Reviewed on: 10/May/2006
50%
Purchased From:
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Price Paid:
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Introduction
The Plustek OpticFilm 7200i is a 7200 dpi film scanner capable of scanning 35mm slides and negatives.
The scanner is stylish looking and looks as if it belongs on the desk next to your computer. It comes packaged with a slide holder and a film holder ready for scanning and also includes a USB 2 cable that will be needed to connect to your PC. It also comes with a carry bag that would be useful for photographers on the move.
It should be considered that this review is written from the point of view of a casual photographer (i.e. a holiday photographer, not a professional!).
I tested this item with some negatives from holiday snaps and the first thing that struck me - as with other Plustek items I have tested, the scanner comes with a lot of software you must install (a pet peeve of mine). One bit of software plus drivers should be sufficient but this scanner comes with 4 pieces of software. Mr. Photo is a photo organiser and isn't worth your while. Unfortunately it seems you can't do without the rest of the software.
Once installed and ready to go, its fairly easy to use. There are two buttons on the front (apart from the on button), Intelliscan and QuickScan for the two different modes. The Intelliscan button takes care of the iSRD function which attempts to remove any dust and scratches on the negatives. It makes a good effort at this without losing much on the scan quality.
But the problem is that with or without this feature the scan quality isn't actually that great in comparison to a standard flatbed scanner - although obviously a flatbed scanner can't scan negatives.
It must be noted also that in order to use this tool effectively you have to know exactly what negatives you are using and choose from the given drop down box, I suspect this will not be an issue for the serious photographer but for me it was a trial and error issue!
Good Points
Relatively small and sleak looking, in fitting with the modern desk!
Reasonably quick scanning at just under a minute for standard scans.
Etxtra iSRD feature.
Bad Points
Scan quality isn't up to much even by my standards!
Too much software.
The Verdict
This is an interesting scanner but ultimately I think the overall scan quality is below what the user will expect.
This would certainly be a great help to those with a need to convert loads of old slides into photographic format. However, I suspect the standard is not what is required by professionals or even the casual photographer and I suggest you are better off sticking with flatbed scanners and actual photographs if you want to digitise your photo albums.
