Where have all the scanners gone?

[ronald_moravec1]

Everone seem to be out of 35mm scanners except cheapos. Good quality flat

beds seem to be out of stock and back ordered also.

 

I am thinking the high sales of digi cams told manufactures film/scaning is

on the way out or some critical component common to all is unavailable.

[photomark]

Indeed, it seems like B&H and Calumet has been out of stock of the Nikon 9000 and many of

its accesories for quite some time.

[bobatkins]

I think it's a shrinking market. Production is probably limited and retailers probably don't want to get stuck with them sitting on the shelf so they don't order a lot at one time.

 

This certainly applies to 35mm film scanners. Not sure about flatbeds.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Probably alot of folks who thought that film scanning was quick had actual lives; dates; had to cut the lawn and do laundry. Maybe other quicker pastimes like watching paint dry; watching golf; etc were more exciting. MANY folks I know really didnt believe that scanning takes time; and stopped using them alot after the time sinkhole of scanning "sunk in". Many scanners never had shoe box auto loaders that took disc, 110, 620/120 or aps. I know some folks who thought that they could scan a 36exp roll of c41 at 4000dpi in just a few minutes. Film scanner production will wane and the selection of models will drop as sales volume is contracting.

[douglas_vitello]

This does not make any sense, everyone who sells them is backordered and as soon as one appears it is sold.It seems like a lot of people are still scanning a lot of 35 mm film otherwise these things would be available everywhere new and used,especially the Nikon units.The profit margin must be very low and few accessories are needed after the initial sale, unlike the purchase of a new digital SLR.The big players did the same thing to the prosumer digicam market,too.

[jtk]

For me scanning is like darkroom work once was: You didn't print every frame, you were very selective. Same with scanning.

 

I was always thrilled to get a few fine shots per roll (except when shooting for $$ and delivering chromes)... that was the mantra propounded by the best (Pete Turner et al).

 

Happily, I have a V. It's almost perfect ... I can't imagine Nikon wanting to put any effort into taking it from 90% to 95%, considering that with a good inkjet printer it's already much better than an enlarger in virtually every respect.

[douglas_vitello]

Les,

I,like a lot of budget conscious consumers have not bought anything local in twenty years because of sales tax and mark up of local retail outlets (especially malls).Ever buy pro slide film local vers the net?The affordable outlets are on the net and they are sold out.

[nigel d]

What do you suppose is better for Nikon; giving up on scanners before everyone who wants one has one, or ending production before the market is saturated? Before you answer, think about the margin that Nikon makes on them (it is probably a higher margin than a DSLR).

 

Also, think about the manufacturing methods. Just like cameras, these probably aren't falling off an assembly line at a rate of one per minute. They are probably produced in batches of a few thousand at time.

 

Then think about shipping time. They need a container full of goods, need to schedule a ship get customes completed etc.

 

From the time that the Nikon warehouse is empty to the time it gets refilled could be a couple of months or more.

 

Then think about the people that are panicing that scanners are no longer available and will buy any that are available...

[travis_johnson2]

I looked everywhere in Chicago for a Coolscan 5000. None of the chain or local camera shops had one, nor could they predict when they would get one in. Most of the websites on the internet that *claimed* to have them were lying or wrong (e.g. RitzCamera via Amazon does not in fact have any in stock). I finally found a new imported version (new, but no manufacturer's warranty), and spent the difference on the imported vs usa version for a 3yr mack warranty.

 

You could also check ebay for new or nearly new scanners. Last time I checked there were a fair number, most from people with good ebay scores.

[Brad_]

<I>Where have all the scanners gone?</I><P>

 

Gone to graveyards every one. When will they ever learn?

[mendel_leisk]

That's eerie, I just started singing that.

[ilkka_nissila]

The LS-9000 has always been frequently in and out of stock for the whole time it has been in production. Nothing new here.

 

Flatbed for 35mm scanning? Absurd thought.

[gwebster]

Ronald - see my <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00JfrT&tag=">response</a> to Eddie's post.

[pikabike]

When I was looking to buy, only one store had one Epson R2400 printer in the Denver

area. Nobody stocked the Nikon Super Coolscan 5000.

 

But neither one is dead. They aren't impulse items, they require patience and study to use

to their potential, and they require that you have taken some decent photos in the first

place. No instant gratification with either product! That alone puts them into the category

of items that don't fill store shelves. Plus their boxes are BIG (take up lots of shelf space

for relatively few potential customers).

