Nikon 8000 refurb vs. 8000 demo vs. new 9000

[JR]

OK...I need a MF scanner. I am looking at the Nikon 8000 and the Nikon
9000. The 8000 I can get for $1400 for a new demo unit from a store
with full warranty, or $1450 for a Nikon factory refurb with a 90 day
warranty, or the new 9000 at $2000. So which one? I am leaning toward
the demo unit. In a camera store, how many times is a medium format
scanner used? And this is a low traffic camera store. It looks brand
new, comes with everything, box, manuals, warranty card, cables,
holders, etc... The new refurb is just that a Nikon factory refurb.
And the 9000 is new. I would prefer not to spend the $2k on the 9000,
but in a year you won't remember that extra $500, especially if the
scans are that good. Then I wanna know how good the 35mm scanning is as
well. Can I sell my Minolta 5400 and not miss anything? I know there
is a little less resolution, but what else?

JR

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

OK...I need a MF scanner. I am looking at the Nikon 8000 and the Nikon
9000. The 8000 I can get for $1400 for a new demo unit from a store
with full warranty, or $1450 for a Nikon factory refurb with a 90 day
warranty, or the new 9000 at $2000. So which one? I am leaning toward
the demo unit. In a camera store, how many times is a medium format
scanner used? And this is a low traffic camera store. It looks brand
new, comes with everything, box, manuals, warranty card, cables,
holders, etc... The new refurb is just that a Nikon factory refurb.
And the 9000 is new. I would prefer not to spend the $2k on the 9000,
but in a year you won't remember that extra $500, especially if the
scans are that good. Then I wanna know how good the 35mm scanning is as
well. Can I sell my Minolta 5400 and not miss anything? I know there
is a little less resolution, but what else?

Nikon LS-8000 has a well known defect in its full speed scan mode, most
likely due to mechanical resonance, that causes serious banding on
subtle gradients. This is not the same type of banding that poor
calibration produces and is quite unique to the approach Nikon adopted
in the LS-8000. Nikon's advice on this is to switch full-speed mode off
and scan only with a single line of the 3-line CCD, making scan times 3
times longer than the scanner is specified to achieve.

I have not seen any reports that this problem has been carried through
to the LS-9000 and, since Nikon clearly acknowledge it as a major design
screw-up, I would not expect it to. However, you may want to evaluate
this carefully on an LS-9000 before committing to spend the extra $500.
At that price, I would expect any proper sales outlet to either be
prepared to demonstrate that the problem has been resolved or to permit
you to return the product for a full refund if you find it has not, but
then I live in the UK, not the US. ;-)

 

[Bowzah]

Get the 9000. No reason not to unless saving a little money is simply a
must.