plasticman Posted February 9, 2015 Share #21 Posted February 9, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Plustek manufacturer a perfectly usable range and Epson do very well with their flatbed scanners for medium format and large format. In fact the scanners you can buy now, used appropriately, are as good as those from the past, it's just that the words Nikon or Minolta aren't printed on them. The Plustek 120 for instance can resolve at drum scanner levels at a price that would still be considerably cheaper than a 'cheap' Immacon. Steve I trust I don't need to replace my Nikon LS9000 in the near future, but if and when I do, I sincerely hope Plustek have ironed-out all the problems that I still keep reading about over on RFF. Not wanting to be unnecessarily negative here because I've been an enthusiastic advocate of this scanner, but recently saddened to see the bugs are still ongoing, and also disappointed by some of the choices they made (like no focussing mechanism, for instance). When the time comes, I'll buy one anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 9, 2015 Posted February 9, 2015 Hi plasticman, Take a look here M-A, the last great film camera?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
philipus Posted February 9, 2015 Share #22 Posted February 9, 2015 Why Imacon doesn't release a (reasonably) 'budget' version of the X1 / X5 (ie: not costing as much as a small family car) is beyond me. They'd make a mint. Oh, but wait, there's a great promo on new X5s - up to 4500€ off until 30 April when one trades in another scanner And up to 3000€ on the X1. I also hope my 9000 and V ED don't die any time soon but if they do I will look for a nice iQsmart somewhere or, if that fails, set up an SLR scanning rig. I won't buy a scanner without autofocus. Philip Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
105012 Posted February 9, 2015 Share #23 Posted February 9, 2015 I won't buy a scanner without autofocus. Philip A competitor to the PlusTek's is the PrimeFilm XA. It has autofocus. I have one and while it is not perfect the scan quality I find to be good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted February 9, 2015 Share #24 Posted February 9, 2015 Thanks, I wasn't aware of that one, 35mm only though and for around 500USD I doubt the advertised 10,000 dpi is accurate. Still, seems to produce OK scans from what I've seen on Flickr. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted February 9, 2015 Share #25 Posted February 9, 2015 I won't buy a scanner without autofocus. You should question why a scanner goes out of focus and needs re-focusing before dismissing those that can stay in focus. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
105012 Posted February 9, 2015 Share #26 Posted February 9, 2015 Thanks, I wasn't aware of that one, 35mm only though and for around 500USD I doubt the advertised 10,000 dpi is accurate. Still, seems to produce OK scans from what I've seen on Flickr. To be honest, at 5000dpi the scans are so large that I have never tried the 10,000dpi mode! At 5,000dpi I get great detail out of Ektar 100 or Neopan Acros 100. Nice grain out of HP5+. I've also put some Kodachrome slides (taken a long time ago) through it with good results. The batch scan option works well with colour, with b&w I find I have to make sure the film is totally flat otherwise the batch mode gets out of sync (at least, using Vuescan). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
asiafish Posted February 9, 2015 Share #27 Posted February 9, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Film cameras have clearly reached a certain maturity in design that its difficult to see anything much different in the future - the last great age of film camera design in the 1990s showed that. The M-A isn't so much the end of a line as a continuation and I would not be surprised if, given the much-postponed death of film, that we may see the re-emergence of film models from other manufacturers, especially as many film cameras are fast becoming antiques that not everyone wants to spend money on. Nikon have continued to produce the FG-20 slr and I'd be surprised if no one in the big manufacturers aren't spotting an opportunity to re-introduce a more upmarket model, eg an FM4a? I guess the main challenge though is on the lenses - would there need to be new manual focus lenses? I don't see a return to the days of the F80, say, as if you're going down the autofocus/autoeverything route then digital will be most peoples choice. If film becomes the more considered, craft-level photography option then new manual focus lenses will be needed. Nikon still has a decent selection of manual focus Nikkor lenses in the current catalogue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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