Test report film scanner Reflecta CrystalScan 7200

In February 2005 Reflecta launched the Crystal Scan 7200 a follow-up model for the proven CrystalScan 3600. I'm saying proven, because the Crystal Scan 3600 was the first low cost filmscanner on the market which produced scans in good quality using the ICE dust and scratch correction technology. Thus for the first time a functionality was available for starters, that until then was reserved only for professional, expensive devices.

The Crystal Scan 3600 was already considered good due to a high effective resolution of approximately 3300 dpi; that's a high value based on the nominal resolution of 3600 dpi. The follow-up model Crystal Scan 7200 now suggests a sensational resolution of 7200 dpi to the user. It is to be considered however, that the optical resolution remains at 3600 dpi; only the step-size of the stepping motor got halved, so that in transportation direction 7200 dpi are achieved. That's however only little useful to the user, particularly since an effective resolution of 3300 dpi is completely sufficient for the scanning of 35mm films.

So nearly nothing has changed in comparison to the predecessor model. The new CrystalScan 7200 is offered for practically the same price as the old model. The handling and the characteristics are similar. Like with the predecessor model, manual work is necessary operating the CrystalScan 7200, meaning there is no automatic film transport. Slides must be inserted individually and film strips have to be placed manually into the correct position. But the user receives a very good device with ICE dust and scratch correction, film grain smoothing and ROC color restoration.

Equipment, accessories and technical facts of the filmscanner

With the Reflecta CrystalScan 7200 one receives a complete package for the scanning of framed slides and film strips at a sensationally favourable price. Scannable are positives and negatives, colour pictures and black/white pictures – so practically any 35mm film material. The CrystalScan 7200 works without additional adapters, meaning framed 35mm slides or film strips are inserted directly into the scanner; one doesn't need additional adapters or film holders, which means there are no wearing parts.

The scanner is delivered as complete package. This includes all connecting cables, scanning software, picture-processing software and of course a manual. I especially want to mention, that one does not get just sone photo-processing software, but the famous Elements version of Adobe Photoshop. So whatever is needed for the digitization of 35mm slides or negatives is included - I believe that's praiseworthy for a scanner in this low price segment.

The Reflecta CrystalScan 7200 is a very compact film scanner with the small measures 278 mm x 169 mm x 70 mm; so it's smaller than a sheet of paper and weighs just 1 kg. The small outline is possible, since the scanner doesn't need any transportation for film strips. With this we're already talking about the main characteristic of the CrystalScan 7200: contrary to its competitor from the same company, the RPS 7200 Professional (see my test report), the CrystalScan doesn't pull in film strips automatically and thus can't scan a whole negative strip in one shot. The user must insert the film strip manually and position the picture which he wants to scan on the glass holder.

Anybody who doesn't mind this manual work, receives a good film scanner for the money: The CrystalScan digitizes 35mm film material with a resolution up to 7200 dpi and is even able to produce image files with 48 bits color-depth. The maximum density is 3,2; the density of the scanner is thus below 3. Those values are of theoretical nature and can't be reached in practice, that's something what I've determined with numerous other film scanners too, so it doesn't come as a surprise to me. A white and an infrared LED row are used as sources of light. The infrared ray is needed for the ICE dust and scratch correction procedure: The source of infrared light scans the inserted picture for unevenness (scratches, finger marks, dust particles) and enables the scanning software to correct the recognized errors. To the ICE³ procedure, which is integrated in the CrystalScan 7200, belongs the ROC color restoration, which helps old and yellowed pictures to regain new freshness, as well as the GEM film grain smoothing procedure.

The scanner has a fast USB 2.0 interface, which makes the fast transmission of large data sets, which one receives with the maximum resolution of 7200 dpi, possible. An USB 2 cable is also included in the delivered supply.

Installation and starting

When purchasing a reflecta Crystal Scan 7200, one notices first a small and handy cardboard-box with carrying handle – having everything included: scanner, power supply, USB cable as well as CDs with Photoshop Elements and the CyberView software; each in a whole number of different languages. Also included is a small manual in german and numerous other languages. On the 20 pages it understandably explains, how to install the scanner to a certain computer with a certain operating system and how to make the first scan.

It's important to install Photoshop first and after that install the scanning software. A sticker at the back of the scanner is giving the warning, not to switch-on the scanner, before the installation is done. Exemplary! Who nevertheless doesn't pay attention to the sticker, receives a message from the installation program, saying that the scanner may be switched on only after the software installation. Actually nothing should go wrong here. Normally I would hold against the scanner that the power switch is positioned at the back of the device; thus one must always fiddle along the device until the button is finally found, but I think that's something one can live with - considering the small size of this device.

