Plustek 8200i SE scanner problems

[OldRoy]

I bought the above a few weeks ago for scanning both 35mm slides and negs, in variable states of preservation. It comes bundled with the Silverfast (Version 8.0.1r34) application. As an aside, the software in both cases looks as though it was originally written more than a decade ago - but I guess this is a continually shrinking market sector. Silverfast is pretty odd...

I noticed horizontal blemishes in the scans - about 3 pixels wide. Variable in length but often the full width of the scan (long axis). I sent a couple of samples to Plustek who replied that my suspicion was correct and there was a hardware fault. I forwarded this reply to my suppliers (Park Cameras) who exchanged the unit. The new scanner exhibits identical symptoms.

Now one puzzling thing is that I tried inverting the negative (with an example that had a fault line right across the frame) by inserting the carriage from the opposite side: the blemish changed sides too! Which, of course, would tend to indicate a fault with the neg. However these symptoms are clearly independent of the stock scanned, although the degree and position of the "dead" pixels is variable.

I'm attaching a couple of small jpeg crops by way of example. I'd appreciate any informed opinion.

Roy

[Mark D Segal]

Did you examine your media under a very high power loupe to see whether there are systematic scratches on the film? These could occur either from the cassettes or from the camera itself from a problem with the film transport. I would think it important to make sure, by examining numerous samples, what the state of the media is as a first diagnostic step. If you see scratches on the media under magnification in the same places they appear in the scan, you will know your answer. If not, it would indicate a scanner problem. By the way, if your scanner came bundled with SilverFast 8, this is not 10 year-old software, it is about 2 year-old software completely redesigned and redeveloped, and a heck of a lot more user-friendly than the previous version, trust me.

[OldRoy]

Thanks for the speedy response Mark.

Well I don't have a high power loupe or I'd have used it! The stuff I'm scanning comes from at least 3 different cameras. There are both slides and negs. The fault is almost always the same width (ie no of pixels = about 3) and of varying length - as I thought I'd already described to avoid ambiguity. The common factor is the scanner and not the cameras. It's highly improbable that a fault that has such common characteristics could derive from 3 cameras over a >35 year period. The stock is variable in quality from the near-pristine to chewed up, stained and scratched.

And, of course, Plustek immediately confirmed that it was hardware fault. Manufacturers invariably try to elude responsibility if there's any doubt about it (I used to be one!).
Puzzling.
Roy
Edit. I just checked 2 consecutive frames of a good negative. One exhibits a marked fault which is completely absent on the next frame, which would tend to eliminate the possibility that it's the film transport scratching the emulsion.

[Mark D Segal]

With that extent of sampling it would appear to be the scanner, as Plustek agreed and they replaced it. Can't help about the remaining symptoms you describe. Best perhaps to deal with Plustek and LaserSoft Imaging tech support for discussion of what may be happening to produce the effects you describe.

[artobest]

Looks like scratches to me ...

[papa v2.0]

You need to take the scanner out of the loop as well to confirm wether it is the scanner or not.
Get the same slides scanned elsewhere perhaps.
A process of elimination.
as an ex pro scanner operator you will be amazed at amount of scratches on transparencies that the scanner will pick up but you wont seen on a projector.