Coolscan 8000 vs Coolscan V ED

[philipus]

I am having trouble deciding if I should upgrade to a Coolscan 8000 from my V ED. As I understand it the 9000 doesn't offer much better quality output than the 8000 but costs a whole heap more.

Can anyone with experience of the 8000 and the V ED tell me if the 8000:

- is significantly better when it comes to dense negs
- handles pepper grain well
- overall gives better scans
- has faster scanning times of 35mm negs
- is good at identifying the whole individual frames when 2x6-frame strips are loaded?

I am pretty proficient in scanning so know how to get good results (I use Vuescan) but I am wondering if the upgrade is worth it. Print quality is important to me (for exhibitions) and I print up to A3+.

If anyone has any idea of a reasonable price difference between these two models that would be helpful too.

Thanks for any insight

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I have had an 8000 since it came out; I do not think it will give you anything your current scanner cannot do.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I recall about two issues that are commonly found by Coolscan 8000 users:

"CCD flare" and Banding: http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00CYcp

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/coolscan-8000-v-9000-a-t2097098.html

This seems to be observed by perfectionists and/or people with some bad luck, since not all 8000 scanners seem to exhibit these issues, but when they do, not much you can do about it.

I did notice when I had the 9000 that if you scan with something other than single line CCD mode, there would be lots of noise (in-image and otherwise) and banding, and apparently it's inherited from the 8000. Just making you aware of it so you know what to expect in case that happens to you.

I still have the 5000 Coolscan, and although Nikon Scan is flaky, once it's set up correctly and properly --and if you have a lot of time and patience when doing a batch scan--, it is something I don't see myself replacing anytime soon. I've made it work in a Windoze 7 64-bit machine, with Silverfast, Nikon Scan and VueScan (which I only use for quick tests since at times it really drives me crazy if I need to do batch scans with it and the 5000).

Good luck with your shopping!

 

[philipus]

Thanks very much for sharing your experiences. I'll think a little bit further about this I think.

 

[Particular]

If you are only scanning 35mm, the ergonomics of the smaller Nikons is a lot better I think. If you need to scan 120, the 8000 is a great option.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I've had three Nikon scanners since they first came out in the 1990's, a Coolscan III, Coolscan 5000, and a Coolscan 9000. The III was just outdated and a total pain with black & white. The 5000 worked really well with color and transparencies, but I couldn't get the results I really liked in black & white. The 9000 has solved all of that for me, plus it let's me scan medium format.

The difference, for me, between the 5000 and the 9000 when scanning 35mm is like the difference between a condenser enlarger (5000) and a diffusion enlarger (9000) for those of you who have experience in the darkroom.

I like the 9000 much better than the 5000 for black & white work.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I agree, Tim, there is a noticeable difference when scanning "traditional" (i.e. not C-41) B&W film with the 9000, compared to the 5000. Besides, of course, the capability for scanning medium format film.

This is specially true with grainier films. But the 5000 is good enough if you do 16-bit (B&W; 32-bit for color) "RAW" multipass scanning and have the patience to do HDR-like scans. I know that last statement will ruffle feathers for many different reasons, so I won't get into it.

 

[philipus]

Thanks for the assistance, and esp. for your views on the 9000. I am seriously considering this one instead of the 8000. For one, it is newer and may be serviceable by Nikon for a little longer (the "no parts available" excuse seems to affect any 8000 which is sent in for service). Plus, as I understand it, the 8000's banding issues are more or less solved on the 9000.

When I shoot BW I always use traditional silver films, never C41 films. This is one of the areas in which I feel that my V ED is lacking. And the MF ability would be of benefit to me as I am slowly moving in that direction.