Nikon Super CoolScan 9000 ED Film Scanner

My product is actually the Coolscan 8000, the predecessor to the 9000. They are almost identical.

I would like to provide solutions for some of the people who have commented negatively about this scanner. First don't even consider using the Nikon software. Simply download VueScan from Hamrick software instead. When considering the cost of this scanner the less than $100 price of VueScan is a pittance to pay for a perfect software that not only masters this scanner but also includes drivers for 1200 other scanners. VueScan is superior to all of the software that comes boxed with scanners. Only one software to learn to become the master of 1200 scanners.

What is more VueScan is available for ALL versions of Windows, MAC-OSX, and Redhat and Ubuntu Linux. I am presently using my scanner with an older Toshiba laptop running Linux. The installation was truly plug and play. Install VueScan, plug in the scanner and begin scanning.

The scanner does run slowly and does make a bit of noise during operation. However, one need only load a batch of film and then walk away until it is finished. I don't find the work flow to be a problem. I can understand that if one has tens of thousands of films and wants them completed immediately that speed is an issue.

My guess is that Nikon are not developing this product any further because the market for film scanners must now be minuscule since digital photography has become a mainstay. If you have a reasonable number of frames to scan over time then this is the scanner to buy, almost regardless of your operating system. Just plan to buy Vuescan for under $100 as well and you will be happy.

Nikon does offer complete servicing for this product but it must be sent to their East Coast facility. They are cordial, communicative, and the repairs are competent.

Its amazing to me that this model, the 5000ED and the 9000ED can maintain their outrageously high price for so long!

I created two attributes and gave them both 1 star:

1) Valued Technology = *

If the film scanning technology was so valuable, Nikon would be replacing and upgading the electronics every 2 or 3 yrs at the most.

This is a extremely OLD electronic product! Its market introduction date was Novemeber 2003 - 6 years ago! Or about 3.5-4 released generations of other electronic products ago, including cameras.

The Super Cool Scan 9000 ED came out in the Spring of 2004.. more than 5.5 yrs ago
The 9000ED uses firewire, which is stupid since USB 2.0 is slightly faster than firewire.
But as I said they built these products a very very very very long time ago. At that time firewire still meant something and USB 2.0 was just started. Hence their firewire port.

USB 3.0 is nearly out.

2) Customer Support = *

Forget about it, its not supported very well
The support for these film scanners is arguably the worst ever recorded for tech support in general
Reviews abound in the internet, if you're lucky you will not need customer service

3) Price Stability = *****

Like I said its amazing that these Nikon Film Scanners can maintain their pricing over the years!
These electronic products are nearly 6 years old!!! NO other electronic product comes close to maintaining their price.

In fact, their price stability reminds of of the price stability in the Lenses made by Nikon and Canon. But most of those Lenses can hardly be called an electronic product - they're lenses.


Summary:

I hate these scanners, because Nikon does not feel there is a need for them. I want a faster scanner, this is OLD technology! I want ability to scan more film at the same time as well.

So I want speed and capacity!

If you have tens of thousands of film strips to scan like I do, and you want high quality scans, IT WILL TAKE FOREVER TO SCAN THESE!

THE TECHNOLOGY IN THESE BOXES IS OLD - VERY OLD. We are talking 6 years people and anf that is only from the market introduction date. So actually most of the technology in these boxes is about 7-8 yrs old. It uses a very old and very slow single processor, a version that is even older than when the first USB 2.0 cam out!

If you go buy a laptop, a television, or a printer, or even a camera, Im sure you want something that is using new technology! Anyone want to go out and buy a 6 year old printer? NO ME !

This item will not work with 64-bit Vista. I had bought a new PC specifically for scanning and enhancing a large number of transparencies and was a very unhappy camper when I found out that I had to keep my old machine just to use with this scanner. If Nikon is not willing to keep the drivers up to date, the product should be considered to be abandoned.

Incidentally the old 32-bit drivers aren't that hot either. Firewire is supposed to be plug and play, but Nikon warns that this scanner isn't, and may conflict if you have another Firewire device installed. I found another issue - if I turn off the scanner before I shut down Windows, Windows hangs on shut-down.

One final bug - if I use the hardware eject button on the front of the machine rather than ejecting through software it reports that I have an unrecognized carrier type when I re-insert it. It's a pity that decent hardware is ruined by sloppy software/firmware.

I was astonished at what this scanner could do, in terms of preserving the gentle tones of my black and white negatives. My only regret is that there is no equivalent to Digital ICE for black and white. That problem is not unique to this scanner, of course.

The quality of the images I get from this scanner, with 6cm x 6cm negatives from a 1970-vintage twin lens camera, trounces the images I get with a Canon 5D SLR. I also have used it with 35MM negatives and Kodachrome slides, which work beautifully, and with both 4.5cm x 4.5cm negatives and 110 negatives, which require that I jury-rig a special mask for the glass-covered medium format carriage (FH-869GR, not included).

The 9000ED comes with a 35MM carriage, 35MM slide carriage, and basic MF carriage. For the price, I would have preferred if they had included the glass-covered, rotating 120 unit as well.

[2009 note: there is a bug in the NikonScan software that drives this scanner such that with recent versions of Mac OSX -- starting with 10.5.6 I believe -- the software won't recognize the scanner if there are other firewire devices attached at the time the software is launched. The other devices can be plugged back in after the software is running, but they have to be unplugged when it starts. Vuescan, a popular third party software package that works with this scanner, does not have the same problem. I prefer NikonScan despite this quirk, but opinions vary.]

The device has worked exactly as I had hoped allowing me to archieve hundreds of old negatives that would have been lost or cost much more than what I paid for it. I am very pleased.