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Thread: any thing about BetterLight scan back

  1. #1

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    any thing about BetterLight scan back

    I'm working on 4x5 for 2 years, doing landscapes, architecture and product photography on film. I want to buy a digital back or a scan back for my Sinar camera. Better Light look interesting for me, but first any advice or opinion about it will be helpful.
    Is there anyone who works with it?
    The 6K-HS is the model I like.

  2. #2
    MJSfoto1956's Avatar
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    Re: any thing about BetterLight scan back

    yes the 6K HS is the ideal model.

    You will have to deal with "things that move" in your photograph: clouds, people, trees, etc

    My style is to shoot several images of the same subject and then layer them in Photoshop to mask out what I don't want. I want to point out that this is quite tedious and only for the truly dedicated. I would also point out that wet darkroom work can be equally tedious, so let's just say that good photography always has some sort of tedium associated with it.

    Here are some images I shot in Ireland last summer and the previous summer using the Betterlight 6k-hs, Linhof Technikardan, and Dell laptop:










    J Michael Sullivan

  3. #3
    Jack Flesher's Avatar
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    Re: any thing about BetterLight scan back

    I recently decided on this route as well and am using a Super 6K HS in the field. I am a "newbie" to the Betterlight and still figuring it out for field work, but suffice it to say that it is easier to use in the field than I originally thought it would be.

    And my images are certainly not up to J Michael Sullivan's standards -- GREAT work Mr. Sullivan!
    But here are some images and discussion on my blog, www.jack.omniblog.com.
    Last edited by Jack Flesher; 19-May-2006 at 06:33.
    Jack Flesher

    www.getdpi.com

  4. #4

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    Re: any thing about BetterLight scan back

    thanks Michael & Jack,

    I'm looking for literature about 6K now.
    the long scann time isn't a big problem? at high resolution you can get about 1 min or more.
    usually on film I work with long exposure, but not minutes.
    Do you had problems working with it? do you experience some inconvenience

    I must be very careful about this decision, because for Romania is a lot of money and I want to do a good investment.
    The market for LF is very poor at the moment, you can imagine that there are only 3 person doing LF time to time in a 400000 people town, and all on film.

  5. #5

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    Re: any thing about BetterLight scan back

    How come my Ireland photographs don't look like that?

  6. #6
    MJSfoto1956's Avatar
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    Re: any thing about BetterLight scan back

    well, on windy days you will literally "pull your hair out".
    For example, here is a polyptych I did in Dublin (each individual image is one 6000x8000 scan. Thus this insallation is 90"x120"!):



    The horizontal "streaks" are the cars, trucks, and buses passing by!
    You can also see variation in exposure as the sun goes in and out of the clouds.
    Also, pay attention to the cranes, you can see them "waving" in the wind!

    Appropriately the title of this polyptych is "Cars, Trucks, and Buses"

    J MIchael Sullivan

  7. #7
    Jack Flesher's Avatar
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    Re: any thing about BetterLight scan back

    Quote Originally Posted by Tudor Vreme
    thanks Michael & Jack,

    I'm looking for literature about 6K now.
    the long scann time isn't a big problem? at high resolution you can get about 1 min or more.
    First off, the HS model has a newer ISO 200 sensor and the minimum scan time at standard, 6000x8000 pixel resolution is only about 35 seconds. There are enough other issues with using the 9000x12000 mode in the field that for the most part I stick to 6x8k mode -- which mitigates a lot of the problems associated with extended scan times.

    I just returned from photographing Yosemite valley and am retrieving some BL files as I write this. The falls were very full and assuming I have something worthy, I will post them on my blog and show you how well it does with moving water. You do have to run noise-reduction to kill the scan-rainbows, and I will post before and after crops of these to show how effective it is.

    FWIW: Excercise care if you are looking at buying used: there are earlier units that used SCSI boxes and ISO 100 sensors and units. These can be upgraded to the current USB2 boxes and/or ISO 200 sensors, but at significant cost. The SCSI box was half the speed as the USB2 box and the ISO 100 sensor is half the speed of the ISO 200 sensor -- so the fastest 6x8k scan took over 2 minutes to complete with those older units.
    Last edited by Jack Flesher; 19-May-2006 at 09:47.
    Jack Flesher

    www.getdpi.com

  8. #8

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    Re: any thing about BetterLight scan back

    Jack, I'm thinking on 6K HF, of course, and a new one.
    I shall buy it directly from the producer, I suppose a leasing option is good
    with my apple ibook will work fine in field.

    I shall do a website with some landscapes to see some areas in Romania where I like to work on, I call my series o landscapes Insignificant places.

  9. #9

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    Re: any thing about BetterLight scan back

    Sory, the file is in CMYK scanned and prepared for printing, I have to work on to give a decent RGB file.

  10. #10
    Jack Flesher's Avatar
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    Re: any thing about BetterLight scan back

    Some recent images from Yosemite are up on my blog -- not the greatest, but...: www.jack.omniblog.com
    Last edited by Jack Flesher; 19-May-2006 at 18:42.
    Jack Flesher

    www.getdpi.com

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