Why buy the Nikon 5000 ED Scanner over the Nikon V ED ?

[rayn]

I'm looking to buy a new scanner for 35mm film. I can get the Nikon V ED fro $549 or the

Nikon 5000 ED for $999. I'm wondering if the Nikon 5000 is worth the extra $450. I

know it is faster (20 seconds vs. 38 seconds) and is 16 bit (the V is 14 bit). The resolution

is the same (4000 dpi). Will I really notice a difference between 14 and 16 bit?

 

I'll mostly be scanning Velvia slides and NPZ negs. I'll be scanning on a maxed 20" iMac

(can't afford a G5 right now).

 

Any comments or suggestions appreciated. I'm getting back into photography after a 2

year absence. Things have changed!

[jack paradise]

The Nikon 5000 is geared toward the professionnal or advanced amateur. It has true 16 bits, a roll film adapter, digs a little deeper in the shadows, has faster scanning times and multisampling.

 

There has to be a reason for the price difference, even though build quality is the same!

[grant_.]

i looked at both and couldnt see any real advantage to one over the other.....thats why i went with the minolta 5400 :D

[lskalstad]

Honestly, I did wrestle between the two before I choose the V-ED, Why, Primarly because with the low noise factor typical of the Coolscan, I did not miss the multipass scan feature, Secondly, Since I output on a Fuji Frontier 370 which utilizes the 8 bit sRGB format, I do not need the 16 bit A/D converter.

[majid]

The batch slide feeder and strip film feeder only work with the 5000. If you need to scan a lot, you will have to get the more expensive model. I have the IVED, and am thinking of upgrading to the 5000 with strip film adapter (I develop B&W myself and have color slides unmounted), because scanning by strips of 5 is simply too slow.

[rayn]

Is multisampling how the 5000 gets a higher dMax? What does multisampling do?

 

Thanks.

[victor_moss]

Multisamplign reduces noise in the darker part of the original (shadows in slides and highlights in negatives). If you care how read on.

 

Light from scanner passes through film and is registered on the CCDs. Whenever the film surface is dense there is less light penetrating through (duh) and the CCD ends up 'guessing' the RGB value based on the attenuated signal it receives (these algorithms for guessing are complex and is variously known as 'filters'). If it guesses wrong we perceive it as noise. Multisampling repeats this procedure for every pixel it scans with the hope that multiple guesses (samples) will lead closer to the actual value. Complementarily, higher DMax implies that this guessing game has to be conducted only when the density is higher.

[frank_patton]

I have read many messages here comparing these two scanners. I have read everywhere that the 5000 ED scans in 20 someodd seconds, while the V scans in just under twice that time. OF COURSE both times are for automatic with every enhancement turned off (ICE, Grain, etc).

 

Can anyone tell me how the times compare with any or all of those features activated? Are we talking the same time interval difference? i.e (30 sec difference) 3:15 (min/sec) versus 3:45; or is the time difference a constant factor, like 1.8x? i.e 3:15 (min/sec)versus 5:50?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

I am doing my final analysis before purchasing and the time is a major factor. I just don't want to shell out the extra $500 for the 5000 only to find out that it realisticly saves less time than the specs make it appear.

 

 

Frank P