Is Betterlight Still the Standard?

[Bob Salomon]

One of the problems with the Betterlight, is that there are no 5x4 lenses designed for digital use. Film allows for a depth-of-focus that is far greater than that required for a CCD, which is to all intents and purposes, completely flat. What this means is, for a CCD, maximum sharpness demands that all three colours of light (RGB) be focused at the same point on the 'film' plane. With film based cameras, this is far less critical, because if one layer is sharp, it's 'good enough'......

The following Rodenstock digital lenses all cover the Betterlight sensor at infinity:

135mm 5.6, 150mm 5.6 and the 180mm 5.6 Apo Sironar Digital.

If you are not shooting at infinity then these following Rodenstock digital lenses will cover the Betterlight's imaging area:

70mm 5.6 HR-Digaron-W, 90mm 5.6 HR Digaron-S/W, 45mm 4.5, 55mm 4.5, 105mm 5.6 Apo-Sironar Digital, 120mm 5.6 Apo Sironar Digital

So there are digital lenses that cover Betterlight's image area. Depends on focal length needed and image ratio used.

We sold many Rodestock 180mm Apo Sironar-S to Betterlight for use with their backs. Most were used on Linhof Kardan re 45 monorail cameras.

[Adamphotoman]

Thank you Bob,
for chiming in.
I knew there had to be more capable lenses for the Betterlight. I happen to favour the Rodenstock lenses over the S/F & N companies, however there are a few good lenses from those companies as well.

It is interesting that as the resolution went up on the different Betterlight models the micron size of the pixels became smaller and more and more demands are made on glass.
The Super 10 K has the smallest photo site size of 7 microns. BTW Betterlight made only 13 of these. Mike ended up using the Super 10KHS to test lenses and it was a very good lens tester indeed. in fact the 10K was so good that it was able to show just how poor or inconsistent lens production could be. And this is precisely why Betterlight chose the 180 mm Apo Sironar S to sell with their units. My personal favourite is the 210mm Apo Sironar S. I am also fond of the digital 180mm.

The reason that Museums are switching to instant capture is 2 fold.
1st a lack of experienced Betterlight operators. The instant capture devices will give a better result when compared to a Betterlight in the hands of an UNQUALIFIED technician.
If one is quite capable using both types of capture devices then the instant capture is getting quite close. But in the hands of really poor technicians then both rigs are quite capable of awful results.
2nd the Instant capture has an edge up on pure production. Meaning one can be more productive with it. Time is money after all.

BTW,
although the Dicomed the predecessor to the Betterlight is 20 plus years old Betterlight is somewhat newer.
The Newer Kodak Super K chips are only 10 years old.

[Daniel Stone]

I see that Rencay(formerly Anagramm) is still in business? Grant, do you know anything about them?

http://www.rencay.de/en/rencay/start...l?changelang=2

[Tin Can]

Great name the 'superfineart'!

Everybody should quit now, the finest has been made.

Any idea what that costs?

I see that Rencay(formerly Anagramm) is still in business? Grant, do you know anything about them?

http://www.rencay.de/en/rencay/start...l?changelang=2

[8x10 user]

I like the focus projection idea that rency uses. It sounds they use the 8k kodak sensor and subsample in two directions (two passes) to create their giant file size.

It looks like cruze bought-up all of the 14k kodak sensors and that is what they are using for their newer scanners.

[Adamphotoman]

Daniel,
When I bought my Betterlight I also looked at Anagram. I am happy that I did go with Betterlight. The price was significantly better. The service and the BL forum for information exchange was wonderful.
I don't think that I would be as good a technician if I had to learn German and how to use the Anagram from across the pond.

Well that was then and this is now.

There is a fellow looking at bringing in the Rencay to the US. He is a former employee and educator.


www.alacartedigital.com
www.archetypeimaging.com

[Adamphotoman]

Talking to Larry Guyer this morning,
He is the former employee [at Betterlight] that I was mentioning.
The Rencay SuperFineArt model costs $43,000.00 plus shipping duties and taxes
The Rencay 6,000 X 13,000 pixel model is about 20 K cheaper

Feel free to contact Larry. He will be meeting with Rencay at Photokina mid month.

Also Rencay will be in New York in October at the photo show.

[Tin Can]

Way cheaper than I thought. Most likely a good deal for museums.

[NickyLai]

I like the focus projection idea that rency uses.

BetterLight has the Focus Magnification, a live chart to show the accuracy while the camera focusing is working. It works on any point you picked on the whole frame.

The software can be downloaded together with some pre-scanned files and manual to practice, or get a feel of it, WITHOUT a live scanning back setup. The link:

http://www.betterlight.com/manualsTutorials.html
http://www.betterlight.com/downloads.html

[Adamphotoman]

It has yet been confirmed just how good Rencay will be. Anagram was not quite as good but with the improvements that Rencay has made it may indeed be better.
The same goes for their camera and with their focus.
Time will tell.


Yes the Betterlight's focus verification in the Viewfinder works very well indeed. With a Mac one has an audible tone or a rising pitch which can help when one is a distance from the computer or if one is outside on location. Numbers and bar charts with a bathtub ring also all help to nail focus. One can use all three channels or just the green channel. Also camera alignment [internal and external] are paramount to achieving focus.

It does depend where you place the focus card in the picture area.