New Plustek OpticFilm 120 Scanner Surfaces(sort of)

glhs116 · Sep 15, 2012

Yes, comparisons with D600 are completely out the window. There are a hundred decent DSLRs already. The point is that to shoot film in this day and age you need a good solution for "printing" that into a high quality digital file. Whether printing, sharing or selling your shots they need to become digitized. For too long we have had nothing between "crummy" and "antique commercial gear". Whilst antique commercial gear continues to fall in price and is capable of phenomenal quality it is typically: huge, cumbersome, delicate, requiring arcane knowledge and reliant on other antiques in the forms of obsolete computers and software and OSes.

So for those of us actively shooting film by choice this new scanner is very very exciting news. And since we are now getting to the stage where a whole new generation gazes on film as something essentially "new" it will be judged by this generation based upon its digital result. Bad scanners are bad for film. Here's hoping the new scanner sells great, the new better scans excite more young people about film, the new film shooters buy more film, and Kodak, Fuji and Plustek all reap the benefits!

CGW · Sep 30, 2012

glhs116 said:
Yes, comparisons with D600 are completely out the window. There are a hundred decent DSLRs already. The point is that to shoot film in this day and age you need a good solution for "printing" that into a high quality digital file. Whether printing, sharing or selling your shots they need to become digitized. For too long we have had nothing between "crummy" and "antique commercial gear". Whilst antique commercial gear continues to fall in price and is capable of phenomenal quality it is typically: huge, cumbersome, delicate, requiring arcane knowledge and reliant on other antiques in the forms of obsolete computers and software and OSes.

So for those of us actively shooting film by choice this new scanner is very very exciting news. And since we are now getting to the stage where a whole new generation gazes on film as something essentially "new" it will be judged by this generation based upon its digital result. Bad scanners are bad for film. Here's hoping the new scanner sells great, the new better scans excite more young people about film, the new film shooters buy more film, and Kodak, Fuji and Plustek all reap the benefits!

Check out Pt. 6 of the Photokina report here for some pix of the new Plustek 120 scanner(The Phoblographer — Photography: Think Simpler).

It's a plus-size machine whose chassis looks borrowed from a small-ish microwave oven.

I still believe Plustek waited too long and wants too much for the OpticFilm 120. Again, 2 grand will buy a FF D600--a no-brainer for anyone without a substantial investment in 35mm and MF system cameras. Are there there enough hard-core film shooters willing to go beyond the "good enough+/-" delivered by the better Epson flatbeds to the Plustek? Nikon had a hard time moving their 120-capable scanner for this price 5 years ago when film was far more popular than it is now. Think the sweet spot for a quality no frills scanner is about 800-1000 bucks cheaper. Any more bad news from Kodak or Fuji won't help.

Pioneer · Sep 30, 2012

Received my second notice today. BHPhoto still does not have machines to ship. Hope it shows up soon, but I do have quite a bit of film stacking up to get scanned.

RattyMouse · Oct 17, 2012

It's here! Samples from the new scanner.

First sample images scanned with the Plustek OpticFilm 120 professional grade scanner | Photo Rumors

Pioneer · Oct 17, 2012

Rattymouse said:
It's here! Samples from the new scanner.

First sample images scanned with the Plustek OpticFilm 120 professional grade scanner | Photo Rumors

I hope so. I am still getting out of stock notices from BHPhoto. It would be nice to get a notice that UPS is trucking it my way instead.

CGW · Oct 17, 2012

Not entirely sure what's up at Plustek's marketing dept. This stuff isn't exactly breathtaking, at least in a positive way. Any ideas about what's behind the glacial roll-out? People saw a small microwave-size scanner at Photokina with an OpticFilm 120 label but nothing else.

Pioneer · Oct 17, 2012

They certainly have not been terribly speedy with their roll out. But they are not the only ones who seem a little slow so it may just be some manufacturing issues that they are working through.

CGW · Oct 17, 2012

Dunno. Didn't they announce the OpticFilm 120 in January? Still wonder if they've simply waited too long in light of demand for both film and a 2 grand scanner.

Pioneer · Oct 17, 2012

Well, I guess only time will tell. If they decide at this point not to produce the scanner they will certainly miss the window.

