Many of us have been delighted by the news some half a year ago that Plustek is going to release a brand new-and affordable!-medium format scanner. The scanner is also listed on their official website, but so far, there's no clue when it will be put on shop shelves.....For the price it has been speculated to be around a grand-quite nice, if you compare to some refurbished or "like-new-condition" Nikons or Minoltas. Otherwise, the Plustek is a fixed-focus device, while the other two have an adjustable focus. Probably not an issue, provided their "patent-pending adjustable pitch 120/220mm film holder" will do the job well.
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| Plustek OpticFilm 120. The market release date is still a mistery. Source: plustek.com |
Also, a nice feature of the scanner will be the Auto IT8 Calibration®. In the meantime, we can only guess when the D-day will come...Hopefully, as our anxiety about this scanner rises, the (anticipated) price won't!
silver regards
Mitja
Was anyone away that this scanner doesn't have adjustable focus or autofocus? In addition, there are no glass carriers, so keeping the film flat will be impossible. In essence, it suffers from the same deficiencies as a inexpensive flatbed scanner. I was going to buy the OpticFilm 120 but without adjustable focus, I see little point. I'll check out the Microtek Artix F1. (which has adjustable focus and a greater Dmax than the Plustek). - It even costs slightly less than the Plustek
ReplyDeleteI am aware that this is a fixed-focus device...in principle, if everything is working fine, maybe you would not need an adjustable focus, but life isn't perfect....with a proper carrier, even medium format film can be kept flat
Deletebut my main deterrent about buying such a scanner is its price
instead, I decided to get a Plustek in 35 mm format and rely on outsourcing for scanning medium format
and I must confess-although I have several MF cameras, on photo trips I usually go with just one 35mm camera
so my MF shooting rate is really low...
Yes, your point is well made and valid. It'll be interesting to see if the scan quality is good. Hopefully not too much longer(as at 13th Jan 2013). I wonder how the Plustek will compare to a good flatbed - ie the Microtek Artix? - The Artix has variable focus and looks like it'll cost less than the Plustek.
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