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Posted

Hi there, I've been looking to do tests with 16mm on a Spirit SDC2000 or HD telecine for a more 2000s ish vibe vs a modern scanner. Last time that I did this I used mono no aware for their spirit, but they have since sold it in favor for their Xena, it seems like Cinelab Boston has also sold off their Spirits. I contacted Colorlab and they also said that they do not have it anymore.

Is Spectra the only one that still has it? Their rate is pretty expensive. I do know that Cinelab London has a Spirit 2K and 4K, but shipping there is a bit expensive so would preferably stay within the US. Thank you!

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Posted
On 12/23/2024 at 11:07 AM, Jack Jin said:

Is Spectra the only one that still has it?

I don't think Spectra has it hooked up, no. 

Our partner has one, I think I've mentioned that. 

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Posted (edited)

 

On 12/26/2024 at 6:09 PM, Albion Hockney said:

oh wow —vintage film scans. it really is 2025

tbh i think it's worth profiling scanners just as much as the film itself!

a LUT to match an alexa to a film scan from a Spirit won't necessarily match it quite the same to a Xena.

Edited by Geffen Avraham
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Posted

There are a few places still running the "newer" generation 2K / 4K Spirit machines for archival work.

I do not think anyone is running a Classic Spirit but it is possible that National Boston still runs their Shadow which was a "lite" version of the SDC2000 Spirit.

Between the two Scan Stations the Arriscan and the Xena there was just no reason to try to keep the power hungry Spirit 2K and 4K going at Cinelab and while they make good true RGB scans the Arriscan Xean RGB or Scannity really far surpass them in terms of noise and stability.

I was never really a fan of the older SDC2000 Classic Spirit and thought it usually made a kind of plasticy looking scan, the color channels are 1/2 sampled and only one line was 1920 pixels.

I will be putting the Spirit 2K and 4K plus the parts machine up for sale in a bit.

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Posted
4 hours ago, Luis Hartmann said:

Interesting, I never thought of using a older scanner.
Do you have any references and comparisons?

Comparison is going to be a virtually impossible task as these machines which were the staple of the industry were designed for big facilities with engineering staff and cost a million or more dollars to buy and have allot of maintenance and power requirements to keep running properly, thus making them allot harder to find running today.

As for references many many films were remastered on the Spirit 2K / 4K series scanner maybe between 2006 and today. It is and was a great high quality scanner but not quite as detailed or as low noise as it's successor the Scannity. It uses three 4K Kodak line CCDs and a big bright Xenon lamp and when all aligned and operated well it makes fantastic scans.

I know from running the Spirit 2K/4K and the Arriscan and other scanners the differences can be pretty subtle or not noticeable if the scans are done right. The differences might seem more like a choice between Cooke and Zeiss glass or be nearly impossible to tell after the grade.

Going back further to the Classic Spirit or Cintel flying spot scanners like the Millenium might have a more presence of the scanner in the scan especially on the classic Spirit as it is color sub-sampled but those machines from the 1990's are much much harder to keep running and why Steve at Mono No Aware took his Classic out of service for example.

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