So I finally tired of hearing how great one scanner was over another, how bad mine was at scanning one thing while being ok at scanning something else, and generally wondering whether or not what I was seeing on screen was actually what was on my negatives.
So I finally tired of hearing how great one scanner was over another, how bad mine was at scanning one thing while being ok at scanning something else, and generally wondering whether or not what I was seeing on screen was actually what was on my negatives (since I usually get my film processed without prints, the scans are the first time I see the images). I was so tired of this wishy-washy feeling about things that I went for broke (and went broke) and picked up a [Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 ED](http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/scanner/scoolscan_9000/).
I received it just a couple days before leaving for the turkey week, and only got to scan a few things before I had to say goodbye to the new big rig (the [last](http://treemeat.com/photos/476/) [three](http://treemeat.com/photos/477/) [photos](http://treemeat.com/photos/478/) are scanned with it). But wow, what a difference in those few I did scan. I’ll do some for real comparison scans as soon as I can, but for now I’ll just say that I’m having a really hard time not going back and rescanning my entire catalog of film. Some shots that I figured were completely hosed when scanned with my old [Epson 4870](http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=40524124) now seem perfectly normal (good even) when run through the Nikon. It’s particularly noticeable in very low contrast, light negatives, like shots containing large expanses of sky or clouds. The Epson would bug out when trying to correct for the film’s orange color cast, usually resulting in some seriously weird pink, but the Nikon comes through like the 40lb champ it is, perfectly compensating the color and giving beautiful results from negatives (it does black and white film [really really well](http://chromogenic.net/archives/051101.html) too).
Pros:
- Absurdly good scan quality
- Best negative color compensation… ever.
- Nikon Scan is probably the best scanner software I’ve used. Being able to que preview and adjustment scans, while looking at and adjusting another image is so luxurious.
- It’s only got a Firewire connection. At least someone’s still got [confidence in the technology](http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/7769).
- Scanning technology is pretty much at it’s peak, pretty much ensuring that this scanner will remain at the top of the heap for some time.
- Wicked fast
Cons:
- Absurdly expensive
- It’s really big (bigger then the Epson, which was a FLATBED)
- It’s pretty damn loud too
- Digital ICE doesn’t work with b&w negatives
- Nikon Scan doesn’t allow enough control over crop positioning (it picks where it thinks the frame is based on the size you tell it, like 6×6, but doesn’t allow much give around that).
- Wicked expensive
It’s also making me seriously consider selling my 20D, ending my year long digital experimentation phase, and running full-bore back to an all analog diet.