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How to modify the Plustek 8100 35mm film scanner to scan medium format roll film

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Film’s resurgence in the last few years has left many analogue photographers with something of a problem, particularly if they want to shoot medium format film. That’s the lack of scanners on the market capable of scanning film compared to 20 or even 10 years ago. Sure, there are some out there that can do medium and even large format but they’re often prohibitively expensive.

So, photographer Christian Chapman decided to have a go at modifying his Plustek 8100 – a scanner designed for 35mm film – to make it scan medium format 120 roll film. As well as modifying the scanner and designing up some 3D printed replacement parts, he also had to modify the driver to make it scan further than it usually would for 35mm film. And he’s made it all available to download so you can do it yourself.

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It looks like Leica outed themselves on a future new mirrorless medium format camera

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Camera companies get leaked and outed all the time. Usually, it’s about new releases, with specs and images coming a few days before an official announcement. Usually, it’s random employees that either screw up genuinely by accident or they “accidentally” (allegedly) pass information along to somebody they know will shout it from the rooftops. Sometimes, it’s retailers jumping the gun a little too early.

But it’s funniest when the manufacturers do it themselves. And it happens more often than you think. GoPro’s done it, so has Nikon and also Fuji (twice). This time, it appears it might be Leica in their Leica M11 keynote video released in January which seems to feature a couple of potential clues that they’re at least prototyping a medium format camera with plans to release one, even if it’s not ready just yet.

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Kodak Gold 200 comes back in 120 format after 25 years

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Film shooters rejoice, Kodak has some good news for you. Kodak Moments (the division of Kodak Alaris) has resurrected Kodak Professional Gold 200 in 120mm. If you’re looking into upgrading to medium format, this will be a great place to start. But also, it’s great if you’re looking to cut back on the film cost as it will be a more affordable option than other 120mm color film rolls from Kodak.

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NONS SL660 – Medium format Instax camera with a built-in frame-filling adapter for 35mm SLR lenses

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We’ve seen a couple of great projects from the folks at NONS over the last couple of years, like the original NONS SL42 in February 2020 followed by the NONS SL42 Mark II in 2021. These cameras shoot the 4:3 aspect 645 medium format Fuji Instax film. Now, NONS has launched their newest camera, the SL660 which takes the slightly larger 6×6 Fuji Instax square film.

Like the previous models, the NONS SL660 features a passive Canon EF mount with no electronic signal for autofocus or aperture control. The mount might seem like an odd choice, but it allows you to easily adapt to M42, Nikon F, Pentax K, CY as well as medium format system lenses through the use of adapters. and as with the previous models, this one’s launching on Kickstarter.

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Shooting Brenizer method portraits on medium format film to simulate a large format look

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The Brenizer method has been around for a while. In fact, it’s been around since long before it was called the “Brenizer method” – he was just the guy who made it popular so the name stuck. Essentially it’s a way to simulate the look of medium format film when shooting a small sensor camera like an APS-C or full-frame DSLR or mirrorless camera.

It’s a popular and well-known technique these days, but what happens when you shoot it with medium format film? Will it look like it was shot on large format? That’s what photographer Steve Schultz wanted to find out, so he shot some with his Mamiya 645 AF medium format film camera to see what happened.

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Medium format comes with a double-edged sword you need to know about before you buy

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Now that digital medium format is approaching and even beating high-end DSLRs and mirrorless cameras on price, more people are considering making the switch. One of the things to take into account, though, is that the larger you make your sensor, the shallower your depth of field becomes relative to your field of view.

In this video, Mark Denney talks about this problem for landscape photography since switching to the Fuji GFX 100S. He also busts a few of the myths that are typically touted as reasons against buying into medium-format that are no longer really relevant with as small as medium format cameras have started to become.

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This adapter lets you shoot medium format photos with a full-frame camera

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You don’t need a medium format camera to shoot medium format photos anymore. Well, sort of. FotodioX RhinoCam Vertex adapter lets you shoot digital medium format photos with your full-frame camera. Mathieu Stern tried this $300 gadget, and it seems to do the trick pretty well.

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Sony unleashes world’s largest and highest resolution 128-megapixel global shutter CMOS sensor

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Sony has announced their Sony’s newest huge CMOS sensor, the Sony IMX661 with a global shutter and whopping 127.68-megapixel resolution. It’s said to be both the world’s highest-resolution and the world’s physically largest global shutter CMOS sensor with a diagonal measurement of 56.73mm – for comparison, your typical “full-frame” sensor is around 43.2mm.

But just as impressive as its size and resolution is its speed, which Sony says is up to 21.8 frames per second. And just a reminder, this is a global shutter sensor. It uses Sony’s Pregius technology, which enables it to capture scenes without the usual “jello effect” typically associated with rolling shutter CMOS sensors.

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Irix teases upcoming f/2.8 or faster medium format lens for Fuji GFX

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Well, this is an odd one. Instead of continuing their full-frame lineup and adding to their existing range of 11mm, 15mm, 45mm and 150mm lenses, it appears that lens manufacturer IRIX has decided to take a break and has chosen to pursue medium format.

A new teaser video was posted to the Irix YouTube channel, and while there isn’t really that much info there, the GFX logo is pretty unmistakable.

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Is 645 medium format film really better than 35mm? Well, yeah. It is.

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I still shoot quite a bit of film when the opportunity allows, and when I do, I still primarily tend to reach for a 35mm. It’s not that it’s the best, or even just the best suited to what I want to shoot, but it’s convenient. The 35mm film SLRs I use the most are all Nikon F mount bodies, letting me use most of the lenses I also own for my DSLRs. But medium format definitely has it’s benefits.

In this video, photographer Kyle McDougall looks at the overall thought process behind using 645 medium format instead of your standard 3:2 ratio 35mm film, as well as some of the objective benefits and drawbacks to the larger format.

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