Pacific Image Primefilm 120 / Reflecta MF5000

Stephen G

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So.. scanning 120 and 35mm film.
Noticed this scanner now has a $200 mail-in-rebate, bringing it down to as little as $1100ish.
There are few if any reviews, and a few mixed forum postings of people alternating between - great images for the price / mine didn't work! Mostly a lot of noise around its late-2011 release date, and not much since.

In light of -
* Plustek 120 issues/delays, and $2000 pricing
* Legacy brands all being discontinued/old (Nikon/Minolta) and $2000-$3000
* The best flatbeds from Epson being ~$600+.. and still flatbeds

How does this scanner compare, @ $1100 price point.

Am I better off with a V700 for 120 ($600) and Plustek 35mm scanner ($300) combo?

Anyone with actual experience with this model?
 
http://translate.google.com/transla...scanner.info/PlustekOpticFilm120.html&act=url

Translated quote:
The Plustek OpticFilm 120 does not have much competition on the film scanner market: the extremely fast film scanner Nikon Super Coolscan 9000ED or Hasselblad Flextight X1/X5 price and quality play in a different league.
The Reflecta MF5000 is priced cheaper and much faster than the Plustek OpticFilm 120, and provides a similar picture quality, but at a lower resolution. Flatbed scanners such as the Epson Perfection V750Pro not come close to matching the image quality of Plusteks.
 
So.. scanning 120 and 35mm film.
Noticed this scanner now has a $200 mail-in-rebate, bringing it down to as little as $1100ish.
There are few if any reviews, and a few mixed forum postings of people alternating between - great images for the price / mine didn't work! Mostly a lot of noise around its late-2011 release date, and not much since.

In light of -
* Plustek 120 issues/delays, and $2000 pricing
* Legacy brands all being discontinued/old (Nikon/Minolta) and $2000-$3000
* The best flatbeds from Epson being ~$600+.. and still flatbeds

How does this scanner compare, @ $1100 price point.

Am I better off with a V700 for 120 ($600) and Plustek 35mm scanner ($300) combo?

Anyone with actual experience with this model?

What are you scanning for?

If it is 4x6/5x7 prints or web-based display with minimal editing and especially cropping, a single V700 or V750 will do for both 135 and 120. Even a much cheaper V500 at 1200 dpi will do that.

If you are aiming for pixel level editing on the scans and/or considerable cropping, then the dedicated 35mm Plustek 8100 or so will add about 30% more resolution.

The Plustek 120 you are paying for a good doubling of resolution over the Epson V700, more depth and range, and a single package and workflow. Flatbeds can scan other things too (I scan my kid's artwork).

I have been more than satisfied with my V500 for 120 645 and 6x6 negs. I am tempted to add a Plustek dedicated 35mm scanner to the mix for $300. The Plustek 120 is about 40% more than I can justify. If there are particular images that I truly want to get every last detail out of, I can send them out for a Flex scan. For that, though, I would be looking to print larger than 8x10.

I should point out that 3 years ago a Plustek 35mm scanner was going new for $550 at B&H. Now they are $300 (I use Vuescan). Perhaps 3 years from now the OpticFilm 120 will follow the same downward price trajectory. One can hope.
 
Sorry, I don't have any first hand experience...
IMO the biggest drawback of this scanner were the bundled film holders. They required you to cut down the usual 120 film stripes to single (6x7/6x9) or double (4.5x6/6x6) frame size, which a lot of people didn't like. In the meantime accessory film holders have been introduced which allow standard length film stripes to be used, but you still cannot scan a whole stripe in one go (the holder has to be turned around in between).
Accordings to the product review on the filmscanner.info site, the picture quality is good (measured optical resolution around 3.000 ppi) but not on par with the Nikon offerings.
 
re: Target output
I want files of highest resolution possible within the $500-2000 price range.
Obviously more money usually means better, but trying to get an understanding of the relative performance of the models I mentioned.

For web posting - I already have the free-ish minilab scans @ 5 megapixel-ish for 6x4.5 film, though relatively flat and off-colored. Even there, I suspect any of the above scanners will have noticeably better output for web.

I'd want something good enough to print as large as I print my Leica M8/Fuji X-Pro 1.. 12x18 to 16x24 when I desire.
 
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