ChrisR
I'm a well known grump...
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TLDR: As a Vuescan user, I found problems with a new Plustek 8200i, and if you prefer Vuescan and are contemplating this scanner, for now you may want to think again! If you are comfortable with Silverfast, you should be fine.
Longer version, I’ve hinted a couple of times that there is a story to tell about my attempt to buy a Plustek 8200i. I currently have a Plustek 7500i, which has served me pretty well for 12 years, but recently I have got a bit suspicious about it. Longer story short, I decided I’d better get a replacement before it packed up on me. I did a fair bit of reading around, and eventually decided to stick with Plustek. Better the devil you know and all that.
These days the Plustek options for 135 are the OpticFilm 8100, the OpticFilm 8200i, and the Opticfilm 135i. I can’t remember now why I discounted the latter, but I ended up dithering between the 8100 (without an infrared channel) and the 8200i (with infrared dust/scratch removal). The 8100 got a very positive review in some messages from Nige @FishyFish; I scan mostly black and white these days, so rarely need to use the infrared channel, so I very nearly went with the 8100. Oh how I wish I had! However, since I still have quite a few envelopes of colour negative film from the 90s to retro-scan, I decided to future-proof and get the 8200i. I found one, new, at a price not much more than most companies were charging for the 8100, so pressed buy. It arrived the next day, complete with a licence for Silverfast SE 9.
When I started testing, I was quite surprised at how noisy it was. I mean, really noisy (the scanner, not the scans). I often end up finishing scanning a roll of film late at night after Mrs R has gone to bed, and I really didn’t fancy that. I do have a decibel meter on my phone but sadly didn’t take any readings. That was a bit of a worry.
However, Vuescan recognised the new scanner easily, so I scanned a strip or two. That’s when the trouble really started. The scanner just didn’t seem to register properly half the time. Sometimes it happened on a pre-scan, sometimes on the full scan, sometimes the second pass. I couldn’t work out what was going on. I tried the strip with Silverfast; the results were noticeably different, and I never saw a registration problem, but… I just don’t really like Silverfast!
Some images: first, a frame using Vuescan with the 7500i
Second the same frame using Vuescan with the 8200i
Third, the same frame using Silverfast SE 9 with the 8200i
At about this point, I logged an issue with Vuescan, and ended up with a back and forth chat with Ed Hamrick (I am always impressed when a support question for a widely-used software product results in personal email correspondence with the founder and author of the software). Then I got this message: “I’ve worked for many hours on this, but I haven’t been able to fix it. Sometimes a scan pass starts too far down the slide.” I got a subsequent message elaborating a bit, but you have the brunt of it. The guy who supports thousands of scanner types across the world couldn’t make the Plustek 8200i work properly!
At this point, I decided to invoke my consumer distance selling rights (* they aren’t called that these days, but it’ll do). I contacted Silverfast and handed back the licence, then emailed the supplier (**) on day 12 (you have to ask for a return within 14 days), 18 September last year. I got a quick response: “Thank you for your e-mail. Please consider this an interim reply, as we will get back to you with the information you need as soon as possible.” I was looking for a return authorisation, which they call a RMA. I didn’t get it. Endless emails, phone calls etc. They never refused, but always had a reason. Someone on another team was dealing with it. I must make a warranty claim with the manufacturer (wrong in law). Please provide the serial number. We’re talking to the manufacturer. Etc, etc. None of these things are anything to do with me, by the way; They should have taken it back, and sorted out with the manufacturer themselves.
Eventually, a week or so before Christmas, I got a phone call to say the wholesaler would contact me to arrange to pick up the scanner, would then send a replacement to my retailer, at which point I would get my refund! Of course, Christmas intervened, but eventually the wholesaler got in contact with me (standing in a meadow at the back of Kenilworth Castle!); the guy said on the phone he’d looked through the email correspondence and had no idea why this had taken so long). Last week the scanner was picked up and a couple of days ago I was advised my refund had been processed, less the original delivery charge. Not quite 4 months, far too much more than 14 days!
During this long saga, I was considering what to do next. I was back using the 7500i, and TBH it seems to be working fine at the moment. But it is over 12 years old, so I’m still concerned. At some point I decided to look up on hamrick.com to see if they had any advice. They have an article “What is the best film scanner in 2023” at https://www.hamrick.com/blog/what-is-the-best-film-scanner.html . And the recommendation for best dedicated 135 film scanner is… the Plustek 8200i! I was quite surprised. However, reading through that article, I find this paragraph at the end:
I assume that once Ed Hamrick manages to solve the issue with this scanner (which appears to revolve around Plustek refusing to give him access to one of the interface libraries, which Silverfast uses), that paragraph will get removed. Meanwhile, I am still trying out how (or even if) to move forward with a new scanner!
Longer version, I’ve hinted a couple of times that there is a story to tell about my attempt to buy a Plustek 8200i. I currently have a Plustek 7500i, which has served me pretty well for 12 years, but recently I have got a bit suspicious about it. Longer story short, I decided I’d better get a replacement before it packed up on me. I did a fair bit of reading around, and eventually decided to stick with Plustek. Better the devil you know and all that.
