Microtek 120tf vs. Nikon 9000 which to choose?

Greg_E · Jan 20, 2008

I've been needing a better scanner for medium format films, and waited for the Microtek M1 reviews to trickle in, it is not what I want for 120 based sizes. So now I am looking at the more expensive options. I can't get a reliable drum scanner for under $2000 or I probably would go that way. So I am thinking about a Nikon 9000 or a Microtek/Polaroid 120TF scanner. The Microtek is about $400 cheaper than the Nikon, but does not have ICE and from what I can find only has autofocus and may not offer multiple passes. What I am interested in is of course the "best" scan for the money. Probably use a dry process to cull the rejects, then wetmount the good ones. Has anyone compared both of these scanners?

toyotadesigner · Jan 21, 2008

Has anyone compared both of these scanners?

No, but as far as I know the Microtek is no longer supported.

All I can say that I've never regretted investing into a Nikon plus a glas holder. As weird as it might sound, but despite the AN glas the scans with the holder produce razor sharp images from edge to edge - a lot sharper than the standard holder.

If you want or need a fast interface, the Nikon will be your choice - it comes with a firewire which you can connect to a PC or Mac.

Pinholemaster · Jan 21, 2008

Get the Nikon.

I have the Nikon 8000, the 9000 is a fabulous machine worthy of the price.

Greg_E · Jan 21, 2008

Microtek still sell the 120TF as far as I can see.

What is the difference between the Nikon 8000 and the 9000? Is it just the ICE? As I said I'll be running dry scans to cull the images, and probably wet scans for the good ones, so ICE has little value. Used 8000s seem to go around $1000 which is even better for my pocket, giving me the money to immediately buy a wet scanning kit and Vuescan.

I've tracked down a few comparison between the Microtek and the Nikon 8000. In most the resolution of the scans seems about the same, but there seems to be a hint more CA in the Microtek scans scans which is starting to cloud my interest.

donbga · Jan 22, 2008

Greg_E said:
Microtek still sell the 120TF as far as I can see.

What is the difference between the Nikon 8000 and the 9000? Is it just the ICE? As I said I'll be running dry scans to cull the images, and probably wet scans for the good ones, so ICE has little value. Used 8000s seem to go around $1000 which is even better for my pocket, giving me the money to immediately buy a wet scanning kit and Vuescan.

I've tracked down a few comparison between the Microtek and the Nikon 8000. In most the resolution of the scans seems about the same, but there seems to be a hint more CA in the Microtek scans scans which is starting to cloud my interest.

Greg,

Hopefully in the next week or so I will take possession of a Polaroid Sprint Scan Pro 120 which I purchased for a very good price. It's not up to the N 9000 but still for what I'm paying I think I will be very happy. I think it does have comparable performance to the 8000 and the Polaroid unit is manufactured by Microtek.

I'll be using Vuescan Pro with it since the SilverFast software costs way more than what I'm paying for the scanner. It may not be perfect but it will out perform my Epson 4990 even with the Betterscanning.com MF holder.

Now if I could just find an inexpensive drum scanner ...

Don Bryant

Greg_E · Jan 23, 2008

There is a kind of beat Scanmate5000 on ebay, but they do not know if it works. I'm trying to decide if the approximately $700 it is going to cost after crating and shipping is a good risk. I have The software and dongle to run it, but even if it works properly when it arrives, it needs a new drum! I do have an old Scanmate3000, but it was trashed to the point of much of the sheetmetal casing was bent in shipping. Oddly enough I think it may still work, but I haven't really messed with it too much passed pulling the broken lamps out, and straightening some of the metal. It too could use a drum and if it wasn't bashed it would have been a good risk for the $250 I paid.

There is also a Microtek 120tf on ebay that said it worked and then suddenly quit! If you could pick that up for a very low price, it might be useful for parts for your Polaroid. As far as I know the Polaroid and 120TF are EXACTLY the same device.

donbga · Jan 23, 2008

Greg_E said:
There is a kind of beat Scanmate5000 on ebay, but they do not know if it works. I'm trying to decide if the approximately $700 it is going to cost after crating and shipping is a good risk. I have The software and dongle to run it, but even if it works properly when it arrives, it needs a new drum! I do have an old Scanmate3000, but it was trashed to the point of much of the sheetmetal casing was bent in shipping. Oddly enough I think it may still work, but I haven't really messed with it too much passed pulling the broken lamps out, and straightening some of the metal. It too could use a drum and if it wasn't bashed it would have been a good risk for the $250 I paid.

