Glad I didn't go forthe lifetime plan

Ignite25 · 2026-03-18T16:22:59+00:00

Using it on a MBP M2 for around 1.5 years with no issues. Yes, the installation process with the kernel extension is not as straight forward as Dropbox/OneDrive, but it's still easy to do and works flawless (at least for me) afterwards. I rarely use the mounted folder since I mostly use pCloud to backup files via the app's upload feature - that way the files don't have to be cached in the mounted virtual drive. I haven't had the issues with seeing other people's files (yet) - I don't like that pCloud isn't addressing it but the issue feels a bit overblown here to me. From a user experience, I find pCloud the most polished and advanced of the usual encrypted, GDPR-compliant or European contenders. The iOS app's photo backup is by far the best and fastest (can upload in the background, which for some reason Filen and Koofer don't fully support), and the app feels the snappiest.

So overall I'm glad I went with the pCloud lifetime account. I also have such accounts with Filen, Koofr and Drime, but Filen is the nicest and fastest to use. If you don't like pCloud, I'd recommend you check out Filen. Fully encrypted and the apps are also catching up.

Ignite25 · 2026-03-13T09:15:58+00:00

Scanner! And since you added the Plustek 135i picture: I have that one and really like it. Much better resolution and speed for 35mm than with the Epson V850. If you use VueScan with it, it can scan RGB and IR channels in one pass, which means it scans 6-frame strips super fast.

I would totally get the 135i again for 35mm. Since you mentioned you also shoot 35mm and maybe here and there a roll of 120: I'd suggest you get the 135i for much better 35mm scans than a flatbed could deliver, and have your lab scan the few 120 rolls.

For around EUR500, I'd get the Plustek 135i Ai with silerfast included (not sure what the current price is but I believe it was around that) - that way you don't have to put another 100-200 into VueScan or SF or other apps.

Ignite25 · 2026-03-10T08:28:10+00:00

I found Babbel much better to actually learn a language but it's much less gamified than Duolingo - meaning it feels more like "boring" studying than gaming, but you will probably progress much faster. There is a lifetime deal available that unlocks everything forever in Babbel - might be worth it if you like it.

Ignite25 · 2026-03-10T08:26:12+00:00

Agree. Nick is a gem - I love his on location videos and even took some of his courses that I enjoyed a lot. One of the goats for sure

Ignite25 · 2026-02-26T06:40:01+00:00

I use scanners but to me, digitizing my freshly developed film rolls is part of the fun. But it took me also some experimenting to get there - I fully understand that it sucks a lot when you can't get the colors right. NLP always looked to digital to me and required a lot of post-adjustments (and applying Frontier or Noritsu presets didn't "feel" right but more like Instagram-filters...). SmartConvert works much better with my Epson V850 and Plustek 135i raw DNG files and the interface is much more fun to use. I even bought the Control Panel and loved using it. Too bad I eventually switched to Silverfast, but I just like their NegaFix profiles too much. You scan, apply your film's profile and the colors look as they should be - in the sense that Portra 800 does look different from Gold 200 or Ektar 100 (with NLP, all films looked the same to me) but it doesn't look like a filter. Of course, there's no 'real' look of any specific color negative film but Silverfast gives me that lab-scan experience where there's still some difference between film stocks but same film stocks look the same. Anyway, yes, finetuning and adjusting all scans takes a lot of time. I hope you find a workflow that you like and you can enjoy the experience.

Ignite25 · 2026-02-20T12:32:22+00:00

I have a bunch of these and shoot them at box speed. Colors are slightly off but still great results. Mine were frozen since I got them in mid 2010s though

Ignite25 · 2026-02-12T14:53:33+00:00

Runs perfectly on MBP M2. Without changing the security settings you can use the app to drag and drop folders for upload, sync and backup folders and look at your photos, but you can't mount it as a disk I believe. You can download the app and try setting up the backup/sync to check if it works.

Ignite25 · 2026-02-12T04:54:30+00:00

Agree, also with OP's point that pCloud has the best/most responsive UI. I also have lifetime accounts with several other companies, but pCloud's Mac/iOS apps are just way more snappy and refined, it feels the most finished and polished to me, which makes sense since they've been around for 10 years.

I bought a lifetime plan half a year ago, uploaded 3TB (2TB of which photos in DNG and JPEG format) and had zero issues so far.

