Medium Format (120) Film has many advantages over 35mm film when detail and colour are essential. At The Scan Studio, our expert scanner operators ensure that we take as much care over your transparencies as you did when you took the shot.
We scan all medium format transparencies to a final pixels size of approx 3600px on the longest side, this will allow you to print a high-quality print of 300mm x 200mm at 300dpi. This size will allow display at full resolution on a 4k or HD TV. Unlike modern cameras and TVs that have a 16:9 ratio, medium format films have various ratios, this means that when displayed on a TV to show the full image you will have black bars on both horizontal sides unless you crop the top and bottom of the image to fit the whole screen.
Medium Format transparencies tend to pick up lots of dust and fingerprints from being handled without glass protection like 35mm slides. Before we scan your medium format film, we blow any dust off and, where possible, remove any marks left by handling. Our scanners also do an additional infrared scan, picking up any marks and will remove them whilst keeping the image sharp. Please be aware that although you may not be able to see these marks on your slides when enlarged these marks become much more apparent.
Medium format cameras have the ability to achieve sharper and more colourful images than 35mm cameras. When we scan your slides, we will make basic colour corrections to bring back colours that have been lost, or to enhance the original.
We scan medium-format transparencies at a resolution of approx 4k. If you would like your medium format films scanned to a larger size, this can be arranged. If you let us know the final use for the digital file, we can advise you on the size that is needed and the additional cost. Please be aware that the larger the scan, the more imperfections will show up, so it’s always best to scan the slide at the optimal enlargement for the final use.
120 Film (better known as medium format) is the longest serving film format, being first introduced by Kodak in 1901. The 120 film allows several different size formats but all have one fixed exposure height of 56mm with a variable width ranging from 41.5mm through to 224mm depending on the camera. The format was originally developed for amateur photography but with the release of 135 format (35mm) its sales declined due to the more expensive cost of the camera, film and processing. Still loved by professionals and amateurs, there is still a lot of life left in this format.
We now have a video department back and digitising your home movies! We can convert most camcorder video taps, VHS and cine film.
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