About dokko

dokko is dedicated to making analog images shine and is the result of a long journey to preserve the full feeling of analog film within a digital workflow. Until now, analog prints have generally surpassed digital scans in quality, but dokko finally managed to change 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.

About me

Things that make me happy:
Films by Yasujiro Ozu and John Cassavetes, the wackiness of quantum mechanics, good pasta with tomato sauce, mixing Mai Tais, learning new stuff, clean code, cameras and lenses, shooting analog film, and the smile of the Dalai Lama.
Apart from scanning film and improving the dokko scanner, I also work as a cinematographer and colourist for artist’ projects, and I teach film and video at the Berlin University of the Arts.

About the Journey

My interest for photography started when I received a photo camera from my godfather at 16 and soon after, I delved into filmmaking, creating Super8 films with friends. I began studying physics at ETH Zürich, but quickly realised I wanted to dive deeper into the mysteries of moving pictures. In 1999, I moved to Berlin to study cinematography at the DFFB film academy. It was there that I was first confronted the challenge of transforming analog film material into the digital realm. Working on student budgets, we couldn't afford using expensive film scanners and the affordable options didn't truly capture the essence of the originals. So I started to build my own scanner from secondhand industrial parts. Much to my surprise, the first attempt already produced results comparable to many professional services and after two years of improvements, it could compete with even the top-end systems (albeit at a much, much slower speed).

Years later, when I returned to photography, I faced a similar issue. Only this time even the most expensive scanners were 20 years old and completely outdated in terms of quality and workflow. Armed with my previous experience and better resources, I embarked on an extensive journey, combining my knowledge of optical physics, digital signal processing, programming and color correction to create the ultimate scan machine. Three years later, I achieved what I consider a new gold standard for modern film scanning, and which I'm excited to share with the world.