New Plustek OpticFilm 120 Scanner Surfaces(sort of)

[mdruziak]

I (keep your fingers crossed) should have an announcement next week or the week after. Check the Plustek social media outlets, our blog and plustek.com/usa.

 

[pschwart]

I (keep your fingers crossed) should have an announcement next week or the week after. Check the Plustek social media outlets, our blog and plustek.com/usa.

The Plustek web site continues to list the OpticFilm 120 as a current product, so nothing to be learned there.
Updating the web site with availability info and a list of dealers would be a fine idea.

 

[mdruziak]

Yeah the website design was recently updated and apparently all of the "Coming Soon" graphics have vanished. I also noticed that the dates are missing on the news item pages.

The scanner will be available from all the retailers that currently sell the OpticFilm scanners. You will start seeing more retailers showing up in Google Shopping, Pricegrabber, Bing Shopping etc as soon as the scanner is in the distribution channel.

 

[mdruziak]

Master discs are being cut! Some scanners should start reaching retailers in a week or so.

 

[EASmithV]

Finally!

 

[artobest]

Finally!

Yes, but ... still no colour samples?

 

[Pioneer]

Well, it may be comin', but it ain't here yet.

I just received my latest back order notice from BHPhoto.

"One or more items from this purchase are still out of stock as we haven't
yet received the merchandise from our supplier. We are sorry for any
inconvenience this may have caused. We will keep you posted periodically."

 

[Halka]

Yes, but ... still no colour samples?

I'm sure there will be a ton of independent tests/reviews out shortly.

 

[chuck94022]

Yes, but ... still no colour samples?

Mark posted a photo of himself scanned with the scanner on the Plustek Facebook page. Image quality was good. Subject matter was questionable...

 

[StoneNYC]

Ahhhh!!!!! I JUST bought an epson v750-m pro... Just.... Like 31 days ago... As in out of my return timeframe at B&H... Grrr


~Stone

The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chuck94022]

Keep it because you'll certainly be amping up your film addiction with large format.

 

[StoneNYC]

Keep it because you'll certainly be amping up your film addiction with large format.

If I can ever get a body... Lol


~Stone

The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EASmithV]

Dead Link Removed

There's the color sample referenced earlier so you don't have to hunt for it.

 

[jd callow]

Nice mug.

 

[DaleH]

Plustek OpticFilm 120 file sizes?

What file sizes does the Plustek OpticFilm 120 deliver for 135 and 120?

I notice that the 35mm strip holder consists of two rows of film with the 24mm edge leading, where as the transparency holder handles one row of slides with the 36mm edge leading.

How does the scanner deliver the same resolution for both strip negatives and mounted slides?

Is there a PDF available for the user guide?

Thanks,
Dale

 

[gmikol]

The lens and sensor in the scanner are fixed. They are capable of imaging up to a 2.25" image width (width of a 120 frame) at some fixed resolution. Regardless of orientation of the frame, the resolution is the same. You're using different parts of the imaging area depending on frame size and orientation, but the pixels per inch of film is the same for all formats. This is different from using a digital SLR, where you choose a different focal length lens depending on the "size" (angle of view) of the scene you want to capture.

Hope that helps.

I don't think Plustek has the manuals up on their website, yet.

--Greg

 

[DaleH]

So the pixel width of a 35mm frame is a fraction of the total number of pixels the CCD is capable of?
The sample file shown on Photorumors site suggests a full scan pixel count for the 120 frame as about 11,000.
That would be about 5000 pixels (4888). If the 35mm frame is scanned along the 24mm edge, that would around 3300 pixels. Is this what we're looking at for 35mm scans? 5000 x 3300 pixels for a film strip?
The transparency mount shows the 36mm edge leading which would give about 7500 x 5000 pixels.
Do I interpret this correctly?

Link to Photorumors sample scan:
http://photorumors.com/2012/10/17/first-sample-images-scanned-with-the-plustek-opticfilm-120-professional-grade-scanner/#more-34324

 

[gmikol]

Not quite...

I wrote this elsewhere in regards to the LS-9000 (4000 PPI), but the concepts still apply.

Think about it this way. The scanner has a resolution of 4000 PPI, So in order to image a 2.25" wide piece of film, the sensor has 2.25*4000 = 9000 pixels across the width of the film. This is the dimension parallel to the line sensor. If you're scanning a 645 frame, then the sensor only moves 45mm (1.75") along the length of the roll. So your final resolution is 9000 (across the width of the film) x 7000 (1.75" *4000 along the length of the film). A 6x6 frame gets you a 9000 x 9000 image, and a 6x9 (3.25" long) gets you 9000 x 13000. This is because the width dimension is fixed by the optical properties of the sensor, and the other dimension is dictated by how far the scanner head moves while scanning.

Similarly for 35mm. The width of a frame on a 35mm film strip is 24mm (we'll call this 1 inch). So only about 4000 of the 9000 pixels in the width direction contain useful image data. Now our resolution is still 4000 PPI, because nothing in the optical system has changed just by putting in a different film carrier. The sensor travels the 36mm along the length of the roll (~1.5 inches), so you end up with a image that is 4000x6000.

