xavier_roch

<p><strong>Apparent State of 5000ED availability:</strong></p>

<ul>

<li>Nikon sites still show it on some active product pages.</li>

<li>BUT Nikon "archive" pages show it as an "old product".</li>

<li>Nikon USA dealer reps say: Discontinued in in Aug-2009.</li>

<li>Nikon Canada dealer reps say: Discontinued in Jan-2010.</li>

</ul>

<p><strong>Her is what I found:</strong></p>

<ul>

<li>After scouring the Internet and the deepest bowels of the Nikon support sites, it does, indeed, appear that the Super Coolscan 5000ED has been discontinued. A deep level miscellaneous support page lists the 5000ED in an "archive" product section for discontinued models. </li>

<li>There is also a year-old support page that mentions that Nikon Scan software is being tested for Windows 7 compatibility for future release and elsewhere alludes that there will be no further software revisions. That's a year old and there has been no software update in all that time that works under Windows 7, especially 64bit, without the Scanner.inf mods conitributed to this forum here by "Steel Chn". Thanks again, Steel. I am happily using Nikon Scan 4.0.3 under Widows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on a standalone basis as well as from within Photoshop CS4 (32bit). Windows 64bit doesn't support TWAIN so you can't use it from within Photoshop CS4 64bit.</li>

<li>Nikon retailers in the US have also variously stopped selling the 5000ED 6-9 months ago. </li>

<li>Wanting to buy one this spring, being disappointed by this info, and seeing used units for $2,000+ on eBay, I scoured North America for remainng new stock. I found 2 dealers in Canada that showed it as available but backordered. Having confirmed by phone, I placed an order 3 weeks ago with each for $1300-1400 CDN (close to par with US right now). <br /><br />Two weeks later I received what may have been one of the very last 5000ED's in North America from one of those two suppliers. I say that because the day after I received the unit, I attempted to order a few more for friends and colleagues. Both sites no longer listed the unit and phone calls confirmed that they were told by Nikon that would not be receiving any more units. So, it appears that both NikonUSA and Nikon Canada have no more units no more will be available. </li>

</ul>

<p><strong>Conclusions:</strong><br>

It is discontinued and Nikon is just as bad as other OEM's with web page updates and communication with their customers.<br>

One retailer conjectured that Nikon introduces new products at the Spring time PMA show and there is a tiny chance that if there is any newer product it would be announced there in a few months. This seems unlikely because Nikon's tradition has been to announce replacement products while the previuous model is still available. The only chance I see for this to happen is if they do, indeed, have a newer product to replace the 5000ED but made too conservative a sales projection for the 5000ED and ran out of stock before announcing a replacement model in the coming months.<br>

<strong>Some related facts:</strong></p>

<ul>

<li>Around 2003, Kodak film sales dropped 94% - the year of digital cameras </li>

<li>Nikon now makes most profit from all their many digital cameras.</li>

<li>Volume of 5000ED's was miniscule compared to digital camera sales.</li>

<li>If they raised the price it would equal the 9000ED (still available for now)</li>

</ul>

<p>So, if it is discontinued, I am feeling like a lottery winner having snagged one of the last new 5000ED's in North America. I seldom have such good fortune! The unit is behaving like champ. I am extremely impressed with its capabilities. As other OEM's have left this space, there are no longer any peers in its price class and the lesser alternative like the otherwise very capable Epson Perfection 750 Pro doesn't come close at 35mm. Being so low cost, I may still get the Epson 750 Pro just for larger formats like 6x6, 6x7, 4x5 and 8x10 media. Where was all this cool stuuf when I could more easily justify it for my business way back when. Cheers. </p>

<ol>

<li>Ignore the last line of my last response. It was edit garbage.</li>

<li>Steel? I noticed several other beneficial addendums to your famous scanners.inf customization that add 64bit support of some scanners that were not already in the 64bit section (and 1394?). I think it would be very beneficial to the world if you or someone else who is more familiar with the details than I am if they could update scanners.inf to include all those changes noted in this forum thus far so it works with all Nikon scanners. I am a newbie here and only have the 5000ED under Windows 7x64 via USB. Since Nikon is not producing any new models, it would be a logical and final step to take.</li>

<li>Thanks again to you and everyone else here. After happily and madly testing my 5000ED under Windows 7 for 2 days of near-continuous use, it has not hiccupped once (knock on wood) and the scans are beyond epectations!</li>

<li>Ps. I am finding that the 5000-ED is quiet LOUD (like an MRI machine) when doing an initial (or redraw) preview scan. But, both pleasantly and unexpectedly, it is VERY quiet and FAST doing a final 16x multi-sample 4k dpi scan! Just a few minutes! I wondered if others found that. </li>

</ol>

<p>I, too, want to thank you for your work. After 1 failed attempt due to some confusion reading the almost too much help extra information and comments, I got my new Coolscan 5000ED to load and run with Nikon Scan 4.0.3 under Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate without a single hiccup thus far.<br>

My initial confusion and failure was caused by seeing so much discussion about using VueScan drivers when none are needed at all - except for your modified scanners.inf file which you say came from the VueScan install. I also did not yet see unilt later the additional addiitonal changes to the scanner.inf regarding the LS-5000 for 64-bit.<br>

Since I used Acronis Try Mode, I was able to reset my CPU back to before the 1st attempt. For those who also might be confused by all the many comments, here is what I did for my Coolscan 5000 with Nikon 4.0.3 under Windows 7 64-bit.</p>

<ol>

<li>Turned off scanner.</li>

<li>Did complete normal install of Nikon Scan 4.0.03</li>

<li>Reboot computer.</li>

<li>Created folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Nikon\Driver\ScanFudge". The folder location is not important but my location nicely sits next to the two standard driver folders already there.</li>

<li>Copied and saved Steel's fantastic "scanners.inf" file to that folder.</li>

<li>Edited Steel's INF file to copy the "LS-5000" line in [Models] section to the [Models.ntamd64] section for 64-bit operation.</li>

<li>Copied the Nikon driver file (NKScnUSD.dll) from the adjacent ScanUSB folder. There is also an identical copy of the same driver file in the Scan1394. I verified that with a boinary compare so it doesn't matter which one you copy.</li>

<li>Turned on scanner.</li>

<li>Windows 7 complained about not finding a driver. Canceled that error dialog.</li>

<li>Opened Device Manager</li>

<li>Right clicked the LS-5000 devices now shown as uninstalled under devices.</li>

<li>Requested to browse for driver.</li>

<li>Pointed to my new folder.</li>

<li>Voila! Windows happily installed the new driver.</li>

<li>Started Nikon Scan and away I wernt. Now very happy!</li>

</ol>

<p>Thanks, Steel. I am a happy camper.</p>

<p>I then moidified the scanners.inf file, as several explained, to coadd the LS-, everything,</p>