Plustek OpticFilm 120 Film Scanner Lens
Plustek is one of the last remaining film scanners still being manufactured today (along with Braun/Reflecta/Pacific Image, all made by the same company in Taiwan). The Plustek OpticFilm 120 film scanner specs claimed by the manufacturer look sensational. 5300 ppi optical resolution, 8-element lens, medium format coverage sensor coverage, and with APO correction! With these fantastic specs the OpticFilm 120 lens should be an excellent performer for photomacrography!
Unfortunately you don’t see used OpticFilm 120 scanners for sale everyday but I got luck and found a parts-only not working scanner on eBay for about $100 in February 2019.
This scanner is sold rebranded under a few different names, this is common for scanners made in Taiwan, so finding a used non-working scanner should be easier, at least in theory
Plustek OpticFilm 120 film scanner
Pacific Image PrimeFilm 120 Pro film scanner
Reflecta Mediumformat Scanner MF5000
Braun FS-120 medium format film scanner
Let's get to the most important point of our this scanner lens test, the image quality!
Plustek OpticFilm 120 Image Quality
With every new scanner lens that I find the first question that comes up is, can this new scanner match the two scanner lens leaders, the Scanner-Nikkor ED 14 element lens, and the Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 scanner lens? Is it possible that the Plustek 120 lens is even better?
Click on the image below to view a larger version in a Lightbox viewer, but the size of the image sent to your device is based on the size of the screen being used. To open the image in a new window or tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. You can also right click, or two-finger press, and select Save Image As and compare the images in the image viewing app of your choice.
To check the size of the image you are looking at, look up at the URL window at the top of the browser, the address should have 2500w at the end. If the image size is anything smaller you can easily change the number to 2500 manually and press enter to bring up the largest image.
Plustek OpticFilm 120 at 1.7x magnification
100% Crops at 1.7x
OpticFilm 120 Scanner lens at 1.7x.
Center, mid-field and lower left far corner at 1.7x and 100% view.
What I like
Sharpness and CA correction
Easy installation with a RafCamera V-mount 38mm adapter
Low price
Compact size
Excellent performance price ratio
What I don’t like
Conservative maximum aperture
Lens was solidly glued in place
Not the easiest scanner to find on the used market
Verdict
At 1.7x the image quality is very good, clean, sharp, without any chromatic aberrations that I can see, even at 100% view in Photoshop. This lens is capable of making very high quality images over a large image circle and definitely deserves a highly recommended rating.
During testing I ran stacks at 2.5x, 2.4x, 2.2x, 2x, 1.9, 1.8, 1.7, down to 1.5 or so and 1.7x magnification gave me the best performance.
Plustek OpticFilm 120 Film Scanner Lens and a Componon 4/28 enlarger lens for scale.
Lens Specs
Lens: Plustek OpticFilm 120 Film Scanner Lens
Lens type: medium format film scanner lens
Focal length: 50mm
Aperture: f/3.92
Image Circle: 60mm
Magnification: 0.65x forward and 1.33x in reverse
Tested magnification: 1.7x in reverse
Magnification Range: tested from 1.5x -2.0x
Barrel Length: 47mm
Barrel diameter: 38mm OD
Chromatic Correction: APO corrected
Mounting Threads: None. The OpticFilm 120 lens was very easy to mount thanks to the RafCamera 38mm V-mount to M42 x 1.0 adapter that slips over the barrel perfectly.
Filter Threads: None.