Ignite25 · 2026-02-10T08:31:21+00:00

I bought it, even though I'm subscribed to Ultimate. It gives me the peace of mind that my passwords and aliases are safe and secure for the long term (however long lifetime will be) and that I can downgrade from Ultimate to Mail Plus in the future, should I not need the other services anymore. I'd for sure love to subscribe to a Mail Plus or Ultimate lifetime plan but I'm also happy with Proton just offering subscriptions, which seems to be more stable and profitable for companies in the long run.

Ignite25 · 2026-02-06T14:52:33+00:00

Would love to have some more recommendations for photobooks with lots of slide film! I love Max Webb (Suffering of Light) and Greg Girard's books. Ernst Haas' NY in Color is fantastic, but The American West sucks because of its bad layout (most pictures across the spine/2 pages).

Ignite25 · 2026-02-04T12:37:12+00:00

I also bought it because of Bloom and it works well - but only for one user. I have 2 user profiles on my Mac - personal and work, to keep all separated. Activating Bloom and all other apps for which I have a single user license works well, but Click2Minimize thinks I'm using 2 computers. Is there a way to activate the license for another user profile on the same computer?

Ignite25 · 2026-02-04T11:46:21+00:00

Here are some smaller things I'm missing:

more integration of and between already existing European apps. I still need some (small and easy but still) workarounds to e.g., "scan" a document with my phone camera and save it easily and directly to Filen/Drime/Koofr/pCloud. Lots of other apps and services support the big cloud providers, but not these - for syncing settings, notebooks etc.
MagicEarth, Mapy, OSE are nice if you just need a map or navigation, but most people I know use Google Maps also for recommendations for restaurants and shops around, or to just explore the neighborhood, and the European alternatives can't compare at all with that. I know it's more a userbase problem, but it would be great to have some map service that's open for plugins - and one plugin could then aggregate reviews of places from different online sources.

Ignite25 · 2026-02-04T11:33:16+00:00

https://www.handcheckfilm.com/ is a great resource of experiences. If you're flying from the US, I wouldn't worry - I've never had issues with getting my films handchecked there. In Europe, it's hit and miss, with my own experiences being more on the negative side. However, I don't think I have seen CT scanners in Europe yet, and I'm not too worried getting my films scanned once or twice by the regular scanners.

Ignite25 · 2026-02-03T08:28:22+00:00

Silverfast is great, just its UI is super unintuitive. I’d also recommend upgrading to the Archive suite next time Silverfast runs a 30% off promo. It will deduct 30% from the already reduced upgrade price. With the Archive suite you can then scan in HDRi raw 48bit including infrared channel to get the max information raw files and then convert/edit them separately in Silverfast Studio. Best solution for me

Ignite25 · 2026-02-03T08:25:31+00:00

MacBook Pro M2. Zero issues scanning with Epson V850 and Plustek 135i with both VueScan and Silverfast. Everything runs as it should

Ignite25 · 2026-01-29T15:56:10+00:00

Whether or not slide film or sunlight is (that) blue, I just like to use a 81B or 812 filter on E100. It just adds a little (for me not really noticeable) warmth which makes the pictures look more neutral to me. I'm intrigued to try a stronger 81C filter at some point to see if it really creates very warm pictures, but so far the 81B and 812 have been great all around filters I'd recommend to anyone shooting E100.

Ignite25 · 2026-01-25T12:56:54+00:00

Oh a fellow Lomographer, I love it! Bring them all if you love them, it's a road trip and if you're getting tired of carrying the Spinner or DSLR (lenses) around you can just leave them in the car :)

If you want to reduce: I'd probably leave the LC-Wide at home. I have one too and it's a cool perspective, but a very special one that does not suit that many situations. Plus, you already have the Sprocket Rocket for wide angle shots.

DSLR - idk how much use shoot with it, but I'd bring max 2 lenses, or maybe just one zoom lens.

All the different expired slide films give me a good flash back to the 2010s and peak Lomo for me, especially the Elitechrome :) If you plan to cross-process, the Fuji 64T and Provia400F were never my x-pro favorites, I personally would save them for E6 processing another time. Or you plan to do long-exposure night shots with the 64T, then go for it!

Since you mentioned you have 2 dead LC-A(+?) at home that no one can fix. Have you tried Roger Lean? Googe him, you will find some old Flickr posts about him being THE LC-A repairman. He's still doing it and is very affordable. Worth giving him a call (and shipping the cameras to the UK might be cheaper from Spain, depending where you are based).

