Plustek Opticfilm 7200i SE

timothyd · 03-02-2008

I bought this film scanner wanting to get my photos onto my computer and just to be able to see more of my images up close. I have been printing myself, and because it is so time consuming I take pictures and develop way more than my printing skills can keep up with.

Stupidly, I bought this without asking if it was mac compatible. After opening the box and plugging everything in a few minutes ago, it occurred to me that it is not. Am I correct? Is there a way I can use it on my mac?

If not, what mac compatible film negative scanner do you recommend for a similar (or lower) price at the same or better quality? Thank you.

venchka · 03-02-2008

Which operating system are you using? Epson & Microtek make flatbed scanners that are Mac compatible. The Nikon Coolscan V ED may be Mac friendly. The discontinued Epson 4490 and 4990 are decent and when you find them, cheaper.

This question came up recently here. Search before you buy.

craygc · 03-02-2008

I havent checked, but maybe 3rd party software such as Vuescan may be your answer

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Well, I did just go back and check and as Sitemistic said... they dont work with Macs

wray · 03-02-2008

Neither Vuescan nor Silverfast support this scanner on the Mac!

foto_fool · 03-02-2008

In another thread someone mentioned running the Plustek 7200 on the Mac under dual-boot, but you would need to own a copy of Windows. It looks like the new 7300 and 7500 models ship with drivers for the Mac.

bmattock · 03-02-2008

I would have liked to run the Plustek as well, but I run Linux - also no driver for vuescan on Linux for the thing. Sorry to hear it won't work for you, either.

Gradskater · 03-02-2008

I have a Plustek 7300 and use it with a MacBook. I think the scans are incredible, but I don't have anything to compare it to other than the scans from the local drug store. I use it with Silverfast if the negative is really scratched, and with vuescan if it isn't. The scratch/dust filter is a lot better on silverfast, but the scans take twice as long as a vuescan scan at the same resolution. Sell the 7200 if you can and get a 7300.

Baldadash · 03-04-2008

Gradskater, does the Plustek 7300 scan black & white film if you don't use Silverfast?

ItsReallyDarren · 03-04-2008

Ive seen some programs that can let the user run windows based programs in OSX in an emulation mode. Dont remember any names of the top of my head but I know Ive seen two different programs that can do such thing.

Baldadash · 03-04-2008

IRDarren, I believe you are refering to Parallels and Bootcamp for Intel based Macs. Parallels runs the PC OS inside Mac OSX and you can toggle back and forth (similar to Virtual PC from back in the day). Bootcamp is a separate PC OS on a different partition of the Mac harddrive. All that said, I have no experience with paripherals on either. http://www.apple.com/support/ would have the answer.

benno · 03-04-2008

Paralells works ok for USB thumbdrives and syncing a PDA for me. Printing too.

I probably would work with a scanner.

Baldadash · 03-04-2008

anyone,
does the Plustek 7300 scan black & white film if you don't use Silverfast?

bmattock · 03-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baldadash

anyone,
does the Plustek 7300 scan black & white film if you don't use Silverfast?

I don't know, but many people choose to scan B&W film as if it were color and then desaturate in PS. So I suspect you could always do that.

Baldadash · 03-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmattock

I don't know, but many people choose to scan B&W film as if it were color and then desaturate in PS. So I suspect you could always do that.

I'm not sure I follow... I had read (on RFF) where a lot of new scanners won't scan B&W film because of the dust/scratch removal feature.

EmilGil · 03-04-2008

They will scan any film but the dust/scratch removal feature won't work.

Baldadash · 03-05-2008

EmilGil, thanks. I couldn't find any documentation on the 7300, so I ordered one anyways. I don't mind cleaning up images in PSCS3. Also, I'm thinking about getting Alienskin's Image Doctor. My friend who's a retoucher (digital & film) swears by it.

Gradskater · 03-05-2008

sorry i didnt get back sooner. I havent tried scanning black and white, but I don't see why it would be a problem. The problem with dust and scratch removal software and BW film (i think) is that the hardware based infrared dust removal (usually called ICE) might have problems with BW. The 7300 doesnt have ICE far as I know, so the software based scratch removal built into silverfast should work. I have an example of how effective it can be on a color image on my flickr page.