Hasselblad Flextight X5 Discontinued

[hacimd]

I manage a digital photography lab at a university in Philadelphia.  Over the years, we have invested in both wet and digital darkrooms, both are well maintained and allow students the flexibility to work between which ever process they prefer.  This is an incredible opportunity that really helps to shape their photographic education.

Each summer we send our Flextight X5 back to Hasselblad for general maintenance.  I soon realized Flextight repairs are being delayed with no determined date, replacement parts are on back order and the Flextight X5 has been discontinued.

I am hopeful that Hasselblad will continue to repair the Flextight scanners.  Our Flextight scanner has been the bridge between working in Analog and Digital.  Not having this scanner would have a major impact on our program and work flow.

I'm curious what others think and have heard regarding the discontinuation of this series and how this might impact your lab environment.  I hope there are plans for a replacement model in the future, but I am very nervous of the possibility of them no longer being available.

[elliot_n]

These days the cool kids prefer to make small analog prints (8"x10") and then scan them on a flatbed.

[John Nollendorfs]

Another solution that's easy, quick and less costly than the Flex for B&W is to shoot the negs with a digital camera in RAW, set up on a small copy stand with a light box.

[Mark D Segal]

It is completely unsurprising that this scanner has been discontinued. While it is the finest film scanning equipment available - when available, the price is simply too high to sustain a viable market for it. Nikon and Minolta vacated this market niche years ago because they determined it wasn't viable at even much lower prices and presumably higher sales volume than Hasselblad achieved with the Flextight. It is highly unlikely that these scanners will be reborn. The Flextight was already a continuation/rebirth from its predecessor, the Imacon. Capturing film with a digital camera is an obvious replacement, but there are very few such set-ups that can achieve the resolution and uniform focus accuracy of the Imacon/Flextight.

[Paul_Roark]

... the bridge between working in Analog and Digital.  Not having this scanner would have a major impact on our program and work flow.
...

I think many of us face the same issue of converting our film -- particularly medium format film -- to digital.   My Nikon 8000 was not able to be connected to my current computer system -- all the adapters I've tried failed.  The solution that has worked and matched the quality of the old Nikon is to use my enlarger as a copy stand, with the Canon 100mm L series macro lens as the optics.  This lens connects to my Sony a7rii via an adapter.  It takes 3 shots to cover the 2 1/4 negative.  My old enlarger head is the light source.  this assembly slides along a guide under the copy camera, that is held by the enlarger stand.  It's a bit of a kludge, but it works.  A mirror where the film holder (Beseler) will be allows essentially perfect alignment. 

The sad truth is that the market for MF film scanners appears to be so limited that the price of the only one I found that might have worked was outside my budget, particularly since everything is need is in my old darkroom.  I assume large metropolitan areas still have service bureaus that can digitize MF negatives, but I'm not is such an area. 

Good luck with your program.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com