Railfan Technology > Might buy Prime Film 7250 Pro3 Scanner - Is it Good or Bad?

I am seriously considering the purchase of a Prime Film 7250 Pro 3 scanner. Would appreciate your comments, good or bad, about this model of scanner. I plan to use it exclusively for scanning slides. Thanks.
ALLEN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/15 12:25 by krm152.

For the same money I would get the Plustek 8200Ai. 

I bought a Prime Film 7200 scanner more than a year ago.  I have only recently begun to get good scans from it.  First, the software that comes with it does not produce good scans.  I bought VueScan shortly after I got the scanner.  VueScan is a must for any scanner.  It cost about $80 for the Pro version.

Secondly, it makes a huge difference what software you use to process the images after you scan them.  All scanned images require sharpening and most Kodachrome images require colour correction.  As a Nikon owner I process my camera images with Nikon's ViewNX 2 software.  Until recently I processed all my scans with ViewNX 2 as well.  I was not satisfied with the sharpness and definition of the finished images.  I recently switched to Adobe Lightroom 3 and my scanned images are much, much better.  For an example see:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,3727557

The previous poster recommended the Plustek 8200i Ai.  While I have no personal experience with it, I did considerable research before buying my scanner and rejected the Plustek scanners.  Apparently the 8100, 8200i Ai and 8200i SE are all identical other than the software version that comes with them.  As I recommend only using VueScan there is no reason to spend more money on the more expensive Plustek models.

Many friends have been getting good scans for posting on Trainorders using the Epson V500 or its recent replacement the V550.  There are more expensive Epson models but the V550 seems to do very well.  It's less expensive than the Prime Film scanner that you mentioned in your question.

My research source for scanners is a German website that has tested them all.  Most of the reviews have been translated to English.  If you send me your email address via a private messge I will send you the link.

KG

Well, I don't typically read German material, a little too arrogant for my taste. What I do know is from first hand knowledge and I have used a Epson V500 photo, Minolta Dimage Dual IV scanner and now a Plustek 8200Ai scanner. Of the three the Plustek gives me the best scans. The attached is a raw .jpeg straight from the scanner only resized to fit TO requirements. 

The Plustek is no more expensive that the Prime Film scanner with B&H selling them for around $389. They can be found cheaper on Amazon if you do a search.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/15 09:22 by rsanchez.

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