These days the Plustek options for 135 are the OpticFilm 8100, the OpticFilm 8200i, and the Opticfilm 135i. I can’t remember now why I discounted the latter, but I ended up dithering between the 8100 (without an infrared channel) and the 8200i (with infrared dust/scratch removal). The 8100 got a very positive review in some messages from Nige @FishyFish; I scan mostly black and white these days, so rarely need to use the infrared channel, so I very nearly went with the 8100. Oh how I wish I had! However, since I still have quite a few envelopes of colour negative film from the 90s to retro-scan, I decided to future-proof and get the 8200i. I found one, new, at a price not much more than most companies were charging for the 8100, so pressed buy. It arrived the next day, complete with a licence for Silverfast SE 9.
When I started testing, I was quite surprised at how noisy it was. I mean, really noisy (the scanner, not the scans). I often end up finishing scanning a roll of film late at night after Mrs R has gone to bed, and I really didn’t fancy that. I do have a decibel meter on my phone but sadly didn’t take any readings. That was a bit of a worry.
However, Vuescan recognised the new scanner easily, so I scanned a strip or two. That’s when the trouble really started. The scanner just didn’t seem to register properly half the time. Sometimes it happened on a pre-scan, sometimes on the full scan, sometimes the second pass. I couldn’t work out what was going on. I tried the strip with Silverfast; the results were noticeably different, and I never saw a registration problem, but… I just don’t really like Silverfast!
Some images: first, a frame using Vuescan with the 7500i
Second the same frame using Vuescan with the 8200i
Third, the same frame using Silverfast SE 9 with the 8200i
At about this point, I logged an issue with Vuescan, and ended up with a back and forth chat with Ed Hamrick (I am always impressed when a support question for a widely-used software product results in personal email correspondence with the founder and author of the software). Then I got this message: “I’ve worked for many hours on this, but I haven’t been able to fix it. Sometimes a scan pass starts too far down the slide.” I got a subsequent message elaborating a bit, but you have the brunt of it. The guy who supports thousands of scanner types across the world couldn’t make the Plustek 8200i work properly!
At this point, I decided to invoke my consumer distance selling rights (* they aren’t called that these days, but it’ll do). I contacted Silverfast and handed back the licence, then emailed the supplier (**) on day 12 (you have to ask for a return within 14 days), 18 September last year. I got a quick response: “Thank you for your e-mail. Please consider this an interim reply, as we will get back to you with the information you need as soon as possible.” I was looking for a return authorisation, which they call a RMA. I didn’t get it. Endless emails, phone calls etc. They never refused, but always had a reason. Someone on another team was dealing with it. I must make a warranty claim with the manufacturer (wrong in law). Please provide the serial number. We’re talking to the manufacturer. Etc, etc. None of these things are anything to do with me, by the way; They should have taken it back, and sorted out with the manufacturer themselves.
Eventually, a week or so before Christmas, I got a phone call to say the wholesaler would contact me to arrange to pick up the scanner, would then send a replacement to my retailer, at which point I would get my refund! Of course, Christmas intervened, but eventually the wholesaler got in contact with me (standing in a meadow at the back of Kenilworth Castle!); the guy said on the phone he’d looked through the email correspondence and had no idea why this had taken so long). Last week the scanner was picked up and a couple of days ago I was advised my refund had been processed, less the original delivery charge. Not quite 4 months, far too much more than 14 days!
During this long saga, I was considering what to do next. I was back using the 7500i, and TBH it seems to be working fine at the moment. But it is over 12 years old, so I’m still concerned. At some point I decided to look up on hamrick.com to see if they had any advice. They have an article “What is the best film scanner in 2023” at https://www.hamrick.com/blog/what-is-the-best-film-scanner.html . And the recommendation for best dedicated 135 film scanner is… the Plustek 8200i! I was quite surprised. However, reading through that article, I find this paragraph at the end:
“Note: Plustek has recently released a new model with the same model name (Plustek OpticFilm 8200i) that is currently incompatible with VueScan so it’s hard to know whether you have the Plustek 8200i that is compatible with VueScan or the one that isn’t.”
I assume that once Ed Hamrick manages to solve the issue with this scanner (which appears to revolve around Plustek refusing to give him access to one of the interface libraries, which Silverfast uses), that paragraph will get removed. Meanwhile, I am still trying out how (or even if) to move forward with a new scanner!
* The best description I can find of Consumer Rights law regarding online purchases is https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange/#buyingfromhome . Note, they also say “While the legal protection is strong, it doesn't matter what the rules are if the seller won't obey them.” Yes!
** I am sufficiently concerned about the business practices and ethics of this particular supplier that I am not naming them. However, be assured they are not one of the well known photographic or imaging suppliers, being more oriented towards electronic components etc.
** I am sufficiently concerned about the business practices and ethics of this particular supplier that I am not naming them. However, be assured they are not one of the well known photographic or imaging suppliers, being more oriented towards electronic components etc.
