Scanner for 120/135: Nikon 8/9000/Braun FS120/Epson

I bought the Primefilm 120 a few weeks ago..it's real good, but the film should be turned upside down in the holder, versus what the instructions say, the resolution is then much better, resolving film grain. And Vuescan is a must, after installing the PF drivers.
 
It’s in “Sale” for $1200.
Looks like the same machine.
Flickr recognizes the exif as the same model..

What’s the diiference between the Pacific imaging and the Braun ?
Just a name ?? 😱

..... and still. $1200 buys me many higher than 3200dpi scans from someone with more expertise than me to deliver them.
Maybe pre-viewing with the V700 is not so bad.
If I did not already own the epson, that $1200 would be going to bh photo for the pf120.
 
Andy: Did you read the reviews on B&H's site? Question regarding differences between the Pacific Imaging PF120 and Braun FS-120 are valid. Box size is slightly different, weight too, but most of the rest a bit sketchy between the two. I posted a question to B&H in terms of the differences between these... 'cause you ask a good quesiton. Doesn't make sense it'd be that different in price.

For my part, I'm going to see what I can do to wet mount for a DSLR scan tonight or tomorrow night and see the results before ponying up for more hardware.
 
Epson V850 with Betterscanner glass: Interesting that one of the reviews on the B&H site mentions switching to this from the Nikon LS-8000 that I'm looking at. In terms of price, the Nikon would run $800. If not found WITH an ANR glass holder, that could add $300 or more... and usually the glass holders don't seem to come with it in my quick ebay review.

Betterscanning's 2-strip holder for this runs $95 + $30 X 2 for the ANR glass. $155 total. Add together, pretty cost effective. And if the V850 were anywhere near as good as my Surecolor P800 printer... you'd have to put me in the double wow land.

Reviews of the V850 on B&H are mixed between LOVE and HATE. Dust is a problem with EVERY scanner, so maybe it's unfair to slam the scanner for that. Those using it for LF and MF seem to not mention this. With a DMAX at 4 and the rest of the specs, it seems to "spec" very well. Anyone using this baby?
 
roscoetuff said:
...and the rest of the specs, it seems to "spec" very well.
Click to expand...

The thing about this is that the specs on the Epsons are way overstated or misleading.

First, you should note that the V8xx series is not some kind of massive improvement over the V7xx series. All they did was update the light source to LED. This eliminates the "warm-up" time, but really that didn't matter much anyway. I'm going to assume the CRI of these lights are at least on par with the previous model, so there shouldn't be any change with regard to color fidelity.

More to the point, comparing the Epson to the Nikon LS-8000 or 9000 is like apples and oranges. The Nikon will still have nearly twice the effective resolution (regardless of the BS holders) and the amount of shadow detail possible from chromes will be much higher. The Nikon will have a slower workflow though.

In my opinion, having used Epson V7xx scanners, the Nikon 8/9000, and a variety of other mid- to high-end scanners is that the Epsons are good for 3-4x enlargements max, while the Nikon will probably give you easily 6-8x. Assuming the detail is on the film of course. This is why the Epsons are commonly used for larger formats since 3-4x is plenty big, and why it is pretty bad for 35mm unless you just print to 4x6 or so. It's also fine for proofing of course, and if you then send off a few shots a year for scanning it might be perfect for you.

My assumption wrt reviews is that the reviewers have wildly varying needs, expectations, and uses. Your individual needs will have to guide you here.
 
For a month or two between scanners I used my D800 for scanning, but I really don't have that much experience compared to the folks doing it exclusively. Huss and edge100 here on the forum have way more experience and lots of examples if you look around. But there's a ton of variables - which camera, which lens, light source / setup, parallelism between film/camera, etc. - so I think it's really dependent on what your setup will be.

Larger formats also will require multiple images and stitching to really get the most out of the "scan."

For me workflow is important, and specifically my scanner is able to scan a huge number of frames per batch at a high quality. I can scan 6+ sheets of 4x5, two rolls of 35mm, etc. so I will often setup a big batch and go to bed and it's done in the morning. Others like DSLR scanning because they can import to LR and integrate it into their normal workflow. I don't use LR for film myself. So anyway, it really depends on what, how, and how much you plan on scanning.
 
I have a Screen Cezanne - this is a huge high-end flatbed that has more resolution than the Nikon (over 5000 DPI) but sometimes struggles a bit on really dense slides. It has a ~ 14x22 bed so I can scan my 8x20 negatives, and of course 8x10 and smaller formats. This is important to me but is overkill for some!
 
