Customer Reviews

Opticfilm 7500I Se 7200 Dpi Silverfast Seplus Isrd

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently bought the plustek 7500i SE after reading rave reviews of the 7200. I wasnt disappointed with the purchase. Setup was fast and easy and the included software works just fine on Vista.

While the scanner has a 7200 DPI resolution, I did not need to go that far as the 3600 DPI was more than enough to produce excellent quality scans. The colour rendition and detail in the scans were very good as was the noise removal. the iSRD dust and scratch removal works very well, with only minimal touch-up needed in Photoshop, and that too only for very badly scratched slides. The Silverfast scanning software was great to use and comes highly recommended! Great Value for money

I've been taking pictures since I was 9 years old (mid 50s). During that time, I've owned many cameras, had a custom darkroom, and now use my computer to edit digital pictures, create slide-shows and movies. I started out with a second-hand Agfa which used 616 film, moved up to a StarFlex (127 film), 35mm and even tried those awful 110s. I began shooting 127 Ektachrome slides in 1961. I gave up film about 10 years ago. Now that I'm entirely digital, I want to preserve, consolidate, and organize my thousands of slides and negatives to the digital format. To that end, I've tried several add-on attachments for my various cameras, and several scanners including an expensive Nikon. None of them were easy to use. The add-ons caused darkening at the corners of many slides and were difficult to focus and center. The light-source was tricky. Nikon's software was impossible to use and the scanner required a SCSI connection (expensive and tricky to install). I tried the scanner sold by several mail-order catalogues which scans 360dpi but its software forced exposure changes to my perfectly exposed slides and there was no way to shut that feature off.
Now, finally the Plusteck 7500i SE really was easy to set up. One connection to the power line and one connection to my USB port was all. It took a little time figuring out the software adjustments but they work! I decided that I really don't need more than 900 dpi for most of my pictures and that gives a respectable 1.1mb file size. It's quite easy to adjust the size. Color, brightness, and contrast adjustments are pretty much toward the professional edge using the "standard mode" but there is also a "basic mode" which allows very little adjustment.
The SilverFast suite has a variety of products for organizing, enhancing, and presenting the pictures. I don't need or want them so I'm not a good judge of that aspect.
I didn't give the maximum number of stars because of a few minor things. First of all, the Plusteck is designed to scan 35mm, only. So anything mounted in a standard 2x2 slide-mount will be cropped to the standard 35mm format. I discovered this wasn't much of a problem for me but there were a few slides that wouldn't work at all. My second complaint is the software could be easier to use from the non-professional point of view. There were a few times when the auto-adjust feature made the picture predominately one color (not always the same one) and I haven't figured out why or how to fix it. Apparently there are some context-sensitive "help" movies built in which require Quicktime but there isn't an obvious way to install Quicktime. The SilverFast web site doesn't have a very powerful search feature so it's a little difficult to get specific answers on line. The built in help manual seems complete but again, there is no word-search for that either.
The software seems to have features making it usable in the publishing industry (e.g. "points", "picas", color reductions, etc.).
Even with its minor faults, I'm quite happy with my Plusteck 7500i SE and I'm enjoying scanning and organizing my pictures without much fuss.

NOTE: I have added a comment about two short-comings.

I had 30 years worth of photographs, negatives and slides, mostly in albums, which were slowly deteriorating (have you looked at yours recently ?). After inquiring at a photography shop about scanning (cost: many dollars per slide ... ouch!) I decided to scan them myself. I'm now probably almost a thousand slides into the job. I've got the OpticFilm Plustek 7500i with the SilverFast SE plus software. Aalthough this was quite pricey it's still cheaper than the shop. Here's my experiance so far:

- I played for sometime to decide the resolution and parameters for scanning; finally decided on 600dpi 5.6x3.6 inch JPEG. Higher resolution is painfully slow and uses more disk space.

- I like both the scanner and the SilverFast software in terms of the ergonomics of scanning thousands of slides: I generally let the software automatically choose the brightness, contrast etc (you have to set the frame each slide and the scanning is still slow enough to write a review of the scanner while scanning !).

