Hi,Michael Reichmann made a test back in 2003, comparing the Canon 1Ds with the Pentax 67 and Velvia: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/shootout.shtml. Michael used an Imacon scanner but he also went to drum scanning and his findings still held. He found that the 1Ds surpassed the Pentax 67 in image quality. I made similar tests with my Sony Alpha 900 and had similar results
I'm sorry but that comparison was frankly laughable...
Here's a comparison between a D800E and a Mamiya 7
And that was scanned on a flatbed!!
As for Castorscans scans - yes they're very good but I don't think they're visibly better than a good scan from a Heidelberg Primescan. It downsamples to 2000dpi without losing detail and 2000dpi is about perfect for scanning 10x8 (although in the centre with a good lens at f/22 you can get 3000dpi's worth probably - rarely).
Anyway - he does have one of the best drum scanners in the world but some of his claims are, shall we say, loosely grounded. e.g. the 12,000dpi scan of Ektar downsamples to about 5000dpi with no loss of detail or grain.
I'd love to find time to do a comparison (which he has offered to help with).
If you want a good comparison of film vs digital, look here..
https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/12/big-camera-comparison/This was done with the cooperation of Phase and a dedicated Phase photographer who used to shoot film. It's about as unbiased as you'll get.
The end result? It's a damn sight easier to get good results from digital than it is from film but if you do persevere with film the results are as follows
perceived sharpness gives 5x4 equivalent to an IQ260 - 10x8 is about 120-150 megapixels
In terms of resolution and raw detail - the the 5x4 exceeds the IQ280 for colour resolution and just about matches it for fine detail.
In other words the IQ280 is equivalent to 5x4 up to about 20x24 when the IQ280 looks better. At about 30x40 they start to be similar. Then the 4x5 starts to look better because the fine detail carries on (albeit with grain and low contrast).
for most purposes medium format film drum scanned just about beats 24-36Mp DSLR's but you have to have great lenses and technique (plus a camera that holds the film flat!).
I haven't a clue how Micheal Reichman got he 1ds2 to beat a Pentax 67 - actually I do ... try this sentence on for size
"But since there clearly isn't really any significant amount of additional real information in the drum scan, ressing up the digital file will essentially accomplish the same thing."
OK so he's got a 12,000 pixel by 15,000 pixel file and he prints it at 13" x 19". 13" at 360dpi is 4680px
Put another way he converted the 5330dpi drum scan into a 2000dpi scan and says "well there is only 2000dpi worth of detail in the film shot..
I know for a fact I get more detail out of film when I scan at 5000dpi over 4000dpi ....
He wasn't biased at all :-)
Tim