Blackmagic Design announces new Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+

Featuring a completely redesigned light source that allows realtime HDR film scanning in Ultra HD, the new Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ shows there’s plenty of life in the technology yet.

We’re used to seeing Blackmagic drive down the price at the lower end of the market, and one day it will be interesting to stand back and assess quite how instrumental it has been in democratising some aspects of production. It’s worth remembering though that the company is also active up at the rarefied high end of things and, because the market is a) comparatively small and b) there are moving parts and mechanisms involved, prices remain high.

The new Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ is available immediately and is a case in point, coming in at a cool $32,045.

You do get a lot for that though. It’s based around a new high intensity light source, which is 6x more powerful than with previous models and powered by an array of 576 high power RGB LEDs arranged into a grid pattern. These are focused onto film using a new light cylinder in a design that means more than twice the silicon area for generating light is available; resulting in more light being directed at the film. 

Essentially there are tens of kilowatts of power contained in each illumination flash to scan a single frame of film. HDR scanning speed is now up to 3x faster at full realtime speed of 30 frames per second in Ultra HD as a result. The unit also features improved colour science and up to an additional 3.5 stops of HDR range.

A new film inspection mode, accessed by simply pressing and holding the stop button, adjusts the light source to become focussed in a single direction, allowing issues such as dust and scratches to be detected instantly.

The new model also retains the great and thoroughly iterated features of generations of Cintel Scanners, such as digital servos, gentle capstan drives, advanced color science, 35mm and 16mm film support. The is all housed in a frankly gorgeous industrial design that can even be wall mounted. Digitising archive has never looked so good.