It was one of the first posts on the blog about this medium format scanner. The actual market release date still seems to "float". When should this happen? Who knows, I don't. The vendors have been accepting preorders for the scanner for quite a while now. The feaures look promising, at least on paper. Not so for the price. Wex Photographic offers the scanner (in pre-order, of course) for £1999. Wow, that's serious money, 2.5k€! In these days people get a medium format camera in mint condition for some 15-30% of that amount! And you can get a (used but working, of course) Imacon or drum scanner for that sum.....I really do not understand who will ever buy such a monster (price-wise). If one needs to scan MF film for sharing online, then a Canon or Epson flatbed does the job just right, for 10% of that price. When you ever need high quality scans (exhibitions, print sales), then it's just better to pay a professional to do that. But yes, it is a problem to find a good professional these days.....I don't know for you, but I'm not gonna buy it. Not in a million years. If I ever get crazy one day, I'll get to scavenge an old drum scanner....and a SCSI adapter :)
You are so right.
ReplyDeleteBut how to resist the temptation of a new toy... ;)
Hangar, we know the temptation for a new toy is always huge, but price is many times a good deterrent:) while I do not deny I love to accumulate many analog (and related) toys, I just try to be a "responsible" consumer-even if I can afford it, I try to stay within my principles....
DeleteSo what is the value ($$) of scanner like this to you?
ReplyDeleteThe value? I would say so, dear Plustek USA: if the price would be half of that (as the rumors were when you announced it), that would be a good deal. But it's not hard to say why the price is so cranked-up: the used (or old stock) Nikons and Minoltas still have a high market value, so you promptly followed that fact.
ReplyDeleteInstead, I would say, you'd be better off if you have focused on the (mostly) photographers new to medium format-those who have purchased their MF only after the film market crashed (say, in the last 5-8 years). These people mostly got MF cameras at bargain prices, so it would be quite insane to pay for a scanner, say 5 times what you paid for the camera! All in all, spending about 3k€(or$) for the camera+scanner (given the quite uncertain color film future, plus film+dev costs) is more than a deterrent for many photographers (save the most hardcore ones), since you can get a DSLR in the 5DMkIII or D800 league. Plus, such a delay in the release date (of any product)does not inspire much confidence in a product, at least not to me.
€2,5K would be outrageous indeed. I'm currently playing with oldschool SCSI equipment+PMT drum scanner you could get for the fraction of that price and unless it's on par or better than Nikon 8000/9000 with sufficent scanner operating skills a dusty but decent drum scanner from a distant past will still have a noticable results edge over a new generation CCD-based Plustek. Hopefully the price will be sub €2K to make it worthwile considering for the wider film enthusiasts market, not only the few selected people nostaltic with wilm with deep pockets who'd probably rather buy D800 for that money.
ReplyDeletemaybe it's just the right time to play around the virtual-drum-like scanner, remember our discussion some time ago?
DeleteAn enlarger chassis (and a modified light source), a good enlarging lens and a good flatbed should do the job. The devil is in the details, however.