I'm thinking of selling the Coolscan 9000 - questions about V700

[v3cron]

I had the 9000 for a few years, and don't miss it. If you're willing to wet print, that is the best way to go. I still scan negs on a rental Imacon for publication or fast turnaround portfolio stuff, and wet print when I have more time. I bought a Plustek 7600 for quickies to put on the blog or something like that, and I can't say it's that much worse than the Nikon. I do not have a super-high opinion of the Nikon, so I would say sell it. Take advantage of the hype-driven pricing .

I would add, that if you're willing to take the time to shoot large format, by all means do those negs justice and wet print!

 

[kipkeston]

If you are going to wet print and you really only want to scan for the web or small prints, it seems silly to hang on to an expensive, discontinued scanner that will only continue to lose value. Sell it while the opportunity is here. You will get excellent scans for the web with a v700, and as you well know, there are few things more pleasing in photography than a fb print. I would sell, get a v7xx and head to the dark with your best work.

Discontinued coolscans are increasing substantially in price. The 9000 has what, doubled in the last few years?

 

[Rob-F]

Can you tell me what are the films used for those 2 shots? Which scanner? What software?

The prize will be to give me your Nikon Scanner at reasonable price ;-)

Uh, OK, Velvia? Dunno which scanner. OK I think I got it. It's a trick question, right? You shot directly to digital, with a camera that has a "Velvia" setting? What camera would have that? A Fujifilm digital camera?

Hope I don't win. I don't have a decent scanner to give away.

 

[Rob-F]

At the 6400 dpi setting of the V700/750, it looks to me like you get around a 52MP scan from a 35mm slide. Can that be right? At the 4800 dpi setting, I calculate around 29.5MP. That also sounds like more than enough. My understanding is there's not much point in the 6400 setting unless you are wet scanning--which sounds like a bigger mess than I think I ever want.

Wouldn't a scan of around 18MP--you know, like the files size of the Leica M9--already be luxuriously large?

 

[Steve M.]

Going back to your original post, I wouldn't think you need the V700. You already have that Nikon IV, which is a fine scanner for 35mm. There's no doubt that it can do a fine job for 35mm web posting, as well as prints. But you mentioned that you also shoot MF and LF. I found the old Epson 2450 to be wonderful for 120 and 4x5 scanning, and $100 will get you one. Why not sell the 9000 while the prices are high, and while it's working. It's a discontinued scanner, and if it were to up and quit on you one day right out of the blue, as any older piece of electronics can, you'll be looking at a very expensive fix or a very large door stop.

So my recommendation, and the most inexpensive way to go, would be to use your Nikon IV that you already have for 35mm, and buy a $100 Epson 2450 for 120 and 4x5. Here's 2 scans from 120 negs that I scanned on my old Epson. They made excellent prints, and it worked great for web posting.

The first shot is from an ancient scale focus Welta 6x4.5 camera. It had a Steinheil Cassar 75 3.5 lens, not the best in the world, and I'd initially set it's infinity focus using a loupe on some scotch tape stretched across the film plane. The second photo is from something considerably up on the food chain, a Rolleiflex w/ 3.5 Planar. Both were shot close to wide open. I don't know why you'd need anything better for your purposes.