Actually, I think a lot of people are still shooting film, both 35mm and medium format. If nothing else, just look at the Lomo stuff. That is still growing by leaps and bounds and they are shooting both formats. We know that they want to be able to post their images on the net for their friends to see. Even if the scanner is a bit pricey, I'll bet that there are a lot of those people who will be willing to spend the money if they believe the quality is there. And these type of things tend to drop in price once they are out on the market.

I really think that this scanner is coming out at a perfect time. It has been awhile since Epson built a film scanner so there is certainly a space for a new machine. The older ones are starting to reach the end of their useful lifespan, if only because of the operating system problems. Certainly people who want to can keep them running for awhile longer but those who expect a smooth and easy hook up want something that will work as they have come to expect.

It will not be the end of the world for me since I can still scan using my Epson, but I will personally be disappointed if Plustek pulls back now. And I certainly doubt that I am the only one.

CGW · Oct 17, 2012

Pioneer said:
Well, I guess only time will tell. If they decide at this point not to produce the scanner they will certainly miss the window.

Actually, I think a lot of people are still shooting film, both 35mm and medium format. If nothing else, just look at the Lomo stuff. That is still growing by leaps and bounds and they are shooting both formats. We know that they want to be able to post their images on the net for their friends to see. Even if the scanner is a bit pricey, I'll bet that there are a lot of those people who will be willing to spend the money if they believe the quality is there. And these type of things tend to drop in price once they are out on the market.

I really think that this scanner is coming out at a perfect time. It has been awhile since Epson built a film scanner so there is certainly a space for a new machine. The older ones are starting to reach the end of their useful lifespan, if only because of the operating system problems. Certainly people who want to can keep them running for awhile longer but those who expect a smooth and easy hook up want something that will work as they have come to expect.

It will not be the end of the world for me since I can still scan using my Epson, but I will personally be disappointed if Plustek pulls back now. And I certainly doubt that I am the only one.

I can't help but wonder why labs are closing or ditching film services if so many are consuming film materials. This has been the case in my area for the past 3+ years. Wish it wasn't so.

Lomography? It's yet another hipster nano-trend. It worked when film and processing were cheap and widely available but not now when Instagram and Hipstamatic("Digital photography never looked so analog")and an iPhone cut around the camera, film, and the lab.The company behind Lomography makes flagrant claims about camera/film sales, arguing it's in the van of a film revival, which is sadly untrue. The cameras are bought, shot for a few rolls, and plunked on the tschotskes shelf. Working 70s film SLRs with a 50mm lens are cheaper and far better.

Nikon axed Coolscans due to poor sales several years back when film use was higher. Epson isn't likely to shelve its current low-cost(or even its not-so-low-cost)scanners. They sell. Plustek really needs to get it together if it hopes to move its new scanner. Seems to be a similar fog around the resurrected JOBO, too.

Pioneer · Oct 17, 2012

Yeah, you may be right. We may see both Jobo and Plustek drop out at the last minute. This has certainly happened before. Their investors may be a bit hesitant to forge ahead until some things work themselves out. Like Kodak for example, the Elephant in the Room! I have been saying all along that the film base is still shrinking but if Kodak goes under, that will yank the rug out from under a lot of things.

Obviously I have a personal interest in seeing film forge ahead and I would seriously love to have a brand new Plustek 120 Scanner. But even I am hedging my own bets by taking some digital photography courses at my local college and trying to get my arms around Photoshop and inkjet printing.

Ah well, we certainly live in interesting times.

RattyMouse · Oct 26, 2012

Truly depressing if current film sales can't justify the investment in at least one new film scanner. Depressing!

mdruziak · Oct 30, 2012

Hi Mark from Plustek here. If you guys have any specific questions please feel free to ask here or drop me a note markdruziak (at) plustek dot com.

Yeah the scanner is delayed. The good news is that most bits are working but there is some final tuning of the drivers, firmware and software that is taking place now.

A little history on this project: The CCD we were going to use was discontinued in December of last year. The original manufacturer (a big film company having financial troubles) sold their sensor division and the new owners discontinued the sensor. Unfortunately the press release went out a day before our CTO decided we need to use a different sensor. So starting in January, the scanner was basically redesigned. Anyway, that's why we all have been tap dancing for a few months.

