My Nikon Coolscan 5000ED died... looking for new film scanner.

Steven Lam · Oct 26, 2017

Hi All,

It had a good run, but my Nikon film scanner decided it couldn't can any more childhood negatives. I'm going to crack it open this weekend to see if there's anything mechanically stuck in it.

If that doesn't work, I'm looking for a new scanner with a decent DPI, DMAX, and contrast. I don't want to buy a used 5000ED, it's too risky. Film scanners are becoming quite a niche market now.

I was thinking of going up to a 120 film scanner (but not critical, I can stay down in the 35mm range). I've looked at Plustek, Pacific Image, Braun, and Hasselblad (just to dream). The Braun F120 seems to have the best constrast/DPI. The Plustek's spec higher DPI, but the contrast looks terrible. Hasselblads are great, but I'd prefer a 2nd car.

Any other suggestions out there? It doesn't necessarily need to be a 120 film scanner, 35mm will fit my needs.

Thanks,
S.Lam

benhasajeep · Oct 26, 2017

Had to beat the Nikon SC 5000 or 9000. Except the Hassy X1 / X5's.
The nearest to an SC9000 is the Braun SF120 and Plustek Opticfilm 120. It is not the SC9000 but does a much better job than the flatbed Epsons. From reviews I have read the Plustek is actually a little bit better image wise than the Braun and just slightly higher in resolution. But it is slower and requires more work to get to the final result. Neither compares to the Supercoolscan 9000 though!

Now something new, but would be 2.5x more expensive is Nikon D850 and a copy stand / light source! It's basically a 5,500 optical scanner! Now I just read a review that the incamera conversions for negatives leaves some to be desired. But it produces very good digital copies of analog pictures!

I have a SC5000 running silverfast. Wish I had purchased a SC9000 but oh well. But I am going to give the D850 a try and compare to the SC5000 once I get some time.

Steven Lam · Oct 26, 2017

I would want a scanner with an IR channel to help remove dust off of those colour negatives (and non-Ektachrome slides). Or else it becomes a game a whack-a-mole that takes hours.

I've seen scans of the Plustek Opticfilm 120, and I've noticed it has much more colour fringing than the Braun SF120. Are there settings to get rid of that, or is it just a limitation of the Plustek optics?