OpticFilm 8300i SE - 35mm Negative Film Stripe & Slide Scanner with 38% scan speed increase, Bundle SilverFast SE Plus 9 + QuickScan Plus, Support Mac and Windows.

......rather than the 'up to £120' devices that take a picture rather than scanning. Easy enough to use, I'm scanning 1960s Kodachrome instamatic slides. The slide holder is proper as each slide is held in by a spring loaded mechanism. Not the cheapest of devices, but solidly made. Id recommend

Expensive but well worth the cost ,does an excellent job .Have scanned over 2000 transparencies with no issues and high quality resolution images. Very happy with the results.

This is a well built unit with versatile software and I have worked my way through hundreds of 35mm slides, some of which were damaged or faded. The results are not as contrasty as cheaper slide scanners. It does negatives, but alas, only 35, not medium format which would have been a bonus. It didn't always play well with Photoshop Elements 24 and we had some crashes, but that's more about the Photoshop. You don't really need separate editing packages if you use Silverfast properly. It did improve the scratches and eliminated dust. The process isn't the fastest and the slide holder only takes a small number, but all in all, a good piece of equipment for salvaging your treasured memories on transparencies.

1300si film scanner. I have now put about 50 slides though the scanner using the simpler of the two software packages. I am reasonably happy with the results. Many of the slides are technical in content and were a challenge to photograph and no scanner can improve a marginal original. The speed is just acceptable and the auto-exposure and auto-balance options actually make an improvement (surprisingly). It's not without it's vices, on some very awkward slides it crops areas that are totally black. Probably the more advanced software would not but I have a deadline to meet and the results from the simple package are better than expected. I have printed a difficult technical slide at A3 and the result is as good as the slide seen in a slide viewer. That seems to be a fair test. I have yet to scan less awkward slides. In the past I have used scanners that are superior but sadly they are no longer supported. So this seems to be the best that is readily available. The slideholder breaks with tradition and is a far better design. The slides fit in the holder in much the same way that you fit a AA battery into a gadget, tuck one end in, push against a spring and push the other end down. (Instructions provided) Each slide has its own spring biased holster which is far quicker than the hinged type holder where you have to position 4 slides before closing the hinged gate and engaging the friction catch. (ugh!) The unit is designed in Germany. It makes a discrete purr whilst in operation. Treat yourself to additional carriers to increase throughout.

For many years I used to bring slides and negatives to our local photo studio for digitizing which was very expensive. This Plustek 8300i SE can produce much higher quality photos at far less cost than the photo studio. Additionally, I can easily see slides that I don't want to save whereas I would send some of these slides to the photo studio, increasing the cost. The quality, speed and ease of use of this machine is well worth the cost as it scans relatively quickly, depending on the quality that you want to acheive.

It does everything it says on the tin, but the supplied software is a little tricky to use unless you buy the fully licenced version of Silverfast. Using the supplied software, Quickscan plus, you have a problem that once you have set the image to your preferences, you cannot go back and change what you did once you exit the setting window. The image while capable of being up to a very high resolution, the resulting image is not as sharp as the original 35mm slides, which is a bit disappointing after spending so much on this scanner. Although capable of 7200 DPI the optics are not significantly better than cheaper scanners. It seems to be sturdily built so should be capable of a high throughput if you have a lot of slides, but it is not fast.

I bought this scanner to replace my Nikon CoolScan V, since the software was only good for windows XP/Vista and my old PC has long gone. The scanner is very compact compared with the Nikon and all the accessories are included with the exception of a dust brush. Software is supplied on a USB stick and was easy to load on my Windows 10 PC. I like the on-screen user guidance - the SilverFast software originates in Germany and so the guidance/explanations are detailed and contain just the right amount of technical information. I also like the 2 versions of scanning - full function or quick scan, which takes the user along a pathway (runway ?) using an air travel analogy from take-off to landing with the processing steps along the journey. Very pleased so far.

I have had this scanner for 24 hours and I have to say that it is the worst one I have ever seen. The colours are appalling and the software is utterly useless. I have many scanners over the years but my very large Epson was taking too much space so I thought this would be good. I will be returning it tomorrow. If it had been a cheapo I'd have just put it aside or given it to a charity shop but at nearly £400.00 ...na, it's going back.

