Plustek's OpticFilm 8200i SE

Andy Westlake tests a specialist scanner for digitising your 35mm negatives and slides

- Andy Westlake

Like a fair few of our readers, I suspect, my first forays into digital imaging came via scanning film. Before high-resolution digital cameras became commonplace, this enabled me to make decent quality A4 colour prints of my photos. Specialist film scanners were available from the main camera makers – Canon, Nikon and Minolta – and with a bit of care and patience could give pretty good results.

In 2017 things have changed a lot, and now most of the 35mm ‘scanners’ left on the market are essentially little cameras that digitise film using small CMOS sensors. However, Plustek still makes conventional film scanners. Its OpticFilm 8200i SE is designed to scan 35mm slides and negatives at resolutions of up to 7200x7200 dots per inch (dpi), which in principle could give a file of nearly 70 million pixels, equating to a print size of 34x27in at 300ppi. It has a specified Dmax (the maximum density through which it can record details) of 3.6, which is usually considered ample for negatives and sufficient for most slides. With the bundled SilverFast software it also offers multi-exposure scanning to extract cleaner shadow detail from slides. This all sounds very impressive, but does it deliver?

Design 

With a footprint of around 26.5x8.5cm, the OpticFilm 8200Si won’t take up too much space on your desk. It comes supplied with everything you need, including holders for 35mm negatives and slides and a USB cable to connect to your computer. One nice touch is the fitted carry case to pack the scanner away if you don’t want to leave it on your desk gathering dust – the bane of film scanning.