My installation under Windows XP was done in a few minutes; afterwards the film scanner could be connected and the first scan could be made.

Scanning framed slides

To me, scanning framed 35mm slides is simple: First one opens the scanner cover to push a small button which opens the integrated film holder flap. Then one inserts the slide, pushes it up to the stop and closes the film flap by simply pushing until it clicks-in. The film holder cover has an integrated spring, which keeps the inserted slide firm in its position. Then one can start to scan (preview, make adjustments, start main scan).

This sounds easy, fast and comfortable; and indeed one needs only a few moves, in order to remove a just scanned slide and insert the next. Inserting is a safe affair, because of the fact that one does not run the risk to touch the film layer by mistake, since one can hold the slide comfortably at the frame to push it in and/or to pull it out.

After just a few or after hundreds of slides, the constant opening of the protective cover, the unlocking of the film holder flap and opening of it, nevertheless becomes a burden - less because of the time needed for it, than rather because of the fuss and the number of moves, above all if one knows how inserting slides works with other scanners, for example with the Reflecta RPS 7200 (see my test report about this device): Insert the slide simply in the slot at the front of the device and that's it. To remove it just press a button. That's where one notices that with a CrystalScan he enjoys less comfort than with some other film scanners. I don't even like to think about batch scanning framed slides in a 4- or 5pcs. slide holder!

Nevertheless the CrystalScan7200 beats some more expensive competition models with the scanning of framed slides: slides with almost arbitrary thickness can be placed on the scanner. The double-glass-framed slides with more than 3mm can be placed on the scanner and positioned firm with the film holder flap without trouble; on such thick parts some other scanners with a film holder fail. Also inserting extremely thin slides is no problem at all.

To the above Scan times has to be mentioned, that I always have optional functions such as autoexposure or automatic focusing switched on. I consider scanning times for minimum adjustments not very meaningful. The scanning times increase, as well known, when more corrections and filters are switched on.

The above times were achieved on a Pentium IV with 3 gigahertz clock frequency and 2 gigabyte main memory, using an USB 2 connection; with a USB 1 connection the scanning times clearly increase.

Scanning film strips, film rolls and single pictures

Scanning 35mm film strips works basically exactly like scanning 35mm slides: one opens the scanner cover, unlocks the film holder flap, opens it then carefully and pushes the negative strip over the preview window. Since the glass plate is always a little bit lit from below, the exact adjustment of the film strip is easy. Nevertheless this is the point where I noticed the biggest difference to most other film scanners: the negative or positive strip (both can be processed) is not pulled in automatically or accurately adjusted in a film holder, which is then being pulled in; no, the film strip must indeed be manually inserted and the picture positioned accurately over the film stage for scanning. That's of course uncomfortable and time-consuming, but I already mentioned in the introduction, that using the CrystalScan some more manual work is needed than with other film scanners.

Nevertheless manual inserting of film strips has also an advantage: the CrystalScan 7200 is one of the few scanners on the market, which can process film rolls of any length. The surplus of the film roll is simply hanging over on the left and on the right side of the scanner. With the CrystalScan it's also no problem at all to place an individual positive or negative on the glass stage. Also smaller film fragments or Minox films can be placed and positioned on the scanner without any problems.

Inserting the film strips is however always risky, because it carries the permanent danger that one could leave fingerprints on the film, especially if one processes short film strips or single pictures. In this case I absolutely recommend to wear cotton gloves and to use special tweezers with flattened tips. It would be certainly too bad if the film strip would become dirty or even destroyed right before the last usage.

When digitizing entire negative strips, of course one misses an automatic pull-in as well as the possibility of processing the whole film strip in batch mode. Whoever wants to digitize larger quantities of negative strips, must be aware of the time and effort required for each individual picture.

To the above Scan times has to be mentioned, that I I always had optional functions such as autoexposure or automatic focusing switched on. I consider scanning times for minimum adjustments not very meaningful. The scanning times increase is well known, when more corrections and filters are switched on. Scanning times for a negative are of course longer than for a positive, which is normal with all scanners.

The above times were achieved on a Pentium IV with 3 gigahertz clock frequency and 2 gigabyte main memory, using an USB 2 connection; with a USB 1 connection the scanning times clearly increase.

The included software

Reflecta delivers the CrystalScan 7200 with a two-piece software-package:

• Scanning software CyberView X
• Picture-processing software Adobe Photoshop Elements
• Scanning software SilverFast SE or Ai (optional)

Thus one receives a complete software package, which makes it possible to first digitize the films and afterwards to work on the scanned images.

