Film News: Meta35 – Metadata for film photographers
Promote Systems, a company from the US has decided to try and help film photographers wrestle their workflow into some kind of manageable beast, by coming up with some very innovative software that can help you insert data about your images into your scanned images. Sounds cool right?
Now this is a pretty cool idea. Metadata for film photographers. But before you run around the room screaming with joy at all the time you are going to save on your workflow there are a few things that you should know. It doesn’t work on all cameras. Simple really, if your camera doesn’t record data anyway then you are out of luck. But, if you do shoot one of the later SLR cameras, such as the EOS1 or the F100 then you are riding the gravy train.
Basically it is a really simple idea. Using the data from the camera and adding it to your scans. But there are some other nifty tricks it can do too. Here is some of the blurb from the guys behind Meta35:
● Transfer shooting data from a film camera directly to your computer.
● Embed the data into your scanned images.
● Customize camera settings to your liking.
● Store custom settings configurations as presets.
“Photographers are rediscovering the unique experience of shooting film and a look that simply cannot be duplicated with digital photography. We wanted to make the film-to-digital workflow easier and more complete so photographers can focus on the creative side of the process. There has never been a better time to rediscover the magic of shooting film.”
Arty Kamshilin, Promote Systems lead engineer.
SUPPORTED CAMERAS Meta35 is compatible with select SLR cameras that record data:
● Canon EOS1V
● NikonF100,F5,F6,N90S,F90X,N90,F90 (1)
● Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/Alpha 7 , Maxxum/Dynax/Alpha 9
(1,2) (1 ,3) Compatible with the Windows 7 SP1 and up and Mac OS X 10.9 and up.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
Meta35 is available at meta35.com for $149 USD. Preorders can be made starting June 11, 2015 with shipping starting the week of June 15. Includes: Meta35 USB adapter, camera cable and software for both Mac and Windows.
You can find out more about the Meta35 by checking out their site and twitter:
http://www.meta35.com/shop
https://twitter.com/meta35film
I think this is a good idea, although fairly limited by the cameras that can actually make use of it. But it is nice to see that companies are making an effort and realise that there are still a great deal of film shooters and some of them actually use computers too (gasp). Though I am unlikely to use it as I don’t shoot with any of those cameras.
Cheers
JCH
150 $ is more expensive than some of those camera .
Interesting for professional use indeed.
I agree, I’m sure it’s probably high for a reason but it would definitely sell more at ~$80
That would be nice. Easier than the scarce to find solution from Nikon. Had the original cable for the Data transfer from Nikon and sold it Worked one-in-ten sessions…
Sounds great, too bad none of my cameras are compatible.
I’m happy with the “metadata” the Pentax MZ-S does. In between the spool holes on the film is marks down all your relevant settings. You can see them easily in the scans if you need to know what you did.