Country of origin: Taiwan
Scanner Specs
Model: Plustek OpticFilm 120 Film Scanner Lens
Type: Multi-format film, 35mm / 120 film
CCD: Toshiba TCD2558DG-1
CCD type: Tri-Linear Color Array 5340 pixels 7µm pitch
Manufacturers claimed resolution: 10,600 ppi (interpolated)
CCD maximum resolution: 3628 dpi (without any optical scaling)
Manufacturers claimed optical resolution: 5300 ppi
Maximum optical resolution:
Maximum xcanning area: 60mm wide
Light Source: LED (incl Infrared LED for dust and scratch removal)
Production: 2012-2014 (in 2018 this scanner was replaced with the OpticFilm 120 Pro)
Scanner street price in 1999: $2000 USD
Used market scanner price in 2022: less than $100 for-parts-only unit
Country of origin: Taiwan
Manufacturer: Microtek International, Inc., Hsinchu, Taiwan
Note: in 2018 the new Plustek OpticFilm 120 Pro Film Scanner was released and in 2023 the Plustek online store shows the OpticFilm 120 Pro listed for $2,999.00 but stock is listed as “unavailable”!
If you are thinking about buying one of these to scan film do yourself a favor and run a search on any forum for quality control issues and you can see what I mean. the OpticFilm 120 scanner seemed to have major quality control issues, like going to Plustek for repairs and being returned with new issues. I’ve read that there have been quite a bit of customers with a few issues problems with the Plustek OpticFilm 120, better reliability and quality control could be the reason for the updated model.
OpticFilm 120 vs OpticFilm 120 Pro
Resolution: unchanged
Color depth: unchanged
Dynamic range: unchanged
Lens: unchanged
Software: unchanged
Some of the major improvements made with the OpticFilm 120 pro from Plustek
- Manual adjustment of focus possible
- Faster film carrier transport (80% faster supposedly)
Scanner CCD Specs
We have some interesting sensor information to share. The Plustek OpticFilm 120 scanner and other relabeled variants made my Microtek (see the list below), use the Toshiba TCD2558DG-1, a 22 pin CERDIP package scanner sensor. This sensor is 5340 pixels across,using a 7 μm pixel pitch, an active width of 37.38mm and retail for about $5 USD each.
removing the Lens
This has to be one of the easiest scanners I’ve ever worked on. Pull off the main cover and at the top of the scanner you will see the lens carrier, you can see the rounded top of the lens access cover plate held in place by two phillips screws.
Pull the access cover and you will see the bracket and glue securing the lens in place. You can see the lens below with a hand-written “CH-6”.
Links For More Information
The OpticFilm 120 on the Plustek Site:
https://plustek.com/us/products/film-photo-scanners/opticfilm-120/index.php
OpticFilm 120 PDF brochure:
http://downloads.plustek.com/downloads/english/leaflet/A31AE-00104.pdf
Interesting OpticFilm 120 vs Hasselblad Flextight (Imacon) x5 test:
http://www.snowhenge.net/pblog/article/opticfilm_120_vs._flextight_x5
Round two of the OpticFilm 120 vs Hasselblad Flextight (Imacon) x5 test:
http://www.snowhenge.net/pblog/article/opticfilm_120_vs._flextight_x5_-_round_2
OpticFilm 120 review:
https://www.filmscanner.info/en/PlustekOpticFilm120.html
Other Similar Scanners
There are some other scanners on the market with a similar external appearance that are are likely made by the same manufacturer was Plustek, all test to have the same resolution rating of 3450 or so pixels per inch ( ppi ) but the Plustek version is more common and easier to find used.
Braun FS-120 Medium Format Film Scanner
https://www.filmscanner.info/en/BraunFS120.html
Reflecta Mediumformat Scanner MF5000
The Reflecta MF5000 on the filmscanner.info site manages to resolve 3000 ppi:
https://www.filmscanner.info/en/ReflectaMF5000.html
Pacific Image PrimeFilm 120 Pro
Test Updates
Update Jan, 2023: the Plustek OpticFilm 120 scanner was discontinued sometime around 2014. Plustek has a new version on their site, the Plustek OpticFilm 120 Pro, this new version uses the same sensor and same lens according to Plustek. Looks like the new Pro version is unavailable according to Plustek: https://plustek.com/us/products/film-photo-scanners/opticfilm-120-pro/
The Plustek OpticFilm 120 lens above and the new Pro model lens diagram below. Both diagrams are from the Plustek site.