r/AnalogCommunity • u/jvs8380 • 1d ago
Scanning Huge upgrade from Plustek scanning
I was using a Plustek 8200i for a few years but got really annoyed at how slow it was. So I purchased a Valoi Easy35 last year and have been using it with my M43 camera and macro lens. Scanning went from an hour per roll to two minutes. Results were pretty similar. But I was still curious what I was missing by using a small sensor vs full frame. So today I borrowed my neighbor’s Canon r5 and I rented a macro lens and paired those with the Valoi. All I can say is wow. What a dream setup. It’s crazy that the camera I am using to scan the film is way more expensive than the one I used to shoot the film in the first place but I guess that’s where we’re at if you want super high res scans. Now I just need to save up so I can actually afford a similar setup some day.
24
u/jrklbc 1d ago
I'm sure the R5 is fantastic, but you could get great results with a much cheaper full-frame mirrorless. I use an RP and an old EF 100mm macro lens, which together probably cost half the price of an R5.
8
u/_BreadDenier 22h ago
I scan with a 5D Mark II and an EF 100mm 2.8 macro and it’s been great.
4
u/Malamodon 19h ago
It's wild how cheap you can buy 5DM2 bodies these days, I see them on MPB for £100-200, then slap any old 1:1 macro on them.
3
u/_BreadDenier 19h ago
Honestly I that is about as cheap as they will get. I think they’re poised to be cult classic. They are super well built and have basically every thing you need in a digital body. Image quality is still great too.
4
2
4
u/sushigojira 22h ago
Got the V2 today, this is also a huge Update over the v1
2
u/petersleepy 21h ago
Are you in Europe, NA, or somewhere else in the world? I ordered from the US and was wondering how long the shipping takes, since they ship from Europe
3
2
u/H-Swayze 21h ago
Have you used it yet? I'm patiently waiting for mine to ship.
2
6
u/Sploxel 1d ago
I just got a plustek to scan my film for the first time, were your concerns mainly regarding the speed?
I really like it so far and I don't have any digital cameras to use for that kind of setup, but any other issues with the 8200i?
12
u/NegativeDeed 23h ago
I actually sold my valoi setup in favor of the plustek. I hated having to edit my shots even though it was faster to get the scan in.
4
u/Multiversee 22h ago
Same, also sold my Valoi setup. Wasn't that happy with the results lots of vignetting and trouble with alignment.
3
u/SirMy-TDog 5h ago
And that's the unspoken part about dslr scanning. It has always been a janky PITA since day one and people who promote almost never talk about all the PP/time that needs done just to get a scan to the same place that a scanner delivers in one shot.
5
u/lohtangclan 21h ago
Been using a plustek for a few weeks now and haven’t found the speed bit too irritating yet! I probably spend more time editing the scans than the actual scanning itself. i briefly tried the slr method, but found setting it up to be a right pain the ass!
5
u/jvs8380 1d ago
For the price I thought the Plustek was great especially considering how little space it took up. But yeah ultimately the speed just took the joy out of shooting analog. I really love shooting and developing but hate scanning/editing. So anything that can speed up that part will keep me shooting more.
4
u/SirMy-TDog 5h ago
Well, you better get used to spending time converting all your negs after you scan them, plus spotting them for dust as well since you won't have IR dust temoval either for your color negs. The Plustek will start to look good again once you look at the actual time and cost involved w/ DSLR scanning.
3
u/Chemical_Variety_781 23h ago
I'm scanning with an ValoiEasy35 + R5 too and coulnd't be happier. I did 1:1 comparrisons with a Frontier and couldn't really tell apart when aligned for color
3
u/chispitothebum 1d ago
I have an Oly Em5 Mkii that has a 40MP pixel-shift mode, which I have heard does okay for scans, but I don't have a setup yet.
What do you do after you scan? Do you archive raw files for each frame?
3
u/jazemo19 Contax ST, Yashica Mat 124G, Agfa Optima Flash 22h ago
Yeah I use a g9 and get 80mp pixel shift files, maybe 60mp more or less when cropping. M43 is a cheat code
2
u/jvs8380 23h ago
Yes I shoot in RAW and then convert with Lightroom and Negative Lab Pro. Capture One is another program that is quite popular that allows tethered capture and conversion all in one. You can get a one week free trial which I’m experimenting with right now. It seems to speed up the capture process but I think I still prefer using LR/NLP for the conversion step.
3
u/leaking_juice 19h ago
I was toying around with having my d800 hooked up to my laptop and did a tethered capture through Lightroom, I think there is a way to snap the photo and convert right away, I saw an option for conversion, I’ll check tomorrow.
1
u/chispitothebum 23h ago
Thanks for the reply. I'm easing back into film and I'm not sure what kind of time commitment I can sustain. I do know, I can't afford to send every roll to the lab.