Innert 20 Minuten hatte ich den Scanner erfolgreich eingerichtet, den Treiber und die Silverfast 9 SE Software per Download installiert. Das Scannen von Negativen und Diapositiven hat tadellos geklappt, das Scannen geht schneller als ich erwartet habe und die Bildqualität ist gut. Da ich keine Vergleiche habe mit anderen Negativ- oder Diascannern, kann ich die Bildqualität nicht vergleichen, finde aber, dass das Gerät voll und ganz seinen Zweck erfüllt. Ich habe nun digitale Fotos von fast 50 Jahre alten Negativen und Diapositiven. Die Silverfast Software ist zwar umfangreich, hat aber einen guten Assistenten zum Einstieg, der Schritt für Schritt erklärt, was man machen muss. Nach weiteren 20 Minuten war mir der Workflow und die Einstellungsmöglichkeiten bereits vertraut. Die Einstellungsmöglichkeiten sind sehr gut und die Bilder lassen sich problemlos per Photoshop oder Lightroom weiter verbessern. Was auch sehr gut funktioniert, ist die automatische Entfernung von Staub und Kratzern mittels Infrarot-Scan. Es erwischt zwar nicht alle Fehler, aber ca. 90% bis 95%, was eine sehr grosse Hilfe und Arbeitserleichterung ist. Die restlichen Kratzer und Staubflecken entferne ich mit dem Reparatur-Werkzeug in Photoshop. Alles in allem bin ich sehr zufrieden mit dem Plustek OpticFilm 8300i SE.

Parfait, très bon rapport qualité prix. Je trouve le rendu de mes négatif NB très bon

Impeccable et livré dans les délais annoncés

Ho una collezione di circa mille diapositive scattate negli anni settanta da mio padre. Da tempo avevo intenzione di digitalizzarle, sia per consultarle più agevolmente che per conservare le immagini. Sono abbastanza pignolo e competente in fatto di grafica digitale, quindi mi sono rivolto da prima ad un laboratorio professionale. Ho fatto fare delle scansioni di prova ed il risultato è stato ottimo. Ma i costi di scansione, vista la mole di diapositive, erano molto alti, nonostante lo sconto per grosse quantità. Oltretutto il timore di perdere le diapositive durante il trasporto con corriere mi ha fatto definitivamente desistere. Ho quindi testato un paio di scanner piani, compreso l'ottimo Canon Canoscan 9000F Mark II, che però deficita in quanto a risoluzione. La differenza con la qualità di scansion del laboratorio era evidente. Ho quindi acquistato questo meraviglio scanner, e penso proprio di aver trovato la soluzione ideale. Lo scanner dovrebbe essere pienamente compatibile con VueScan di cui detengo una licenza d'uso da anni. Ma i primi test di scansione mi hanno lasciato molto perplesso. Ho quindi voluto dare una chance al tanto vituperato SilverFast 9, fornito con lo scanner. E mi si è aperto un mondo! Sarà che ho confidenza con i programmi di grafica, ma non l'ho trovato per nulla macchinoso come si legge in giro. Oltretutto il programma ha due modalità di scansione, una guidata ed una completamente manuale, per i più esigenti. Ma già con la modalità guidata, utilizzando i template giusti, ho ottenuto risultati eccellenti, pari a quelli del laboratorio. La qualità dei dettagli è ottima, già a 3600dpi, ho potuto tra l'altro constatare che le scansioni a 7200dpi sono inutili, aumentano solo le dimensioni dei file ed i tempi di scansione. E' possibile, in modalità manuale, esportare le immagini in formato raw, utili per editarle poi in Photoshop o Lightroom. Ma in tutta sincerità, facendo un pò di test preliminari, ho deciso che le tiff generate in modalità guidata sono più che sufficienti per la successiva correzione in Photoshop (sempre che non si preferisca correggere direttamente con i tool forniti in SilverFast). Degna di menzione è la funzione di rimozione di graffi e polvere tramite scansione agli infrarossi. Ottima ed efficace nella maggior parte dei casi, occorre però fare sempre attenzione che il software non aggiunga artefatti. In rare occasioni ho notato un intervento troppo profondo che ha alterato irrimediabilmente i dettagli della foto. Meglio in questi casi rinunciare alla funzione e rimuovere in Photoshop graffi e polvere più evidenti. Che dire ancora? Che con meno della metà di quello che avrei speso col laboratorio ho a disposizione uno scanner tutto mio che mi consente, con un poco di tempo e pazienza, di archiviare ed elaborare le diapositive al meglio!

Great product... I have scanned all my family pictures