago i received message from Silverfast that problem was solved with new Plustek driver.

After installing and testing i can confirm that the problem seems to be solved.🙂

 

[fventura]

OP 120 resolution and focus (accuracy)?

OP 120 resolution and focus (accuracy)?

I would like to make sure my OP 120 focus is within its specs,
sometimes I wonder....
I am not sure if I expect more or too much from , say 35mm film, or if my scanner has " drifted" . Without being able to adjust focus, i am at a loss...


Anyway, I have purchased a resolution target from Silverfast, any guidelines for best results?


Thanks in advance!



Fabio

 

[MartinN]

Scanning the USAF-1951 is straightforward. If you like me have found that scanning the emulsion side down is giving better resolution you insert the target into OF120 35mm slide holder 'upside down -flipped' to get emulsion down. Then you select positive film - 35mm slide holder and resolution. I made a test series with resolutions (input in Silverfast) from 3200dpi to 10600dpi and was able to get about 4200dpi real resolution from the tables using 5300dpi scan resolution. From this experiment I deduced that I can get by with about 4000dpi scan resolution and preserve almost all detail. You determine the real resolution by judging the scan at 100% zoom. I don't use any sharpening or other filters in SF except perhaps levels(histogram).

 

[MartinN]

Well, the USAF1951 is on super-high resolution lith film so you can never expect to get that much resolution from normal color negative film. If you want to get extremely high resolution in your BW negatives you could try Ortho 25 ISO film, but it is scarce now.

 

[fventura]

Scanning the USAF-1951 is straightforward. If you like me have found that scanning the emulsion side down is giving better resolution you insert the target into OF120 35mm slide holder 'upside down -flipped' to get emulsion down. Then you select positive film - 35mm slide holder and resolution. I made a test series with resolutions (input in Silverfast) from 3200dpi to 10600dpi and was able to get about 4200dpi real resolution from the tables using 5300dpi scan resolution. From this experiment I deduced that I can get by with about 4000dpi scan resolution and preserve almost all detail. You determine the real resolution by judging the scan at 100% zoom. I don't use any sharpening or other filters in SF except perhaps levels(histogram).

Thank you!

I have off the next two days, I will try to scan the target then. Otherwise it will be next week.

By the way, i just scanned some Elitechrome 100, and I think it was very encouraging! It was pretty good!


Fabio

 

[fventura]

Well, the USAF1951 is on super-high resolution lith film so you can never expect to get that much resolution from normal color negative film. If you want to get extremely high resolution in your BW negatives you could try Ortho 25 ISO film, but it is scarce now.

Thank you! I do like Acros 100, maybe I was expecting too much from it.
I shot it with a Leica M6 + Voigtlanter 50mm 1.5 and an Ultron 28mm f2, the 28mm seemed a bit too soft. The 50mm was better, much better.


Fabio

 

[MartinN]

Thank you!

I have off the next two days, I will try to scan the target then. Otherwise it will be next week.

By the way, i just scanned some Elitechrome 100, and I think it was very encouraging! It was pretty good!


Fabio

Those Elitechrome images look very detailed and sharp to me so I think you should not be concerned of a misaligned scanner. I always get my slidefilm a bit soft but maybe it's my camera and lens. Such results were common to me when I used Plustek OF 7500 but it's sad I havent scanned much slides with my OF120. Thats because it's so easy to develop color negative at home.

 

[fventura]

Those Elitechrome images look very detailed and sharp to me so I think you should not be concerned of a misaligned scanner. I always get my slidefilm a bit soft but maybe it's my camera and lens. Such results were common to me when I used Plustek OF 7500 but it's sad I havent scanned much slides with my OF120. Thats because it's so easy to develop color negative at home.

Yes, you're right, once I started scanning that roll of elitechrome, I was sure sharpness and detail are not an issue with my scanner.

Also isrd with the latest firmware and software works much much better than when I first started using it.

...and actually Silverfast has been very very stable on my 6 year old PC


Fabio