Hopefully we will this will be available in a few weeks.

Pioneer · Oct 30, 2012

Thank you Mark. I for one appreciate your feedback immensely. I presently have one of your scanners on pre-order. Obviously, I am certainly interested in getting it as soon as possible, but I would rather be delayed a little to ensure that it actually works when it arrives.

It would definitely be nice to have a little better timeline. Can you define "a few weeks" a little more? Right now I use an Epson V500 for my film scanning, and while it is a nice little machine, I had been holding off on most of my scanning in anticipation of the arrival of my new Plustek. I finally had to break down and do some scanning over the past weekend. If yours is shipping in the next 4 to 8 weeks then I can hold off a while longer. If we are still looking at 12 weeks to six months...or longer, then I will need to get some scanning done.

mdruziak · Oct 30, 2012

Pioneer said:
Thank you Mark. I for one appreciate your feedback immensely. I presently have one of your scanners on pre-order. Obviously, I am certainly interested in getting it as soon as possible, but I would rather be delayed a little to ensure that it actually works when it arrives.

It would definitely be nice to have a little better timeline. Can you define "a few weeks" a little more? Right now I use an Epson V500 for my film scanning, and while it is a nice little machine, I had been holding off on most of my scanning in anticipation of the arrival of my new Plustek. I finally had to break down and do some scanning over the past weekend. If yours is shipping in the next 4 to 8 weeks then I can hold off a while longer. If we are still looking at 12 weeks to six months...or longer, then I will need to get some scanning done.

It better not be 12 weeks to 6 months or heads will roll! LOL. I think 4-8 weeks is reasonable.

Pioneer · Oct 30, 2012

Thanks for your feedback Mark.

pschwart · Oct 30, 2012

mdruziak said:
Hi Mark from Plustek here. If you guys have any specific questions please feel free to ask here or drop me a note markdruziak (at) plustek dot com.

Yeah the scanner is delayed. The good news is that most bits are working but there is some final tuning of the drivers, firmware and software that is taking place now.

A little history on this project: The CCD we were going to use was discontinued in December of last year. The original manufacturer (a big film company having financial troubles) sold their sensor division and the new owners discontinued the sensor. Unfortunately the press release went out a day before our CTO decided we need to use a different sensor. So starting in January, the scanner was basically redesigned. Anyway, that's why we all have been tap dancing for a few months.

Hopefully we will this will be available in a few weeks.

Thanks for this info. I think it would be best to see this on the Plustek web site instead of leaving everyone to speculate. Potential buyers want a real ship date -- I've been hearing about this scanner for so long I had given up ever seeing one.

Felinik · Nov 1, 2012

mdruziak said:
Hi Mark from Plustek here. If you guys have any specific questions please feel free to ask here or drop me a note markdruziak (at) plustek dot com.

Yeah the scanner is delayed. The good news is that most bits are working but there is some final tuning of the drivers, firmware and software that is taking place now.

A little history on this project: The CCD we were going to use was discontinued in December of last year. The original manufacturer (a big film company having financial troubles) sold their sensor division and the new owners discontinued the sensor. Unfortunately the press release went out a day before our CTO decided we need to use a different sensor. So starting in January, the scanner was basically redesigned. Anyway, that's why we all have been tap dancing for a few months.

Hopefully we will this will be available in a few weeks.

Great update!!

Thanks!

So with this, we can expect the specs of the scanner to become even better? Right?

chuck94022 · Nov 5, 2012

Hi Mark, maybe you can tease us with some more data on the scanner. Are the new sensors improvements over the original? Will the scanner exceed the performance (practically, not just in spec-ware) of the last Coolscans? (Will it achieve (optically) > 4000ppi, or at this resolution is it just expanding the pixels?) Can you post some scans at highest resolution to demonstrate its performance?

Does it autofocus?