- Forget the Infra-Red dust+scratch removal - it requires an extra scan and the chances that the slide moves by a small fraction of an inch between scans is high - so the dust may appear offset to the picture. If you have a few slides to scan that may be ok (just rescan) but I found a good dusting with a soft brush (both sides) was more effective.

All-in-all a reasonable scanner (although I can't compare to others).
I would have liked a faster scan and easier loading (but that would probably make it more expensive).
Don't forget to take multiple backups before throwing away the slides.

I had a Minolta scanner and it broke so since they are out of business I had to find another one. I was nervous about the "no name" brand of Plustek but after scanning ovr 4K slides I love it....just use it in the 'basic' mode and it's much eaiser. I have 35K slides left to scan this winter and this machine will make it an easy task.

As I looked through the various scanners available at Amazon I stopped at the Plustek 7300 which seemed to be what I needed. However, after purchasing it I discovered unhappily that the Infrared scratch and dust remover (ISRD) would not work on the 7300 even though the Silverfast software included the feature. After discussions with Plustek techs and Silverfast techs I asked Amazon if I could return it and order the 7500I. As usual, Amazon was most helpful and agreed to take back the 7300. Thanks Amazon! Now the 7500I. As I said in the title, if you have old Kodachrome slides you want to digitize, (I have 1000 of them 50 years old),you are going to want the ISRD feature. It is much slower in scanning each slide but well worth the wait. The included Silverfast software is not difficult to get started but there is quite a learning curve if you really want to get serious about using all the available features. The scratch and dust removal is pretty much automatic and adjusting the brightness and contrast is very easy. I installed the software on my IMAC Intel and it works perfectly. I was scanning slides within ten minutes of opening the box. Also, the techs at Plustek and Silverfast are very helpful. In fact, each time I emailed Plustek a tech rep actually phoned me to answer my questions. Now that's service! My reason for contacting them was trying to get the IRSD working, not problems with the scanner or software. The 7500I has an infrared lamp which is needed for the ISRD to work. The 7300 does NOT have that lamp. I guess that's why the 7500I costs more, but it is really worth it.

This scanner is everything it says it is. Installing the software was very easy. The scanning software is easy to use. Playing with the different settings is the best way to figure things out. You can actually see what the result is with the scan in a short amount of time. The dust and scratch removal works great. I have been working on my dad's slides from the early 1950's and many of them have a hint of mildew on the slide picture and the dust and scratch removal does a wonderful job of cleaning them up. It is an overall great purchase.

This converter worked flawlessly. I had more than 800 slides from 1970 to 1974 of which my family never saw at least for many years.
This Plustek converter worked miracles.
All slides were converted easily and professionally .
I got estimate from local camera shop and cost from them was astronomical.
Thanks to this converter it only cost me $350 Dollars.

Thank you very much I highly recommend this produch.

Nick

Our pictures are stored in boxes in the top of our closet. The odds of ever looking at them again are pretty slim. I am often working with iPhoto on our Mac and have used Photoshop to create collages of family trips. I will also put on a slideshow of selected photos and let it run. But what about all those old photos and memories (I mean, before 2000)? This scanner simply works and is a good value for what it does. The usability is pretty good. It is fast enough. The software is OK. My goal is to import the best of the old negatives and get them into iPhoto where I will enhance them. If they are too beat up, I will "heal" the pictures in Photoshop. So, this scanner works great for that purpose. I am very happy

I have a several thousand 35 mm slides to digitize and after reading the reviews selected the Plustek 7500I Se. One of the primary decision makers was this device takes up less desk space than a flatbed scanner. Received the device and started install on a Win 7 Ultimate machine. After two days of frustration, multiple downloads of the new driver from the Plustek website, I gave up on the Win 7 machine. Installed fairly easily on a Vista machine but after scanning 7 slides I started getting error messages. Enough of the nonsense so I returned the machine as there was just too much hassle. Ordered an Epson V600 scanner from Amazon which installed flawlessly on my Win 7 machine and is producing splendid digitized scans of my slides. NOTE: Amazon service has been superb on crediting my account for the Plustek return and really fast shipment of the replacement Epson V600 machine. (note, on the return, you must return your defective item, request a refund then order the replacement device as a new order.)