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Sneak Peak: OpticFilm 135 Ektachrome Scans
26 April 2016
We're finally getting some usable results from slide scans on the OpticFilm 135. Not with Plustek's QuickScan Plus software but with VueScan.
OpticFilm 135. Straightened a bit.
VueScan let us actually profile the scanner. And it has a built-in Ektachrome profile, too. All we had to do was set the Color tab to the best settings for our slides.
That involved saving the scan as a 48-bit DNG with no sharpening and Manual white balance. We processed the DNG in Adobe Camera Raw using a preset we saved that knocks down the Red and Blue saturation a bit after dropping a stop from the Exposure and opening the Shadows significantly. Clarity got a good boost from the preset as well.
We thought we'd show off one of the scans (above) compared to the same slide scanned by the OpticFilm 120 and the Microtek M1 (both below).
OpticFilm 120. The Plustek flagship film scanner.
Microtek M1. An older flatbed scanner.
You can't tell a lot from 500 pixel thumbnails, of course, but that's why we labor over the full review. Meanwhile, the carousel thumbnail is a 100 percent crop of the awning in the top center of the image.