Selling Nikon 9000 ED in favor of Epson 700/750?

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brian steinberger

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I have a Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED and I love it, but for the prices these things are going for now, I'm actually thinking of selling mine to afford an Epson printer and get an Epson 700/750. The Nikons are discontinued, whereas the Epson scanners are new. My question is, would the 750 be good enough for medium format black and white film scanning? I shoot 6x4.5 and 6x6, and I would probably print no larger than 16x20.
 
I'd just save the money and get a printer. I have an Epson v700 and absolutely love it...very sharp for MF negs, but if you have a dedicated scanner of the quality of the Nikon line -- I dunno. Seems like you really don't have a problem, there!
 
Yea You guys are right, I should keep it. The quality is amazing. But I would really like to get into inkjet printing with a 17" wide Epson and I believe I need a new computer, atleast more RAM and a new monitor to get started.

I guess I'm just scared my Nikon could just quit working next week and I'd be in deep!!
 
Honestly the v700 is perfectly adequate for medium format scanning - even my old v600 with the lesser optics gave me massive resolution from 6x7 negatives. I'd say you could do it pretty easily.
 
They're all adequate scanners if you don't compare the scans from a consumer flatbed to the Nikon Coolscan 9000. Just be thankful you never compared the scans from the Coolscan 9000 against a really good drum scan....

I hear you on the ridiculous prices they are getting nowadays but if you are truly into Medium Format then the Coolscan 9000 would be the centerpiece of the venture it seems to me. I'd rather sell cameras and downgrade other stuff, shoot with a Rolleicord or Japanese POS than give up the Coolscan because I know that a good Coolscan scan from a mediocre camera is going to be better than a good Epson scan from the finest camera.

That said, sure, I have a 30x30 inkjet from my old Rollei scanned on an Epson 3200 from years ago. It might have even been the older Epson 1680. It's on matte art paper so it doesn't need to be super high-resolution and it looks nice decorating the wall at normal viewing distances. But I never put it side-by-side against a really good scan on gloss paper either, knowing that the difference would make me sick.

So do what your budget allows... but if you have the leeway, I'd hold onto to that scanner or budget for sending your best work out for better scans as needed. (Like http://www.4photolab.com/ Edgar will do decent Imacon scans for ~$50+-).

Another idea is to do scans for other people. $20 a pop for a good Coolscan 9000 scan is a doable price, 100 scans and you're there.
 
I'd be keeping that Nikon until it was dead and coudn't be used any more ... it seems unlikely that a 35mm scanner of this quality will ever hit the market again! The V700 is great for medium format but not so much for 35mm.

Another "don't do it!"
 
Keith said:
I'd be keeping that Nikon until it was dead and coudn't be used any more ... it seems unlikely that a 35mm scanner of this quality will ever hit the market again! The V700 is great for medium format but not so much for 35mm.

Another "don't do it!"
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Totally agree!
 
Don't do it #3 (or 4)!
You'll never get one back again when you regret selling it!

I thought about selling my Coolscan 5000 when I got my 9000, but I'm glad I didn't. The throughput with the 5000 is a lot faster.
The 9000 is slightly better with Kodachrome however.

You can always get another printer later on. You can always get another computer - they get faster and cheaper as time goes on.
Try to get another Coolscan! - you probably can't.
 
I could have bought one of these a few years ago when I bought my V700. At the time the price was retail (not crazy). At the time I couldn't justify it. At this time I sort of regret it.

If you are shooting MF currently (and absolutely if you are shooting 35mm) and believe you will be for the foreseeable future, I would not sell that scanner.
 
Digital home printing is far more questionable in terms of economy and quality than doing your own scans. Mail order print services that print perfectly to profile, on a much better and more economical (RA4, or large volume ink) printer than you could ever operate yourself, are dirt cheap and have round trip times of less than three days - if you are in a major town, you can even pick up the same day. Quality scan services on the other hand are much slower and more expensive, and are getting scarce, which will drive up the prices even more.