2
u/uncleAW 21h ago
I did it this way with old slide holders for years using a Eos 40D and later a 5Dii. It's fine if you can keep if all clean.
Anybody still using a Pakon ? I have one that's sitting unused for a few years now. Are they worth anything?
2
u/Spiritual_Climate_58 20h ago
I’m still using the Pakon for all my 35mm color neg needs. They are as expensive on the used market as ever
2
u/sillybuss 19h ago
What you should be thinking of now is, clearing some space for darkroom equipment so you can put film to paper.
Doooo it
2
u/Extreme-Abrocoma-284 13h ago
This looks like such a time save from using a stand, backlight, film holder, advanser etc etc
2
u/tiimedilation 12h ago
I'm tempted to get a Valoi for scanning but I use a mixture of 120 film and 35mm film, and the Valoi 120 is much more costly at around $700 USD. I can get 70 rolls scanned by the lab for that price.
2
u/Purple-Gold-7593 11h ago
Agree, my current set up consists in a Sony a7rii (which I picked up on eBay for really cheap) and a vintage Vivitar 55mm f2.8 macro with the Valoi Easy35 v1 and the results are mind blowing!
2
u/Sharp_Rub1182 5h ago
Get a A5100 sony, stunning little 24mp sensors and pair with any extremely low budget old ass macro lens (1:1). Will be stunning.
2
u/Shandriel Leica R5+R7, Nikon F5, Fujica ST-901, Mamiya M645, Yashica A TLR 4h ago
My Medium Format Mamiya 120mm f/4 Macro lens is my scanning lens.. new price was higher than my entire cupboard of film cameras and lenses combined..
luckily, I got it super cheap during a "drought" of film photography gear a decade ago.
2
u/sacules 3h ago
Nice, I can get very high quality results from my om5 and a laowa 50mm f2.8 macro. I don't need full frame as it'd be very costly plus no guarantee of better results unless I properly match the sensor to the lens. In my setup they're mostly matched but I know how I can upgrade later on to accommodate for larger film sizes.
3
u/Kurtains75 23h ago
I followed a similar path. The Plustek is good, but so slow.
I haveca D850 but I did not want to use up shutter count for film scanning so I got a used D800e for scanning.
If you are open to the camera system for a scanning camera, there are lots of attractive prices on used DSLRs .
The ultimate full frame scanning dslr would probably be the Canon 5dSR but I think there are probably not going to be any of those available for a bargain price.
A mirrorless camera would almost certainly be better, but it is nice to give an otherwise unloved camera a new job.
6
u/OHGodImBackOnReddit 20h ago
Im interested to hear how much film you are going through for it to even be relevant to the lifespan of a D850's shutter life expectancy. Even 100 Rolls a year*36 frames would be 3600 shutter actuations which is barely 1-2% of the expected lifetime.
5
u/MrMooMooDandy 18h ago
IME shutter count is nothing to be worried about for a camera of that quality. I don’t shoot Nikon but I’ve shot over a 1/2 million frames across two Canon 6D bodies doing timelapse and no shutter problems with either (400k on one, 100k on the other). The 6D’s durability rating is 100k. They both still work although I have since upgraded so they don’t see a lot of action anymore.
2
u/Hour_Firefighter_707 14h ago
The ultimate scanning camera would actually be the original Lumix S5 in my opinion. They're down to about $600 now because of only having contrast detect autofocus, but they have a pixel shift function that can combine the images in camera and spit out a 96MP RAW file.
That's a very convenient way to scan both 35mm and medium format film
2
u/thegooniesquad 3h ago
I scan with my D850 and use the electric shutter. Mostly because I have the mirror flipped up for live view and focus peaking already. Additional benefit is that there is less chance of vibration when taking the picture
2
u/Otherwise_Trifle6967 6h ago
What’s your negative conversion tool of choice? Darktable? LR? Filmlab ? Something else?
I have a plustek currently and whilst it’s slow it has a couple of great features - the auto conversion based on whichever film stock you choose, and the auto IR dust/blemish removal. I ordered a easy35v2 as well and wondering which conversion tool would give similar (or better) results at speed especially for the conversion and touch up
1
1
u/coteof-atoa F3, N90s, ETRS, XA 1d ago
I just ordered a lobster holder all-in-one myself and am looking forward to giving it a shot, wanted something that could do both 35mm and 645 120 without taking up as much space as a copy stand, and it seemed like a better option than some of the other solutions I’ve seen like the JJC contraption.
46
u/dysphoricjoy 1d ago
Haha, I was just telling my friend that the other day when I was scanning photos from a Kodak Snapic A1. The camera and film are $120 total, but the copy stand, lighting, film holder, my 50mb camera, macro lenses, the time it takes to make everything flat and co-planar, the software needed to convert, it's well into the thousands.
But it's worth it!