Corran said:
I have a Screen Cezanne - this is a huge high-end flatbed that has more resolution than the Nikon (over 5000 DPI) but sometimes struggles a bit on really dense slides. It has a ~ 14x22 bed so I can scan my 8x20 negatives, and of course 8x10 and smaller formats. This is important to me but is overkill for some!
Click to expand...

Nice! That's quite a commitment I admire that!
Maybe I should be sending my keepers to you for scanning Corran 😀
 
Again I feel a bit lost scanning wise. Got a V600 which I last used to scan 6x9. IIRC its real resoultion sits around the 1600PPI range and while it's enough for 16x20" prints, it feels like throwing quite a bit of the potential in the negative. Color correction can be quite "entertaining" and it does suffer a bit on the density extremes. Resolution wise I haven't maximized the rig with a betterscan. Whenever I go B&W I'll surely use it much more.

Lab scanning tends to be expensive, although I found a place that did large TIFFs for normal pricing and used it for the last batches of C41.

f16sunshine said:
Nice! That's quite a commitment I admire that!
Maybe I should be sending my keepers to you for scanning Corran 😀
Click to expand...
A kind of rental scanner along a community darkroom would be really nice. It could nicely work in some areas.
 
My sense from this discussion is that it depends on the target print, and tolerance in quality. From the discussion, sounds like my best bet is to work my DSLR scan for "proof sheet" quality. We'll have to try a wet scan and stitching to see what we can get out of it as fairly I haven't maxed it out yet.

Desire for better seems to run up against what a service thinks it's instructions are, and the last one I did seemed to wing it on their own. I'd prefer to have control. So that eliminates the best of the best options, and leaves me with VERY GOOD as my target... but not ULTIMATE PRIMO. From the discussion, seems to drive me toward an LS-8000 or LS-9000 as I've got a local guy who services these with a good reputation.

Thanks for all the feedback. Very helpful. I've got some thinking and hard looking to do, but I'll let you know what happens. 😉
 
I'll say, save a bit extra and push for a Nikon 9000 or a Hass/Imacon 3 or higher. I've read so much about the Nikon 8000 vs 9000, and seems like the 9000 is a better machine. If you can handle doing little more scanning work, pick up a v600 and try to max out on the output you can with that scanner. Hopefully, in the meantime, you can snatch a better machine for a good price.
 
So to close the loop, I didn't waste any time. Contacted my repair guy and peppered him with questions on the two Nikons - especially the so-called banding issue. Turns out he has plenty of parts for the LS-8000's and fewer for the LS-9000's. Told me the 8000's and 9000's basically operate the same with the same functionality - with a small difference favoring the 9000, but that the 8000 was the bang for the buck favorite. Checked eBay, the difference between the two units is running close to $1000. So I outbid some folks for an LS-8000 and snagged it. So maybe it will be slower, but the only thing likely holding me back will be my negatives. I'll keep DSLR scanning and getting better at that, but this gives me an option to scan my top negs after initial review, and a 2nd route to getting the best I can manage. Not gonna be the best and not gonna be the quickest, and certainly not going to be the newest tool on the block, but like my Bronica SQ-A, still very good, respectable and capable of delivering the goods. Might even need a tune up. But it just seemed simpler to not fuss around. So the deal is done. Thank you all for your input and encouragement. Another one of those "I'll nevers" has just fallen, and now I have a solid, 20-year-old (?) mid-grade (non-Drum) scanner. Yahoooo! And if I only do 8 negs 10 times a year before it dies in 12 months, it will have paid for itself and given me my money's worth relative to commercial scans.

That V600 at $200 plus is a steal... and if I didn't just want to put these sort of decisions in the rear view mirror... might have gone there.

Again... thanks for the counsel and advice.
 
Reading over the manual PDF, I see mention of masking off the unused slots when scanning. Wonder whether these mask are made of film? or similar dimensional thickness of plastic? Anyone know?
 
Andy: Haven't used him, but he's local to me (Silver Spring vs. Bethesda Maryland), and I'm planning on it as a sort of CLA. I think he specializes in Nikon Coolscans, but you could contact him as I did, through ebay where he sells/advertises his mirror cleaning service for $150. He responds to emailed questions sent through ebay, so you could ask him whether he works on Epsons or knows someone who does. Worst casse? "No reply". Plug: "Nikon Coolscan Repair" into ebay's search and his ad will pop up.
 
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