Medium format scanning Nikon vs epson vs???

M

muser53

MUSER53
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I'm about to jump into medium format film (6x6 Rollei TLR) mostly for B&W portraits. I already own a Nikon Coolscan 8000 and was considering the following options:

1) Buy the Nikon Glass (I know it's expensive) carrier.
2) Order the wet mounting kit from scan science
3) Purchase an Epson V800/850 and get the wet/dry carrier from betterscanning.com

Any thoughts from those of you have used any of these systems?

Thanks in advance for any feedback you may offer
Paul
 
Buying Epson does not make sense if you own a Nikon. Epson in every aspect of the quality is worse than Nikon.

I bet on option number 1

Wet scanning is also worth trying.
 
Try the 8000 with the "standard" holder first.
You may be quite satisfied with the results.
If your films are curly.... flattening the negs in a stack of books overnight is less money than a $400-$500 glass holder ;)
 
I agree with Andy. I've had good results with the standard 120 MF carrier. Maybe there is a difference between the standard 120 MF carrier for the 9000 (the one I have) and the 8000, but with the one I have, you secure both sides of the 120 negative in the holder, then gently spread the two sides apart and lock them down, which pulls the negative flat.

I like the standard carrier better than the glass version (which I also have) because the glass version over time picks up dust, which is very hard to completely clean off, and leaves massive amounts of white specks on the final image which take forever to clean up in post processing. I only use the glass carrier when I have a negative that will just not flatten out, but the book suggestion of Andy's makes that rarely necessary.

Best,
-Tim
 
Dante Stella had a great article on properly using the standard holder. It is better than the glass holder when you actually get the neg flat and really dialed in. ANR glass will always cause a tiny aberration in the optical path so the best way to go is scan directly from the neg instead of through glass, no matter how good.

Phil Forrest
 
Very happy with my Nikon 8000. Once you tune Vuescan to batch scan your negatives, you'll be VERY happy. Great and not-as-dated piece of hardware as you'd think. Mine has an after market brass door to solve one of the niggling design problems. Give it another 10 years, and who knows what folks will figure out how to do with this.
 
Phil_F_NM said:
Dante Stella had a great article on properly using the standard holder. It is better than the glass holder when you actually get the neg flat and really dialed in. ANR glass will always cause a tiny aberration in the optical path so the best way to go is scan directly from the neg instead of through glass, no matter how good.

Phil Forrest
Click to expand...

I visited Dante's sight and while looking for the recommended self adhesive silicone strips I came across a less expensive and perfectly good solution. Nexcare first aid tape. It is thin tacky and easy to trim. It holds the negatives very flat. For now I am satisfied with the scans I am getting. Hope this is a help to other Coolscan owners.
Thanks for steering me in the right direction.
Paul
 
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