 

So plan ahead and order from B&H or whatever. Calumet sold me mine (yes, it was

backordered, but only by about 2 weeks).

 

Cheap digital cameras have very short product lives. They're sold all over the place but

they "go away" soon. Like insects: prolific and quickly expendible.

[douglas_vitello]

Les,

Paid $1030US total with shipping (next day)and insurance for a new Nikon 5000ED(KEH).It was the last one they had in stock and the 9000ED they had sold within a hour of my unit,also.Local stores were (with tax) over $1150 and on backorder.Very similar situation when I bought my Canon F1N's (special order) and and lenses many years ago.Local stores did not even bother to stock them because "program" A1's were the hot seller.

[david_henderson]

I imagine these things are made in batches a couple of times a year rather than continuously. So made to a sales forecast and if that's exceeded, well there's zero flexibility to make any more before the next scheduled run. So if the forecast is inaccurate there's no free stock.

 

Of course the forecast will probably be downwards since the no. of photographers using film is reducing, the proportion of those needing a film scanner who have one already will be going up, and the capability of flatbeds has improved.

 

However it seems to me as if the interest in film scanners, certainly as measured by threads on here, is increasing. So maybe, against all the odds, demand is for the moment going up.

 

I didn't have difficulty finding a 9000 in the UK to buy before Christmas, nor a glass holder. But then I paid nearly twice as much as you would in the US. So maybe its also possible that Nikon, recognising a shortage, are putting their available stocks into markets where they can get more for them!

[anthony_r]

Check the used market? i was fortunate enough to get a 9000 a year or two ago. It paid for

itself in the first few months. I can't imagine there is nothing available anywhere or that there

isn't a waiting list you could get on.

[don_e]

"I didn't have difficulty finding a 9000 in the UK to buy before Christmas..."

 

Lots of complaints in various discussions about this or that bit of photo gear being unavailable. I don't think this is unusual in January.

 

January follows directly on the Great Shopping Season.

It is the beginning of a new year.

It is the nadir of the Shopping Cycle.

It is Inventory Taking Time.

 

If you can't find the scanner, camera, lens, printer in March, I'd worry, but not in January.

[doug_nelson3]

Why is it so inconceivable that marketing types could be wrong, or blowing off a potentially viable market? Film shooters, in the US, Japan and Europe, will be around for 30 or more years.

Part of the problem is a failure to market scanners to affluent, or, in my case, eccentric older folks, who would love to scan their years of work for future generations. How many new customers could be picked up with informative ads in Shutterbug, PopPhoto, AARP mags, Sunset and Southern Living? I've bought four new film scanners, the HP S20 a dud, and the Nikon LS2000 I wore out. The Canon 4000 and Epson V700 are in use.

[don_e]

And there is nothing inconceivable about photographers not desiring to scan their film. I have no such desire. Yet, I have CDs made in case something in the way of web business creates a use for any of them.

 

I rarely shoot chrome films, only print; I might have a different attitude if I did.

[j_sevigny]

I really like shooting Tri-X so it will be really sad if film scanners actually bite the dust before film does. Nothing looks like Tri-X, to state the obvious, and I've managed to make good scans from it despite reported difficulty.

 

That said, last night I shot with my d70 instead of film slr and it really is nice not to have to f??? with a scanner for hours to see what I shot.

[mhahn]

I've started thinking about buying a scanner again lately. I've been using a multifunction HP office scanner (mostly to scan 4x6's) and the results are suprisingly good (although I have not used any other scanner for comparison). (Would a good photo-oriented flatbed scanner likely do a much better job? Sometimes light-colored areas of a photo come out with a yellowish cast that I have a devil of a time correcting in Photoshop.)

 

So I have both prints (and of course negatives) to scan.

 

Recent reviews in Shutterbug are very complimentary of two flatbed scanners: the Microtek i800 and the Epson 750. The reviews say they do a pretty good job scanning negatives--pretty close to the scan quality from a dedicated negative scanner. Also, that the scanning software with these flatbeds is much better than the software that the Nikon film scanners have. Would anyone agree or disagree with this?

 

It certainly would be nice to have one scanner that does a good job at both negatives and prints, but I wonder if that's possible.