I'm interested, but only if it does advance the ball, and of course only if it is a significant improvement over the Epson v750 (especially for 120, but also for 35mm).

mdruziak · Nov 5, 2012

chuck94022 said:
Hi Mark, maybe you can tease us with some more data on the scanner. Are the new sensors improvements over the original? Will the scanner exceed the performance (practically, not just in spec-ware) of the last Coolscans? (Will it achieve (optically) > 4000ppi, or at this resolution is it just expanding the pixels?) Can you post some scans at highest resolution to demonstrate its performance?

Does it autofocus?

I'm interested, but only if it does advance the ball, and of course only if it is a significant improvement over the Epson v750 (especially for 120, but also for 35mm).

Chuck, Yes the sensor is a much higher resolution sensor than the OpticFilm 7xxx and 8xxx series. The native resolution of theses scanners is 7200 dpi and the OpticFilm 120 is 10,600 dpi. (for this conversation dpi = ppi, my old habits die hard) The biggest improvement comes in the OpticFilm 120 optical system and lens. This is a higher resolving power lens than the 7/8xxx series scanners. We are finding the measured resolution of the scanners is in the + 5300 dpi range.

I met with our CTO last year and he told me that his goal was to build a scanner that Nikon would have built as a follow on to the CS9000 if they were still building scanners.

The scanner has fixed focus. But the carriers are very robust (and easy to load) and designed to hold the film flat. The optics are designed a depth of field great enough to handle any surface irregularities left. There are some photos of the carriers on our Facebook page: OpticFilm 120 | Facebook. If I get a chance, I take some shots comparing the new carriers to the 7/8xxx carriers.

Hope this helps.

chuck94022 · Nov 5, 2012

Thanks Mark. Can you assure the readers (and me!) that the factory testing and tolerances are such that the film will lie in the plane of sharpest focus? That is one of the very big issues with the Epson flatbed. I'm concerned that a dedicated film scanner of the caliber of a "follow on to the Coolscan 9000" would not have autofocus. Why would it not? And, what will be the recourse if the focus is off - return to factory, or will there be a (user accessible) field adjustment available?

(Can you tell I'm an overly sensitive Epson owner? ;-) )

mdruziak · Nov 5, 2012

chuck94022 said:
Thanks Mark. Can you assure the readers (and me!) that the factory testing and tolerances are such that the film will lie in the plane of sharpest focus? That is one of the very big issues with the Epson flatbed. I'm concerned that a dedicated film scanner of the caliber of a "follow on to the Coolscan 9000" would not have autofocus. Why would it not? And, what will be the recourse if the focus is off - return to factory, or will there be a (user accessible) field adjustment available?

(Can you tell I'm an overly sensitive Epson owner? ;-) )

Chuck,

Focus testing is certainly part of the end of line QA testing. LaserSoft has been doing extensive testing as part of their development work of SilverFast. I have not heard of any focus related issues. I have not had the scanner apart to see how it works, but it seems to me that the carrier is locked in place before the scan starts. The illumination system and CCD ride on machined rails.

The design of our holders are completely different than the Epson design. First off it comes with 5 120 film holders: 6x6, 6x7, 645, 6x8 & 9, 6x12. The holders have movable vertical supports so the film is supported across the height of the film. These supports are adjustable so you can move them to the appropriate position if your camera doesn't advance the film 100% accurately. These vertical supports help to hold the film flat and in the correct plane in either 3 or 4 locations (depending on the format) along the film strip. Also the ends of the strip are held in place. In other words, each frame is supported on all four sides of the frame. The top of the holder is locked into place by magnets.

It's fairly easy to load curled film too. I had an old roll of Pan-X that was easily 25 years old that I just processed. This thing was coiled like a spring. It loaded a heck of a lot easier in the OpticFilm 120 holder than the holder for my other scanner.

Mark

pschwart · Nov 5, 2012

Sounds like the film holders got a lot of attention. That's good, because poor holders can kill the performance and usability of otherwise good hardware. Can we get a glass holder, too?

Felinik · Nov 5, 2012

Any idea of when we can expect this to actually hit the market?

EASmithV · Nov 5, 2012

I'm impressed by the feedback we're getting from Plustek, so thank you Mark! I am also concerned by possible plane of focus issues like I have on my Epson, so as long as the Plustek does a better job i'll be happy. I'm so tired of unsharp scans.

New Plustek OpticFilm 120 Scanner Surfaces(sort of)

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