The slide carrier orients the film differently than the 35mm strip holder, but it doesn't matter. Here the 36mm dimension (~1.5 inches) is parallel to the sensor, so we're using 6000 of the 9000 pixels in that dimension. But the sensor only travels 24mm (~1 inch), capturing 4000 pixels in that dimension. You end up with the same 6000x4000 pixel image.

If we change the math to the 5300PPI number from the Plustek, then we get:
35mm approx. 8000 x 5300 (strip or mounted slide)
645 approx. 11900 x 9300
6x6 approx. 11900 x 11900
6x9 approx. 11900 x 17200

Keep in mind that a color image may have up to 6 bytes per pixel, so a full-color, full-resolution 6x6 scan at 16-bits per channel will be approx 800 MB.

--Greg

 

[toyotadesigner]

Don't be too excited. Plustek ist not a high quality manufacturer. Usually you can divide the real world resolution of their scanners by factor 2.

Unfortunately it will only run with Silverfast, not with VueScan. Only with Silverfast the scanner will deliver the highest Dmax. Isn't that weird? Why don't they offer VueScan or leave the choice to the users? It appears to me that Silverfast will perform most of the work and has been customized to this particular scanner. On their German web site they published the tech specs. Dmax only with multiple scans and with Silverfast.

I really want to see

One single unit in 2012 (as promised by Plustek)
The real world resolution of a Provia 100F slide scan

Then I'll compare it to my Nikon LS 9000.

Everything else is hot air.

 

[artobest]

@jens, Plustek is one of the few manufacturers prepared to support film users with new products at reasonable prices.

I suggest you look up "churlish" in a dictionary.

 

[toyotadesigner]

@artobest: Was it rude/churlish?

Isn't the promise that the product will hit the market in 3 weeks rude if the manufacturer knows he can't meet the deadline?

I've read so many times that the scanner will hit the market in x days. Letting the people (i.e. Pioneer) wait forever isn't 'churlish'?

OK, yes, they want to support the film users. They promised a lot. They published weird specifications. They claim 5.300 ppi. They say dmax will be 4.8 (which no film scanner will deliver without certain tricks in the software!). They heat up discussions and raise hope. But no official statements, only some discussions in forums and a small JPEG here in this forum.

The reality is different. As somebody else put it: We are talking about a phantom. For months by now.

But ok, it's just my opinion.

 

[Harry Lime]

Unfortunately it will only run with Silverfast, not with VueScan. .

How do you know that Vuescan will not support this scanner some time in the future? It's not even on the market, yet

As for the delays, yes they were annoying and disappointing. But if you read the whole thread you will learn that the sensor they were originally using was discontinued, when Kodak sold their sensor division. So, they had to switch to a different unit, which is not a trivial thing to do.

Right now our options are limited. You can choose between mediocre flatbed scanners, a few low end 35mm scanners that are not as good as the old Nikon 5000ED, a used Nikon scanner for a small fortune or something like an Imacon or drum scanner for a lot of money. You can even go all out and buy yourself a current Hasselblad scanner for $15-24k. But the middle ground has evaporated with the end of the 9000ED.

So, yes. It has been frustrating to watch the Plustek 120 saga unfold, but it's the most promising solution on the horizon. I doubt that it is vaporware, but these sort of delays are not unusual in a narrow and specialized market.

 

[Felinik]

@artobest: Was it rude/churlish?

Isn't the promise that the product will hit the market in 3 weeks rude if the manufacturer knows he can't meet the deadline?

I've read so many times that the scanner will hit the market in x days. Letting the people (i.e. Pioneer) wait forever isn't 'churlish'?

OK, yes, they want to support the film users. They promised a lot. They published weird specifications. They claim 5.300 ppi. They say dmax will be 4.8 (which no film scanner will deliver without certain tricks in the software!). They heat up discussions and raise hope. But no official statements, only some discussions in forums and a small JPEG here in this forum.

The reality is different. As somebody else put it: We are talking about a phantom. For months by now.

But ok, it's just my opinion.

Read up on the issue, and if you have complaints, call Kodak.

 

[Felinik]

Don't be too excited. Plustek ist not a high quality manufacturer. Usually you can divide the real world resolution of their scanners by factor 2.

Unfortunately it will only run with Silverfast, not with VueScan. Only with Silverfast the scanner will deliver the highest Dmax. Isn't that weird? Why don't they offer VueScan or leave the choice to the users? It appears to me that Silverfast will perform most of the work and has been customized to this particular scanner. On their German web site they published the tech specs. Dmax only with multiple scans and with Silverfast.

I really want to see

One single unit in 2012 (as promised by Plustek)
The real world resolution of a Provia 100F slide scan

Then I'll compare it to my Nikon LS 9000.

Everything else is hot air.

Keep your Nikon, it's not a bad scanner. Personally I prefer recent versions of my operating system, and being able to run my scanner with a modern interface so I can use my laptop.

 

[StoneNYC]

Is the Epsom v750 really just mediocre?

And it seems like plustek is just stringing people along because they don't want them to buy other scanners and are keeping them on the hook just to get a few more buyers when/if it comes out.

Too late for me, despite my lack of software understanding, the images I've gotten seem better than high rez scans from my lab...


~Stone

The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk