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Betterlight Dicomed scanningback

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Would maybe help to see the head out of the box, but from the control box and cables, it's definitely an older unit -- probably a dicomed pro -- and old enough I'd stay away from it. If you email the serial number to Mike Collete at Betterlight, he'll tell you exactly what it is. I would suggest you look for a model 6K at least, preferably a Super 6K with a USB connection.
 

epatsellis

New member
It's a Dicomed Field Pro. I have one, they work well, but like all scanbacks need lots of light. While I would love a 6K (or an HS), for my work the Dicomed is capable of stunning images.

Pricing is a major concern, I bought mine for far less than $1000, and was familiar with scan backs in general and the specific back I bought, having used it several times in the past. The Dicomed has it's quirks, including needing to use a mac that boots in OS9, both a serial cable and scsi. (though in the field, if you aren't transfering files to the mac, you can just use the serial cable) and a small hard drive in the Field Pro controller (easily remedied inexpensively). If you can live with the limitations, it can be a wonderful back.

Support is a major issue, the Dicomed was bought to supplement my Phase One Studiokit, which is no longer supported by Phase One. Mike still supports the Dicomed, and even offers an inexpensive firmware/software upgrade to allow you to perform curve editing and a few other features, a vastly different support situation than I faced with the Phase One, even before it was EOL'd. After using both for a while, the Studiokit will be getting sold, even the older Dicomed gives me a far better capture than the Phase One in my opinion.

erie patsellis
 
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