Re: "I think they should produce one more batch of Coolscan V's"
From about 1998, Nikon made each scanner in two versions, a "Consumer"
version and a "Professional" version.
LS-30 (Consumer) / LS-2000 (Pro)
LS-40 / LS-4000
LS-50 / LS-5000
[The LS-30/40/50 were also known as the Coolscan III, IV and V]
It was mostly smoke and mirrors, however. The LS-30 and LS-2000 are
IDENTICAL except for the main PC Board, and it is widely believed
(although not absolutely verified) that ONLY difference was ... the
firmware. Regarldless, the LS-2000 was priced more than A THOUSAND
DOLLARS higher than the LS-30 .... and either had the EXACT same
manufacturing cost, or, AT MOST, a manufacturing cost that differed by
only $5 to $20.
I think that the decision to discontinue the LS-50 (Coolscan V) was
simply a decision to stop playing these games, and offer only the
LS-5000.
Toni said:
I have been looking at VueScan, thanks to a suggestion from Tom
Nikkanen and it looks great, even their implementation of ICE which Ed
Hamrick, the author, calls Filter|Infrared Clean in his program. He
claims it does a better job. I've look at their PDF manual and, if I
were Mr. Nikon, I'd try to hire this guy pronto. I've been using the
Super CoolScan 5000 for about four years under XP and am very familiar
with the Nikon interface.
I find it unfortunate Nikon doesn't seem to consider hiring anyone to do
anything about their scanner software anymore... they've all but stopped
making scanners and used Coolscans now go for even double the price
of a new one last year! Insanity, I say.
I think they should produce one more batch of Coolscan V's and 9000's
and sell them for a higher price than they used to. They'd sell,
since the
used ones are selling for such ridiculous high prices. And if they think
it's too much bother to write support for Windows 7 64-bit, OS X 10.6
and so on, well, just bundle Vuescan or Silverfast, I'd be happy or at
least happier than with any flatbed out there.