Megavision T2 scanning back

I recently aquired an old Magavision T2 back. I have all of the parts except the lensboard and tether cable.

The lens board I am pretty sure I could make myself, but the cable is some proprietary custom job that

cost $250 to special-order from Megavision. And I am not even certain that the camera is working (I can't

test it without the cable).

So my question is, has anyone here used the T2? What was the quality like? Is is worth taking the risk, and

getting the cable? Anybody still use this dinosaur, and want to rent me their cable so I can check out my

T2?

 

Thanks all.

Hi Leo - I used a Megavision T2 for years while working for another company. In it's day, it was a great workhorse and the files were excellent but somewhat small. As you most likely know, it's a 3 shot camera with a filter wheel in front of a 2K x 2K CCD chip. For studio tabletop product shots etc. it was wonderful to use with it's "Live Video Display" that refreshed itself every 1/2 second. Very useful to see the subject on a monitor in near real time as you made changes. Clients loved that. It captured 3 images (one through each of 3 color filters) and the software composited them and displayed the final file on the monitor in seconds. Obviously it was only good for static subjects but the T2's real strength was image quality. There's no interpolation - all pure RGB data. Great for shooting fabrics because there's no moire which can be a disaster for DSLR's. Also, because of this amount of pure detail, files could be enlarged to 200% or more keeping the same resolution depending on the subject matter and still look great. Software was easy to learn and use. If you have a real use for this type camera, I would say take a chance on it. The only concern I would have is the motor that turned the filter wheel. It was expensive years ago to get that worked on but basically it was the only part that ever gave us problems. I don't know if my former employer still has the cable(s) you are looking for but we're on good terms and if it's available, I'll let you know.

Thank you so much for your detailed answer! I appreciate it. By all means, let me know what

your employer says about the cable -- if you want to contact me directly, my email is

leoferguson@mindspring.com. If there's a favor I can do in return, I am happy to. (I do hi-end

photo retouching and pre-press production, if that is at all helpful.)

 

Thanks again - Leo