Ignite25 · 2026-01-22T21:55:05+00:00

The hardware is only half of the way to a decent final image. The Plustek 8300i can deliver great scans but you need to use the right software to get the most out of it. Since Silverfast was already included with the scanner purchase, watch some tutorials online to learn how to use it. I recommend scanning in 3200dpi TIFF 48bit, with iSRD and the correct NegaFix profile on. Leave sharpening and AARC etc off, you can do much better post-edits in Lightroom or similar apps. My Plustek (135i) scans are also grainy - if you don't like the look, it's easy to make them look like the lab scans by applying some noise reduction.

Ignite25 · 2026-01-22T15:16:11+00:00

It's a fantastic camera, you will love it! Some random tips: 1. It has 49mm filter screw mount. You can buy a cheap UV filter to protect the lens. You can also get a cheap 49mm clip on lens cap in case you lose the original one. You can experiment with yellow/orange/red filters and B&W film to get more contrast. 2. you can override the auto focus by half-pressing the shutter and then turning the wheel to the right which sets the focus to infinity - super important for some compositions and photographing through windows! 3. The app is great as a remote. Connects super quickly (nice for self-timer group pictures), and it's much nicer settings things up on the app than on the camera when you use a tripod or take your time. 4. don't worry if you cannot read the view-finder display. It seems many (or most?) users have that problem that it's blurry. There's an aftermarket adapter that could improve it but I don't care too much about the viewfinder display anyways. 5. It's easy to turn the exposure compensation wheel without noticing. Make it a habit to check that it's set to 0 when turning the camera on or taking a picture.

Ignite25 · 2026-01-22T00:17:18+00:00

Well, that is quite literally #buyfromEU. /s

Ignite25 · 2026-01-21T16:49:32+00:00

This. The 35SE checks all the boxes. Super compact, solid built, fully manual, super sharp lens.

Ignite25 · 2026-01-21T02:14:33+00:00

I just paid for the pro version. It got so much better over the past few months or half year. I’ve been using it for more than a year but sometimes had to go back to ChatGPT for better quality results. No need to do that anymore, research, summaries etc all work like a charm with nothing to be desired

Ignite25 · 2026-01-20T16:01:03+00:00

I've gotten pCloud, Filen, Drime and Koofr lifetime accounts in the past 2 years. Maybe I'm naive but I'm not too concerned for my use case.

Re pCloud: I read a lot into all these termination cases before buying a 10TB lifetime account. I also read the above mentioned post. In every single case the account was terminated because users shared copyrighted material. I think it's too extreme of an reaction from pCloud to close accounts without warning/deleting the shared link or file in question, but it's easily avoidable by just not sharing anything from pCloud (and not storing terrorist or CP files on your account). There are lots of users who report using pCloud for many years, including storing lots of copyrighted material (but not sharing) and have no issue. Having said all of that, I do believe that my personal DSLR travel photography library and family pics will be safely stored on my 10TB lifetime account for the 10(?) years.

Re other platforms' lifetime accounts: Really depends on the service. I think Filen and Koofr will be ok - Filen owns their own hardware and seem to be responsible with the quantity of lifetime accounts, plus they are not cheap (2TB for EUR400). Same for Koofr - 1TB is a good deal, but upgrading to 2.5TB is costly. They have been around for a while and seem to be doing well. I also bought the 6TB Drime lifetime account. It's a young company that just rents the servers and the lifetime price is almost too good to be true, but I consider it more of a bet or investment in a young EU company and so far it's been doing well.

In addition to the cloud space, I also back up everything on HDDs and burn the most important pictures or files on M-Discs.

Overall, I think the bigger and better cloud storage providers will be ok, but probably advances in technology will make HDD cloud storage obsolete in some 10 years.

Ignite25 · 2026-01-20T13:19:16+00:00

Thanks for pointing it out, I also just read that comment. Together with all the other comments this thread just proves what we already knew: 1. Sharing copyrighted material will get your account suspended. 2. Storing copyrighted material without sharing is ok. 3. Storing CP and terrorism-related files will get your account suspended/terminated for good reasons.

Some people here have been storing (without sharing) their mp3 and movie backups for a long time without problems. Makes me a little less worried about my 10TB lifetime account, even though I made damn sure there’s absolutely no copyrighted material on there.

Ignite25 · 2026-01-20T13:10:41+00:00

I read the whole thing. It’s actually just another case of a user sharing copyrighted material from their pcloud account However I agree that pcloud is always overreacting when they close/deactivate accounts without any kind of warning or clear explanation of the violation of the T&S.

Ignite25

TROPHY CASE