If you can't do it all, you can gain quality and save cost when you outsource printing while keeping the best scanner you can. Downgrading the scanner in favour of DIY printing has no similar benefits - you'll have worse results at a higher price.
 
brian steinberger said:
Yea You guys are right, I should keep it. The quality is amazing. But I would really like to get into inkjet printing with a 17" wide Epson and I believe I need a new computer, atleast more RAM and a new monitor to get started.

I guess I'm just scared my Nikon could just quit working next week and I'd be in deep!!
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With that in mind, I can see your dilemma. But, it goes the same for the Epson printer: what if it dies? I have ZERO confidence in Epson. Every single thing of theirs, for the exception of my former (former because I grudgingly sold it because I was moving overseas) Epson 2450 scanner, has died on me "unexpectedly", specially their printers. After the third one died, and two of their scanners died on me, I decided not to ever again buy another Epson anything.

I haven't yet, but I'd get a Canon Pixma wide format inkjet. The Canon printer I had (which I also sold due to the same issue above) never ever ever gave me any problems.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
With that in mind, I can see your dilemma. But, it goes the same for the Epson printer: what if it dies? I have ZERO confidence in Epson. Every single thing of theirs, for the exception of my former (former because I grudgingly sold it because I was moving overseas) Epson 2450 scanner, has died on me "unexpectedly", specially their printers. After the third one died, and two of their scanners died on me, I decided not to ever again buy another Epson anything.

I haven't yet, but I'd get a Canon Pixma wide format inkjet. The Canon printer I had (which I also sold due to the same issue above) never ever ever gave me any problems.
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Funny you say that, I have the same stigma with Epsons stuff - I had both an r1900 printer that gave endless problems and a v600 scanner that crapped itself more than once.

This is a very good point IMO - the epson stuff isn't up to the same quality as the made in japan nikon coolscans.
 
I have both, and have considered selling the V700, but NEVER the 9000ED !
I am able to get acceptable scans rom the v700 on MF, but they are not even close to the output of the Nikon. If you were only enlarging minimally, and only doing MF, it might be a consideration, but not otherwise.
 
Agreed. The CoolScan (even an 8000) is not going to be obsolete (the new PacificImage or whatever is $2K new and not nearly as good...), but the new computer and printer you contemplate will be in two years. Print services can produce incredible output with no capital investment on your part.

Dante

sevo said:
Digital home printing is far more questionable in terms of economy and quality than doing your own scans. Mail order print services that print perfectly to profile, on a much better and more economical (RA4, or large volume ink) printer than you could ever operate yourself, are dirt cheap and have round trip times of less than three days - if you are in a major town, you can even pick up the same day. Quality scan services on the other hand are much slower and more expensive, and are getting scarce, which will drive up the prices even more.

If you can't do it all, you can gain quality and save cost when you outsource printing while keeping the best scanner you can. Downgrading the scanner in favour of DIY printing has no similar benefits - you'll have worse results at a higher price.
Click to expand...
 
Just to counter the anti-Epson stuff, my Epson scanners and printers have performed very well and consistently over the last 12-13 years I've been using them, starting with one of the first Stylus Photo printers.

Every company makes a few lemons, I've had Canon and HPs that never worked right as well. And went through two new Microteks that arrived broken in the box.

I don't think there is a sure bet in any of them, but I doubt Epson has a higher failure rate than the others.
 
I can't speak about the 9000ED but have the 4000ED (35 mm only) and a V700 for MF and LF. I had the 4000ED serviced last year by Nikon and was told that there are no more spare parts available for that model. So I use the Nikon scanner having in mind that once it breaks it will be quite difficult to have it repaired. Before getting the Nikon I have used the V700 also for 35mm film and got more pleasing results in BW (despite ultimate resolution) than with the Nikon because of different light sources.

If you can afford it, get a (used) V700 and compare scan results. Only then you will be able to decide, if the 9000ED is necessary for your needs or not.
 
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