On Sep 5, 9:26 am, Toni Nikkanen wrote:
I'm perhaps looking for a true medium format film scanner that I could
afford. It seems I just might able to buy a second-hand Minolta Scan
Multi Pro or Nikon Coolscan 8000 unit from eBay or elsewhere. I've
been trying to come up with a preference between these two units on
information I found on the web. Are there any updates to what I have
gathered he

Minolta Scan Multi Pro:
+ Glass holder is included
+ I like Minolta Scan software (experience from my Scan Elite 5400 II)
+ Slide scanning quality is said to be damn good
- There are reports of problems scanning negatives: excessive grain
and clipped highlights. The "scanhancer" apparently solves the
first problem, what about the other? I scan B&W and color
negatives a lot, also slides.
- Digital ICE, which I intend to use a lot, causes artifacts in sharp edges

Nikon Coolscan 8000:
- Banding issue when not scanning at the slow setting
- Glass holder an expensive option
+ No reported problems with scanning negatives
+ No reported problems with ICE
+ For some reason I trust Nikon build quality more but have no
actual data to justify this opinion

Both have one common (potential) problem: Minolta doesn't make
scanners anymore at all. Nikon doesn't make the Coolscan 8000 anymore,
it's replaced by the Coolscan 9000. Will service be a problem? Will my
scanner turn into expensive junk when something breaks inside?

I'm coming from an Epson V700 + Scan Elite 5400 II combination, I plan
on selling both when I have acquired the true MF film scanner. My
"dream scanner" would be one that was as convenient and produces
as good results as the Scan Elite 5400 II, but for medium format.
This includes convenience of handling film with the scanner and
the magically wonderful way ICE is implemented on the 5400II.

I have been using the Nikon 8000 since the week it was introduced. I
have no experience with the Minolta scanners. What I can relay to you
is that I have scanned: 6mm negatives from very old disc cameras; 35mm
film in both negative and positive form; 6X4.5, 6X6, 6X7 Kodak and
Fuji Meduim Format negatives and 6X4.5, 6X6, 6X7 and 6X9 negatives
from the 1920's and 1930's. The only problem is that you cannot use
ICE on the very old BW film and some older color slides. I have
acheived very high quality scans from all media with no problems at
all. I generally do not scan at 8000dpi as I nearly never need a file
of that size for my prints. 4000dpi is my norm and I try not to do any
tweaking with grain removal, sharpenning, etc. The only adjustments I
make are in levels and exposure to get the histogram in proper shape.
I do all editing in photoshop.

I would invest in the glass holder as the one that comes with the unit
causes much frustration for everyone I know that uses the 8000.

One warning is that I cannot use my Nikon 8000 at present because I
was forced to get a new computer and there is no driver from Nikon for
the Nikon 8000 or 9000 for Windows Vista. They say that one *may* be
in the works, but nothing yet. I am an active member of the 'I hate
Vista' club

Cheers,

Don S.