About dokko

I built dokko to preserve the full fidelity of analog film in the digital realm. Until now, analog prints have generally surpassed digital scans in quality, but dokko changes that. dokko scans are sharper and more detailed than even the best optical enlargements, unlocking the advantages of digital retouching and archiving while preserving the integrity of analog film texture.

I work with photographers, artists, and galleries who demand the highest quality from their analog originals - whether for exhibition prints, publication, or building a lasting body of work. Every scan is treated as a digital master that will stand the test of time.

About me

I'm Christoph Manz, a cinematographer and colorist based in Berlin. I come from a physics background, having studied at ETH Zürich, before moving to Berlin to study cinematography at the DFFB film academy. I teach film and video at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and work as a colorist for artists’ projects. This background in optical physics, digital signal processing, programming, and color correction is the foundation on which the dokko scanner was built.

Beyond scanning, I also have extensive experience preparing files for final output on fine-art inkjet printers, LightJet systems, and swissQprint UV flatbed printers for direct printing on acrylic glass, aluminium, and other substrates. That means I can think about the final use of the image while scanning, not only after the fact.

Things that make me happy:
films by Edward Yang and John Cassavetes, the wackiness of quantum mechanics, pasta with tomato sauce, mixing Mai Tais, the grain of analog film, cameras and lenses, and the smile of the Dalai Lama.

The Journey

My interest in photography started when I received a camera from my godfather at 16, and soon after I got into filmmaking, shooting Super8 with friends. In my studies at the DFFB, I was first confronted with the challenge of digitising analog film. Working on student budgets, we couldn’t afford professional scanners - and the affordable options never truly captured the quality of the originals. So I built my own from secondhand industrial parts.

Years later, when I returned to photography, I faced the same problem again. Only this time, even the top-end scanners on the market were over 20 years old, using outdated hardware and workflows. With more resources and everything I've learned about optics, signal processing, and color science, I set out to build a scanner from the ground up. dokko is the result of that longer process: a purpose-built system developed around modern sensors, matched optics, custom software, and a practical understanding of how scanned images are actually used in print and archive contexts.