mikelins

Hello everyone. I've been looking at purchasing an old Nikon Coolscan for awhile now, but need some advice. Forgive me if I use terminology wrong as I'm still learning. I'd love to have a 9000, but it's a little out of my price range, so I'd like to get an old V or 5000. I've got a collection of old slides (roughly 100), and lots of old family 35mm negatives I'd like to digitize. I'm not looking to make a business out of scanning negatives and slides for people, so I'm leaning towards getting the V since they're so much cheaper, but I'm concerned about a few things:

1. 14 BIT vs 18 BIT: I read there's very little perceptible difference between the two, but if I'm scanning under/overexposed or faded slides and negatives, I need all help I can get. Many of the old Ektachromes and older 35mm color negatives have badly faded and it's a

"Scan it now or lose it," kind of situation, I feel. Would I benefit much by getting the 18, instead of the 14-bit A/D?

2. MULTIPASS scanning: Also, the 5000 has multipass scanning. I've read it has a 2-line CCD versus the V's 1-line CCD. I know software like Vuescan and Silverfast have a multipass feature for the V but I'm concerned about loss of detail from their method...I think some call it registration issues? Wouldn't the 5000 give better results, in that respect, than Vuescan or Silverfast's multi-scan method or does it really make a noticeable difference?

3. Also, the V is a prosumer model and a 5000 is considered a more professional model, so the 5000 is more likely to increase of value with time, or has their demand diminished in recent years?

Thanks!