As already mentioned above, I think it's remarkable for a film scanner in such an affordable price range, to have the picture-processing software Adobe Photoshop Elements included, since this costs as a single license already around 100€. With Photoshop the scanned images can be rotated, mirrored, color manipulared, enchanted and improved with numerous effect filters. PhotoShop Elements offers more functions than what the average scanner user might use.

Regarding the CyberView X software, I must say it runs extremely well and didn't crash even once during my test phase; this is not to be taken as granted for scanning programs. It's clear that a professional scanning software can't be expected in a film scanner of this price segment. So what offers the CyberView X software if used with the Reflecta CrystalScan 7200?

The program is very clearly structured and not overloaded with buttons and controllers. One gets along with the user surface quickly and even a beginner in the field of scanning can very swiftly achieve his first scan. Those who need a manual can make themselves more knowledged by either reading the included 20 page manual or use the PDF-Version, which is also the online help.

In the scanning software the exact type of film or just a generic film can be defined; thus some color profiles are accommodated in the software, so that one receives better colors, if one sets the film type accurately? The adjustments for resolution and scanning area can be very easily made in the software. However with each restart of the software one has to start all over again.

Some user dialogues are unfortunately not completely simple to understand. For example when adjusting ROC color restoration one has to click on "accept" before clicking on "close", that's very unusual for most Windows users; a simple Ok button is far more common. The software has a few small weaknesses just like this example. But the software also has some strengths, which I wouldn't have expected: its offering (apart from the usual color corrections, such as brightness and contrast) the possibility to change the gradation and hue curves. That's not commonly found in a simple scanning software. Also noticeable is that one can set several scan areas within a picture, so that these get automatically numbered and scanned one after another; so far I only know this feature from the professional software SilverFast.

The automatic file numbering is very practical, if scanning a series of pictures. However this feature is not perfectly developed yet, because the counter needs to be readjusted manually from time to time. The dialogue handling is also not really good yet: for example if scanning with 7200 dpi resolution, the progress bar makes one believe how the procedure is progressing and after reaching the 100% the bar disappears. This seems as if the scan is done, but after a longer moment a new progress bar appears and a new progress bar starts. This way one never really knows when the scan is really finished.

Altogether CyberView X captivates by its clarity and simpleness. The software has some small weaknesses, but also some strengths. For a film scanner in this price range the software is however sufficient and acceptable.

Like many other scanners too, the CrystalScan 7200 shows his true strengths only if used with SilverFast scanning software. The software is available either as slimmed down SE version or as the full version AI, including the IT-8 calibration slide optionally in bundle with the scanner. SilverFast impresses not only through more functions and adjustment possibilities, but also through a far better picture quality. There is more information to the SilverFast software on our FAQ pages about SilverFast.

Picture quality

Let's talk about the most important point, the quality of the scans. With a resolution of 7200 dpi and a 48 bit color depth it should be possible to make very good digital images. First I must praise that reflecta indicates the maximum density Dmax with 3,2. That's a honest value, which is sufficient for most applications, but leads to losses if used on critical images. Still I'm praising it, because most manufactures nowadays ony indicate the theoretical density value of 4,8; thus a value originating from maximum color depth and the A/D transformation process.

Of course I was dying to to see what resolution the reflecta Crystal Scan 7200 really yields and whether the halfed stepwidth of the transportation really affects the resolution positively. The scan of a USAF test chart intends to show, how many dots per inch are effectively produced. If we look at the USAF test chart, then we can state that all elements of group 5 are shown clear, meaning those three horizontal and vertical black bars are contrasting very good against the white background. Looking at element 6.1, we can still see clear contrast between the three bars and the grey between them. In element 6.2 there are however only completely fine, vertical contrast differences visible, which is the transportation direction. The halved stepwidth in transport direction thus leads to at most 100 dpi more when compared with the predecessor model.

Element 6.1 corresponds to a resolution of 3251 dpi; element 6.2 to 3649 dpi. So I conclude the result that the scanner has an effective resolution of approximately 3300 dpi, in both, horizontal and in vertical direction. This means we're approx. 10% below the nominal optical resolution - an acceptable and pleasing value, because only very expensive film scanners are in this range of tolerance; lower priced models often reach only 50% of the nominal resolution. However, there's no way to talk of 7200 dpi in transportation direction, so that's a pure marketing trick by Reflecta. This means the device does not differ in resolution from the predecessor model.

