I will be posting some in-depth details on my current scanning process when the “taking a picture” series continues, but some posts about scanning I’ve come across recently are worth pointing out.
I purchased a refurbished Epson 4990 flatbed sacnner about a year ago, knowing that it was only an interim solution until I could justify the cost of a dedicated film scanner. I deliberately stayed away from the top-of-the-line V750 flatbed, knowing that I would want to replace it in a year or two anyway. I have been able to coax a lot of performance out of the Epson, using VueScan and specialized holders from betterscanning.com; sometimes even going as far as to wet-mount my negatives for maximum fidelity. The 4990 was always a compromise, though, and I have come up against the limits of the scanner again and again. At some point in the future, I would like to be able to make larger prints than I am currently able, 16×16 or even bigger, without having to send my film out to be scanned. And so, I’ve been collecting information about the Nikon CoolScan 9000, which is probably the best film scanner most amateurs can expect to own.
- Michael Dominic, of weaved.net, posted some information about wet-scanning with the CoolScan 9000, using a modified glass carrier. Looking at the 100% crops, the wet-scans at 4000 dpi have me drooling. I have a wet mount carrier for the 4990, but the highest optical dpi is somewhere around 2000, and even then, those pixels are not nearly as sharp as a scan from the CoolScan. This isn’t just overly-enthusiastic pixel peeping—the real world difference between the two scanners means that I can currently print at a maximum of 12×12 at a quality I am happy with. Scans from a CoolScan 9000, on the other hand, can be printed at 24×24 and beyond, given a good enough original negative.
- Colin at Photostream wrote about “The disappearing scanner”, mentioning that the CoolScan 9000 is getting harder and harder to find in stock anywhere, and is likely not in production any more. The number of options remaining for those who need to scan medium format film are dwindling.
This is bad news for medium format fans like myself. I am coming to the party quite late, but I have the enthusiasm of the newly converted. I am happy to be shooting medium format black and white film for the forseeable future, but the supplies and equipment are going to get harder and harder to find. With the decline in film usage, it’s obvious that R&D for film scanners has been put on the back burner and we can expect no new, significant improvements any time soon. I get the feeling that the CoolScan 9000 represented a golden age in the medium format digital darkroom, and that time may be quickly passing.
For Europeans, Scandig:
http://www.scandig.com/
is a good place to go for the Nikon 9000. Nobody much else seems interested.
You should also compare the microtek 120tf, which is the same as the old Polaroid SS120. I have had one for years and it still works great. They have a glass carrier too.
None of the epsons are going to do better than about 2000 effective ppi, they really can’t get beyond half of their stated resolution because the optics are not good enough. Even the V700 is not a real improvement over the 4990 from what I have seen on the web of reviews. I have the 4990 which is great for 4×5, but can’t touch the 120tf. The Nikon should be similar to the 120tf. Not sure about the light source but the 120tf has a diffuse light source which is what you want.
good luck
Colin: Thanks for the info. I think I do have a couple of readers from Europe, hopefully that will be useful information. I live in New York City and haven’t seen anything in stock at any of the major stores. It seems to be available refurbished at a couple of places, I may end up purchasing one that way.
Robert: Thanks for advice – I’ve not heard much about that scanner before, I will look into it. I am also waiting to hear more on the Microtek ArtixScan M1, which has above the glass scanning for 4×5 and below the glass scanning for 35mm and medium format. That is definitely something to consider over the CoolScan, as I do shoot large format from time to time and wouldn’t necessarily want to keep a second scanner around for that.
Hi
just read a few of your pages. Its interesting to find how many people seem to be independently (perhaps coordinated unconsciously by the internet) doing more or less the same thing. I’ve come back to film more and more after a stray into digital in early parts of this decade. Don’t get me wrong, I still use digital (coolpix and a 10D) but its the 4×5 and the newly started 120 negative that has brought me back. If I was still listening to all the folks telling me that Chromes (slides) were the “way to go” I’d probably be still completely digital.
now, if only I can figure out how to ‘follow your blog’ in my blogger account ….
bye from Finland
ps
as an epson user myself I’ve got some things on my blog which may be useful
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/search?q=epson