Primefilm 120 [Archive] - Large Format Photography Forum

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gth

31-Dec-2011, 13:20

Has anyone tried out the new "Primefilm120" scanner available for $1500 from Adorama for instance?

Not exactly large format but a 6x9 or 6x12 roll film back on a 4x5 is not shabby either. This scanner supposedly scans up to 6x12! And of course all other MF as well as 35 mm.

Claimed resolution is 3200 pxl/in.

And it's available new, compatible with modern OS and at a reasonable price compared to Nikon 9000 etc.

http://www.scanace.com/product/pf_120.html

/gth

gth

31-Dec-2011, 13:53

According to this german test site

http://www.filmscanner.info/ReflectaMF5000.html

This scanner has an effective resolution of 3050 pxl/in vs the Coolscan 9000 3,900 pxl/in effective both measured by scanning a USAF 1951 test chart. That's decent!

I guess mostly of note is that it is a BRAND NEW MF scanner. For $1500 extra if you already need an Epson flatbed for 4x5 and 8x10... hmm...

eman

4-Jan-2012, 09:51

This is good news! Although I have a drum scanner, it sure beats paying those riddick prices on ebay or wherever for nikon's or koni/minoltas.

icemanh

7-Jan-2012, 01:15

I have the scanner.
The scanned image is not that good, perhaps due to low Dmax.
There are banding and noise issues, and haven't been fixed.
Some versions of vuescan cannot recognize this scanner, and I reported to Ed Hamrick. Current version 9.0.72 is ok, and I am currently too busy in my job, so I do not have time to test the noise and banding issue. If anyone has interest, I can keep update on the status.

gth

7-Jan-2012, 04:31

That's too bad.

Yes, please keep us up to date on your experience with this scanner.

icemanh

7-Jan-2012, 22:39

icemanh

7-Jan-2012, 22:42

by Primefilm 120, with Vuescan 9.0.70 and ColorNeg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6655219367_c005fb1d1b_o.jpg

100% by Primefilm 120, with Vuescan 9.0.70 and ColorNeg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6655219717_8743daf2bb_o.jpg

by Primefilm 120, with CyberViewX
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6657439495_0294018ab1_o.jpg

100% by Primefilm 120, with CyberViewX
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6657439715_a43d9a6468_o.jpg

Conclusion:
1/ The results are obvious. Nikon 9000ED worths the money.
2/ New version of CyberViewX produces less noise image, and no banding issue but lacks of dynamic range. Old CyberViewX had the same problem as in Vuescan, but they released new version after my report.
3/ Vuescan needs to fine tune to reduce the noise. I heard that SilverFast also experiences the noise problem, so they delayed the release.
4/ The CyberviewX is terrible software, you cannot adjust anything like what you did in Vuescan or Nikonscan. You cannot do linear scan also.
5/ With Nikon 9000ED, I can do 617 scanning by PS stitching. There is no chance for Primefilm 120 at the moment because of the film holder design. You have to cut your film into max 612 size!

I hope I can have time to do positive film test later.

Best
Iceman

eman

10-Aug-2012, 12:11

Well that's disappointing to see. Thanks for doing this testing and posting it!

icemanh

2-Nov-2012, 05:35

I have upgraded the firmware, and new software, and it is improved alot.

See below

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8193/8147413790_3a9de6a9e9_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/icemanhk73/8147413790/)
My lunch (http://www.flickr.com/photos/icemanhk73/8147413790/) by Iceman Huang (http://www.flickr.com/people/icemanhk73/), on Flickr

Big file, the background "noise" is caused by my dirty slide, improper stored for 10 years.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8193/8147413790_4eafc7d779_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8147256079_230fd08dd0_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/icemanhk73/8147256079/)
mountain (http://www.flickr.com/photos/icemanhk73/8147256079/) by Iceman Huang (http://www.flickr.com/people/icemanhk73/), on Flickr

Big file here
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8147256079_c56b095b16_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8466/8146996043_166fbe51e3_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/icemanhk73/8146996043/)
image004 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/icemanhk73/8146996043/) by Iceman Huang (http://www.flickr.com/people/icemanhk73/), on Flickr

Big file here
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8466/8146996043_805064ecee_o.jpg

Below is my findings
1/ Vuescan does not work well with the scanner, more noisy, more banding issue.
2/ Use "quality" mode to scan. Banding maybe caused by the tri-line CCD.
3/ CyberX's color balance is terrible. I prefer to adjust in photoshop.
4/ Interface of CyberX is terrible too.
5/ Shadow detail of the scanner is not as good as Nikon 9000ED. However, what you paid is what you get...
6/ It has a new film holder, which can hold up to 6x22! PIE sent it to my taiwan address for free!

I hope this can help.

rdenney

2-Nov-2012, 07:30

Hello

I have a quick test with Nikon 9000ED (by Nikonscan), Primefilm 120 with vuescan 9.0.70 raw output and ColorNeg, and Primefilm 120 with CyberviewX.

Vuescan 9.0.72 has problem in scanning 120 film, Ed Hamrick just release 9.0.73 in this morning, I will report him back the result.

All scanned with light IR to remove dust, resized in photoshop, without USM in scanning software or PS.

Here is the pictures. Film is Fuji Reala 120, stored over 10 years and showed yellowish in the middle.

By Nikon 9000ED...

The slight horizontal banding in the Nikon scan will go away if you use the "Fine Mode" setting on the Input tab of VueScan. Doing that will scan in narrower stripes. I never had the problem until Nikon replaced the high-resolution drive in my 8000, and that setting solved the problem. As the user manual states:

This option is used to improve the scan quality on some Nikon and HP scanners.

When using the Nikon CoolScan 5000 (LS-5000), CoolScan 8000 (LS-8000) or CoolScan 9000 (LS-9000), this option causes only one CCD line to be used, which makes scans take longer but sometimes improves the scan quality of very dark media.

When using some HP printer/scanners/copiers, this option disables in-scanner JPEG compression of scans, which makes scans take longer but sometimes improves the scan quality by eliminating subtle JPEG artifacts.

Advanced Option: This option is displayed with some Nikon and HP scanners..

Perhaps there is a way Ed can enable that feature on the Primefilm scanner to address its banding issues. But I'm seeing what appears to be uneven spacing of the CCD sensels, causing vertical lines and artifacts as the uneven spacing interacts with the grain structure of the film, causing aliasing patterns. The supplied software is not solving this problem, but rather is reducing sensel contrast to mask it. That could be done with the Nikon scan as well, using a very slight gaussian blur (maybe half a pixel--I haven't experimented) to act as an anti-aliasing filter of sorts.

It just may take some practice with this scanner to overcome its quirks. The Nikon scanners are not exactly quirk-free.

Rick "whose Nikon scanner was just repaired by Nikon; otherwise this scanner might have been on the list, faults or no" Denney