To the evaluation of colors and the color intensity: I started my tests with framed 35mm slides and was astonished about the good pictures which I had on the harddisc after scanning. Both, the color intensity and the sharpness of the pictures were astonishing. In the adjustments I always chose the generic positive as my type of film. Regular holiday pictures, the kind which most scanner buyers process, are scanned very nicely using the CrystalScan 7200. If scanning pictures with lots of details in dark ranges, one (as expected) reaches the limits of the device. That's where the low maximum density becomes negatively apparent, but that was also not to be expected differently.

With negatives it's a different story. While one obtains great results when scanning positives with the standard procedure, it gets far more diffcult with negatives. It is unavoidable to use either the scanning software or the picture-processing software to bring some life into the colors.

Outstandingly good working is the ICE dust and scratch correction for slides and negatives; that's just the big plus of this slide scanner. Dust, scratches, fingerprints or small fluffs are corrected efficiently at expense of the scanning time. The GEM film grain smoothing procedure made me less happy. Applying GEM doesn't only result in flater pictures, it changes the colors too; I assume that GEM is somehow connected to the color restoration ROC, although both correction procedures can be selected and regulated separately.

Result: The image quality of framed slides scanned with the Reflecta CrystalScan7200 convinced me; with negatives I'm not completely this enthusiastic, since some post-processing is necessary in order to get acceptable colors. Perhaps one receives more genuine colors, if one sets exactly the type of film and doesn't use the generic type.

Note: With the standard scanning software CyberView the image quality is rather mediocre, while it is surprisingly good with the SilverFast SE software. One gets the optimum at image quality, if using the scanner with the SilverFast software Ai and the IT-8 calibration slide. Due to the color calibration the scanner then gives genuine colors, which must be very little corrected with the picture-processing software. More additional information is available on our SilverFast web page.

Scanning speed

If one regards the tables with time measurements in the previous chapters, then one will make the usual statements about film scanners: the scanning of negatives takes longer than scanning positives. If one switches on ICE in addition, the scanning time increases considerably. If one adds further filters like GEM or other color corrections, the scanning time continues to increase.

That the scanning times will rise boundless when using 7200 dpi resolution was to be expected. However, scans with 3600 dpi are totally sufficient, since the effective resolution doesn't really increase with 7200 dpi. This way the scanning times remain also within an acceptable range.

The time measurements from above were achieved on a PC with 3 GHz processor frequency and 2 GByte main memory. The scanner was attached to an USB 2.0 interface. Of course the device also works through an USB 1.1 interface, however thereby the scanning times increase because a scan in highest resolution sends approx. 60 MByte data from the scanner to the computer.

Altogether can be said that the Reflecta CrystalScan 7200 is neither a fast sprinter nor a lame turtle; it is to be placed approximately in the medium range of slide scanners. It is much more important that these times apply in each case to only one picture. In each case the time for inserting the slide and/or insertation of the film strip has to be added. Since one can only scan one picture at the time, there is no altermative than to spend a few minutes sitting in front of the computer and to try to keep oneself somehow busy while the scanner is producing the scan. To enjoy the comfort of a cup of coffee while the scanner is processing an entire filmstrip isn't given with the CrystalScan 7200.

Nevertheless the scanning software makes life simple as it for example makes certain standard adjustments and specifies a standard scan area after the preview of a slide; then one only keeps inserting new pictures and pressing the scan button. This permits a somehow fast and effective work.

Demo scan CD

The image quality of slides scanned with the Reflecta Crystal Scan 7200 surprised me positively. Since it already sounds nearly unbelievable that a scanner in this pricerange can produce such great scans, I offer everyone to convince themself. For a contribution of 10 € I offer a CD with Scans, which were made with different attributes on the CrystalScan 7200.

Summary, Result

With the Reflecta CrystalScan 7200 one receives a film scanner, which is convincing through a good image quality, ICE dust and scratch correction, a high effective resolution of 3300 dpi and a low price. In return one has to cut out on any comfort when inserting framed slides or film strips. Since the scanner has no automatic film transport, there is no batch processing.

While the picture quality is rather average when using the standard scanning software CyberView, it gets much improved through the software SilverFast SE. Optimal results regarding the picture quality are achieved with SilverFast Ai due to the IT-8 color calibration slide.

The CrystalScan 7200 is the ideal device for people, who would like to digitize their slide collection in good quality at a small price and are ready to invest some time into that. Because of the time-consuming handling the scanner is however not suitable for large picture archives.

Buying a film scanner

Please, feel free to visit our online shop - it's the only shop on the Internet which is fully specialized on film scanners and accessories! We can provide you with any film scanner at an extremely attractive price and we also can supply you with accessories such as film holders or optional adapters.

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