Nikon FH-868GR

[JeremyLangford]

Today I was taking my daily stroll through craigslist and saw a Coolscan 9000 for sell along with a Nikon FH-868GR film holder. I already have a Coolscan 9000 but I don't have a Nikon FH-868GR holder. I learned a long time ago from this forum that it was necessary for good medium format scans and I have always planned to get one. I emailed the guy and offered $275 for the film holder only and he says he'll meet me to sell it.

I think this is pretty sweet because the Nikon FH-868GR holders are getting harder and harder to find and when you see them brand new they're always around $350. So this should be an easy way to save me any where from $75 - $100 on something I already need to buy anyways.

Any thing I should know before I go to get it?

 

[sevo]

Was FH-868 maybe the specification for Coolscan 8000 holders? If not, you might end up with something useless to you, the current (9000) holders are FH-869, and I haven't ever heard anything about backward compatibility beyond the 8000.

GR is the rotatable glass holder, intended for sheet film, specimen samples etc. - YMMV as to whether it is indeed that necessary. As one downside it positively needs cutting the film to individual frames. In my experience it is slightly easier to abuse it for wet mounting than the plain G, and it may be useful if you scan architectural photographs where micro alignment is critical - but I mostly use the glassless holder.

 

[historicist]

868 is maybe a typo, pretty sure it's FH-869G and FH-869GR for the 8000 and 9000?

I'd second the recommendation to get the non-rotating one if you can, you can scan more frames in one go which makes scanning significantly less tedious.

 

[dcsang]

I'm not affiliated with this guy but I ordered a piece of the ANR glass cut to specification to fit the FH-869S holder.

Took a bit for me to figure out how to get the flappy side clippy things off but I did (without breaking them) and the ANR glass fits on perfectly.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANR-Glass-For-N...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9e413993

To me, $24 was a LOT cheaper than buying (or trying to find) the glass holder.. 🙂

Cheers,
Dave

 

[JeremyLangford]

Was FH-868 maybe the specification for Coolscan 8000 holders? If not, you might end up with something useless to you, the current (9000) holders are FH-869, and I haven't ever heard anything about backward compatibility beyond the 8000.

GR is the rotatable glass holder, intended for sheet film, specimen samples etc. - YMMV as to whether it is indeed that necessary. As one downside it positively needs cutting the film to individual frames. In my experience it is slightly easier to abuse it for wet mounting than the plain G, and it may be useful if you scan architectural photographs where micro alignment is critical - but I mostly use the glassless holder.

Sorry, it was a type, I mean 869. I was told in another thread that I could keep the film in strips with this holder but I would have to scan one frame at a time.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

If you can afford it, buy it. It work well and is easier to use than putting glass in the standard holder. Make sure he has all of the masks for it. You MUST have the plastic insert masks for each film format or the scanner gives bad newton's rings and also the masks tell the scanner where the film is positioned. It should include two different 35mm pano masks, 645, 6x6, 6x7, 6x8 and 6x9 masks. Make sure the glass isn't scratched or damaged.

 

[JeremyLangford]

If you can afford it, buy it. It work well and is easier to use than putting glass in the standard holder. Make sure he has all of the masks for it. You MUST have the plastic insert masks for each film format or the scanner gives bad newton's rings and also the masks tell the scanner where the film is positioned. It should include two different 35mm pano masks, 645, 6x6, 6x7, 6x8 and 6x9 masks. Make sure the glass isn't scratched or damaged.

I have enough money right now because I sold my iPod touch and worked with my Grandfather last weekend. After I buy this I will probably buy Silverfast to use it.

 

[JeremyLangford]

Just bought it and everything looks brand new.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Just bought it and everything looks brand new.

Very cool!

 

[JeremyLangford]

Very cool!

Now I can see why this thing is necessary. Two words: perfect flatness. Didn't you say that to scan 35mm, I should take one of the two 35mm panorama masks and modify it for a single 24mm x 36mm exposure?