Did anyone move to Nikon D800E or D800 from Medium format film? (And Plustek 120)

Hi guys,

I mainly shoot with my Mamiya 7 and before I drop $2000 on plustek 120, I'd like to give it a thought.
(BTW, I do my own color neg developing/scanning and I'm aiming for very large prints such as 30-40")

I'd like to hear about your experiences either who moved to D800e from the medium format film or thought about it but stayed on film.

Mamiya 7 +Plustek 120 or Nikon D800e

Why did you move and why did you stay?

Thanks,

Rusty, do you have binders full of film shot w/ your mamiya 7? If so switching to the D800 may not save you from needing a 120 scanner.

I made the move from shooting film in a Mamyia 645 with an Epson 4990 scanner to Mamyia 645 II with ZD digital back, not quite the same, but not far off. I can still shoot with a film back when the fancy hits me. The image quality is outstanding and I have no regrets. My friend has the D800e and I am very tempted to switch from my MFD system to it. I still prefer the handling & flexabilty of a 35mm size body, so my trusty D200 still gets lots of action. I don't think you would have any problems making a 40" print from D800e.

I got a d800e last year, and I had - and have - a Mamiya RZ. My problem: I don't have a decent printer yet, so I cannot really say much about how the d800e files look in print compared to my Mamiya. Judging from what I see on the screen, my impression is I should get about the same resolution. A 100% file also looks very impressive on the screen, but I haven't yet any interpolating software (I think that is what it's called), and I don't know its effect on the print quality - in fact, one reason I write this is I hope someone can give information on this, and I also would like to get more information about files vs scanned negatives.

Lukas

Well, you will get higher resolution from your MF scans. And you get the look of film.

You can make good sized prints with your D800. It is a simple calculation to divide your horizontal and vertical pixel counts with the D800 to get a nominally maximum print size without expanding the pixels.

Of course you can go larger than that, just depends on how far you want to push it, and how far the viewer will be from the print.

You can make larger prints from your MF with the Plustek, based on the same calculation.

I think the bottom line though isn't about pixels. It is about the look you are trying to achieve. If you love the look of film you will achieve it easier with film...

I have a D800 but still love the look I get from my Mamiya 6. The 6 also works better as a street camera, quiet and shooting to the square... I like the look of the Mamiya's images.

I bought a D800E and find it produces a more detailed print than the Mamiya 645. But I think the Mamiya 7 still has the edge on raw resolution if you use a fine grained film. However with the Nikon I know exactly where it was focused. With the range finder on the 7 it's always a bit of a guessing game as to whether I have things just right. I still have the Mamiya 7, so I haven't fully moved on. But I haven't shot it in 6 months, so I should probably sell it.

The D800E has more than enough dynamic range for most situations, assuming you get the metering right. It's nice to finally have a digital camera that's as good as film in that regard (at least for the images I take). It may not technically be able to capture as many stops as color negative, but I have yet to find a scene where I wished for more. That has never happened with a digital camera before. It also has the advantage that the highlights are very clean, whereas with scanned negative film the highlights have all the noise. So you really need a good scanner for dense color negative film.

Another reason for my staying with film, at least in large format, is that I like to print in the darkroom. I still think a good black and white silver print looks better than an inkjet. For color I now prefer the inkjet since I have a better choice in paper surfaces. If I only printed inkjet it would be tempting to stick with only the D800E.

I've never liked an ink jet over a c-print wrt to color printing. I do like some of the unique options of inkjet. Printing on transmissive materials, canvas and art paper is all very cool, but most of my work needs to be a glossy stock and inkjet glossy pale to my eye compared to a glossy c-print. Having said that I can cc and prep for printing a tough neg in minutes digitally and the same neg under an enlarger can take an hour or longer. I like the darkroom workflow better but not that much. B&W prints IMHO need to have as the final stage light on emulsion, I've never been a big fan of ink jet B&W prints. The other aspect of film is I love its unique qualities, grain, contrast and the way it can render colors. I love the convenience of digital cameras, but the removal of film leaves a noticeable hole.

I would love to own the d800.