Pacific Image are releasing a new dedicated Medium Format scanner this year

[maevery]

I sent an email asking if the PF120 scanners extreme reliability issues were ever going to be fixed, and I received this in response:

This would be the first new, non-rebadged dedicated 120 film scanner in quite a while.
Heres to hoping its good

 

[albireo]

Great news. Their products are rebadged as 'Reflecta' this side of the pond - some of their 35mm scanners are exceptional. Curious about this upcoming one.

 

[drmoss_ca]

I've had two of their 35mm scanners, and when 'scanner-slumming' I find them surprisingly good. Might buy backup scanners in 35 and 120 format from them, which will be cheaper than the D850, 60mm Macro and ES-2 I bought for backing up 35mm scanning!

 

[yeolde]

guess what resolution

 

[braxus]

As long as the new scanner has focus capability on both formats, and works under Windows 11. My Primefilm XAs is really flaky with Windows 11 and Vuescan.

 

[Minolta93]

As long as the new scanner has focus capability on both formats, and works under Windows 11. My Primefilm XAs is really flaky with Windows 11 and Vuescan.

I don't know your specific situation and I'm not familiar with your model of scanner or with Vuescan, but for what it's worth, I have had success passing through a USB device to a Windows XP virtual machine. I'm using Oracle Virtualbox. It's an Epson Perfection 4870 Photo. Again I don't know if this is applicable for you, but maybe it's something to try.

 

[AgX]

Their products are rebadged as 'Reflecta' this side of the pond.

But Pacific Image themselves took over a design/mechanics from Braun in Germany of their latest Multimags for their tray-scanners.

 

[Cinema]

excited to see what is in store.

 

[McDiesel]

I am pessimistic. My entire life I managed engineering teams, and there are two relevant observations I have made over the years:

• To make a great product you must have a small number of extremely talented engineers working on a project, even if just a few % of the total team size. You cannot make up for this with more bodies, you must have a few super stars.
• The talent pool for superstars is highly concentrated, i.e. the best engineers can get a job anywhere, and they choose to work at a handful of best tech companies (over $600K in revenue per engineer) or be in leading roles at start-ups.

I just don't see any superstars joining https://www.scanace.com/ in any engineering capacity. Anyone good will find a better company to join. The quality of their web site is another indirect proof of them being filled with C-players. Look at this image. It's 15 megabytes. You have to be a complete moron or have zero desire to do good work if you're using it as a 480x320px resized thumbnail on a web page.

Moreover, with a hybrid projects like a scanner, where you need software + hardware expertise, you're exposed to talent shortage in two separate areas. No software engineer superstar in their right mind would choose them over a FAANG company, and no electrical engineer would go there over Apple/Tesla or leading Japanese/Korean mega-corps.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I am pessimistic. My entire life I managed engineering teams, and there are two relevant observations I have made over the years:

• To make a great product you must have a small number of extremely talented engineers working on a project, even if just a few % of the total team size. You cannot make up for this with more bodies, you must have a few super stars.
• The talent pool for superstars is highly concentrated, i.e. the best engineers can get a job anywhere, and they choose to work at a handful of best tech companies (over $600K in revenue per engineer) or be in leading roles at start-ups.

I just don't see any superstars joining https://www.scanace.com/ in any engineering capacity. Anyone good will find a better company to join. The quality of their web site is another indirect proof of them being filled with C-players. Look at this image. It's 15 megabytes. You have to be a complete moron or have zero desire to do good work if you're using it as a 480x320px resized thumbnail on a web page.

Moreover, with a hybrid projects like a scanner, where you need software + hardware expertise, you're exposed to talent shortage in two separate areas. No software engineer superstar in their right mind would choose them over a FAANG company, and no electrical engineer would go there over Apple/Tesla or leading Japanese/Korean mega-corps.

They seem to be a Taiwanese company. That's where their global headquarters is. So their engineers probably aren't in America. How is Taiwanese engineering?

Contact Us

Contact Us

www.scanace.com

 

[McDiesel]

Taiwan is a part of a global economy. If you're a superstar engineer in Taiwan your employment options aren't that different from Dallas or Seattle. It goes both ways. TSMC, a Taiwanese company which is by far the most advanced manufacturer of microchips, employs world's top talent in lithography, for example. Basically, my broader point is this: to make a good scanner you need engineers who will never join a scanner manufacturer. It's true even for the software only. Look at LaserSoft, a laughable place to work. No access to top talent → shit product. Even giants like Fujifilm or Canon can't make a decent RAW converter. See? It's nearly impossible even for well established organizations to assemble a team capable of making a software+hardware hybrid.

 

[250swb]

How is Taiwanese engineering?

Contact Us

Contact Us

www.scanace.com

They never thought it was a good idea to build an Edsel, or a Pinto, or an AMC Pacer, so by default they must be switched on.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Taiwan is a part of a global economy. If you're a superstar engineer in Taiwan your employment options aren't that different from Dallas or Seattle. It goes both ways. TSMC, a Taiwanese company which is by far the most advanced manufacturer of microchips, employs world's top talent in lithography, for example. Basically, my broader point is this: to make a good scanner you need engineers who will never join a scanner manufacturer. It's true even for the software only. Look at LaserSoft, a laughable place to work. No access to top talent → shit product. Even giants like Fujifilm or Canon can't make a decent RAW converter. See? It's nearly impossible even for well established organizations to assemble a team capable of making a software+hardware hybrid.

Interestingly, Epson contacted me about 6 months ago with a questionnaire about what I would like in a future scanner. (I had bought an Epson V850 about 18 months earlier). So it seems that they're exploring the possibility of a new scanner. Frankly, just a better sensor, lens, and mechanical drive should make a world of difference.

 

[dmr]

The quality of their web site is another indirect proof of them being filled with C-players. Look at this image. It's 15 megabytes. You have to be a complete moron or have zero desire to do good work if you're using it as a 480x320px resized thumbnail on a web page.

Very few, if any, firms put their ace techies on the web site!

More likely it's bottom-dollar so-called web designers who can drag and drop and that's about it. There's a fair chance that the web site is outsourced totally.