Taqi
Established
Ok so I'm thinking about buying another camera. At the moment I am split between an MP or a medium format camera, likely a mamiya 7. Only thing is I have a Coolscan V so I would need to buy a scanner that can handle MF. I am guessing I could probably do both the Mamiya and a MF scanner for the same price as the MP.
Any recommendations on the MF scanner front?
Thanks in advance folks...
Any recommendations on the MF scanner front?
Thanks in advance folks...
lewis44
Well-known
I had a Nikon LS-8000 and really liked it. With Negs bigger than 35mm you really need to get a Glass Negitive Carrier to keep the film from curving and softening the corners. If I were to buy one now, it would be the LS-9000. Also, you can sell the 5000 as the 9000 will handle all sizes.
Randy
Randy
jaffa_777
Established
yes, I have the 9000, with the rotating glass holder. I think the glass holder is way overpriced but really a must if you want decent scans. I would sell your 5000 and get a mamiya 7 & nikon 9000 over the mp, but thats me. There's no subsitute for larger real estate.
mfogiel
Veteran
I second the Coolscan 9000. The only other "in production" viable alternative is Imacon, but it costs 3x more for just a small improvement. Take a look at the Digital Darkroom forum on photo.net , there are several threads about MF scanner options there.
Taqi
Established
thanks for the advice folks - i'll take a look at the 9000 then!
mervynyan
Mervyn Yan
i have mamiya 7ii with 43/80/150 and pano kit in which i am ready to part company in few months, moving to hasselblad 503cw or a LF (yet tbd). shoot me an email if you are interested.
now on to scanner, i have espon 4990. i like it very much. it costs now days less than $500, more a cost-effective way to post on the web.
perhaps 1 in 50 slides i'd like to enlarge to A4 or bigger, which I use a local pro-lab to print, it is expensive but you can do more than 100 fine prints for the cost of nikon 9000. if it is b&w, i just rent a darkroom for $50 per day and plus cost of the paper, print however many and size you want.
now on to scanner, i have espon 4990. i like it very much. it costs now days less than $500, more a cost-effective way to post on the web.
perhaps 1 in 50 slides i'd like to enlarge to A4 or bigger, which I use a local pro-lab to print, it is expensive but you can do more than 100 fine prints for the cost of nikon 9000. if it is b&w, i just rent a darkroom for $50 per day and plus cost of the paper, print however many and size you want.
usayit
Well-known
I've had wonderful results with the high end Epson V700 flatbed. Some samples I did when I was deciding whether or not to keep it.
Pentax 645 negative
35mm Tmax Negative
I've had it for about 7 months now and other than the flimsy negative holders, I am very satisfied. It (a flatbed) rivals the quality I get from the negative scanners at school.
Pentax 645 negative
35mm Tmax Negative
I've had it for about 7 months now and other than the flimsy negative holders, I am very satisfied. It (a flatbed) rivals the quality I get from the negative scanners at school.
Last edited:
P C Headland
Well-known
The V700/750 is well worth considering, especially if you rarely print larger than around 16x20" from a 6x7cm frame. You can get excellent quality 12x16" prints and smaller from MF scans on the V700.
A friend of mine was looking to buy a Nikon 9000 for MF (6x7) scans. I'd just bought a V700, and he had access to an 8000, so we decided to do a "real world" test. We compared his Canon 9950F with my V700 and a university's Nikon 8000. What we compared was the same slide scanned on each scanner, processed then printed a 4x6" crop from a 16x20 image. We were interested in the final output. We tried the native scanning programs and also Silverfast on the two flatbeds.
There was a clear difference between the 9950 and V700, with the V700 being noticably sharper and getting better shadow detail (from a slide scan).
The final print comparison between the V700 and the 8000 was very interesting. They were very closely matched, if anything the V700 looked slightly better. Now, this may have been down to not having the glass film holder on the 8000, but then we did just use the standard V700 holders. Yes, sample variation may also have been an issue.
The end conclusion however, was that the Nikon may be ultimately slightly better, but up to "normal" 16x20 prints from slides, the difference is slight. So slight as to be hard to justify the cost differential.
Keep the CS V for 35mm. Get an enhanced holder with ANR glass, or even a wet mount kit for the V700/750 and you'll have yourself an excellent scanner that can scan panoramic 120 formats and film up to 8x10" film. For that real special scan, send it out. Save the difference and spend it on more film!
A friend of mine was looking to buy a Nikon 9000 for MF (6x7) scans. I'd just bought a V700, and he had access to an 8000, so we decided to do a "real world" test. We compared his Canon 9950F with my V700 and a university's Nikon 8000. What we compared was the same slide scanned on each scanner, processed then printed a 4x6" crop from a 16x20 image. We were interested in the final output. We tried the native scanning programs and also Silverfast on the two flatbeds.
There was a clear difference between the 9950 and V700, with the V700 being noticably sharper and getting better shadow detail (from a slide scan).
The final print comparison between the V700 and the 8000 was very interesting. They were very closely matched, if anything the V700 looked slightly better. Now, this may have been down to not having the glass film holder on the 8000, but then we did just use the standard V700 holders. Yes, sample variation may also have been an issue.
The end conclusion however, was that the Nikon may be ultimately slightly better, but up to "normal" 16x20 prints from slides, the difference is slight. So slight as to be hard to justify the cost differential.
Keep the CS V for 35mm. Get an enhanced holder with ANR glass, or even a wet mount kit for the V700/750 and you'll have yourself an excellent scanner that can scan panoramic 120 formats and film up to 8x10" film. For that real special scan, send it out. Save the difference and spend it on more film!
lZr
L&M
I use Epson 4990. Excellent for MF negs and slides