There is also a Microtek 120tf on ebay that said it worked and then suddenly quit! If you could pick that up for a very low price, it might be useful for parts for your Polaroid. As far as I know the Polaroid and 120TF are EXACTLY the same device.

Pass on any drum scanner that isn't functional,especially for $700. Howtek 4500 and so on in good shape can fe found for $500 - $700 and Aztek still supports them.

As for the Microtek/Polaroid scanners there are plenty around in case mine every dies.

Thanks,

Don

Greg_E · Jan 23, 2008

If I could find a good working Howtek 4500 for $700 I would be set. Might even come up with the money for Aztek's DPL to go with it. Though the Howtek scanners are HUGE!

There are still a couple of places to get the Scanmates fixed, but I'm still not sure about it. I'll decide tomorrow. The Scanmate is really what I want for now because of the size, and it will probably be more than enough for the crumby images that I take. Even that beat 3000 would probably be fine if I could get it working.

donbga · Jan 23, 2008

Greg_E said:
If I could find a good working Howtek 4500 for $700 I would be set. Might even come up with the money for Aztek's DPL to go with it. Though the Howtek scanners are HUGE!

There are still a couple of places to get the Scanmates fixed, but I'm still not sure about it. I'll decide tomorrow. The Scanmate is really what I want for now because of the size, and it will probably be more than enough for the crumby images that I take. Even that beat 3000 would probably be fine if I could get it working.

A friend of mine found one recently in good condition for $400, thought the drum needed replacing. All in all he got everything running for about $1500 with 2 new drums and SIlverfast Software plus the consumables. So the deals are out there. I saw two functioning 4500s on e-bay a fews bach for about $800.

Don

Greg_E · Jan 24, 2008

Ebay is tough because it is rare that you get one from the people that actually had id working, so it is always a crap shoot and you have to be willing to throw the money away.

donbga · Jan 24, 2008

Greg_E said:
Ebay is tough because it is rare that you get one from the people that actually had id working, so it is always a crap shoot and you have to be willing to throw the money away.

Not if they guarantee that the units work and you pay with PayPal.

Don

Greg_E · Jan 25, 2008

I don't hold much faith in Paypal doing anything but taking their share. Been there, tried that, ended up with a UPS battered and bent Scanmate 3000 drum scanner. Basically they suck.

I did fire up my 3000 today, and it might actually work if I get a SCSI cable and load the software on an old Mac. So I'll probably try to order a cable this weekend and give it a try when it arrives.

Greg_E · Jan 29, 2008

Ended up buying a lightly used Nikon 8000 today, hopefully it will arrive soon.

donbga · Feb 2, 2008

Greg_E said:
Ended up buying a lightly used Nikon 8000 today, hopefully it will arrive soon.

I got the Polaroid SprintScan Pro setup last night using a fire wire connection and the scanner works beautifully. I used the glass carrier (which has the Microtek brand on it, not Polaroid). A full frame scan at 4000 spi is pretty quick. The machine looks like new. I also look forward to scanning 35 mm film. Thus far I've only scanned some 120 APX 25.

I first tried using VueScan Pro and for the life of me I can't figure out how in the hell to get VueScan to scan an entire stip of 3 6x6 frames. As a matter of fact, I could only get it to scan the first frame on the strip. On the other hand the scanner works just fine with the Polaroid software even though it isn't quite as nice as Silverfast Ai (which as I understand from reading reviews was included in the original release of the scanner).

So for $400 I snagged a pretty nice scanner!

Good luck with the 8000.

Don Bryant

sanking · Feb 2, 2008

Don Bryant said:
I got the Polaroid SprintScan Pro setup last night using a fire wire connection and the scanner works beautifully. I used the glass carrier (which has the Microtek brand on it, not Polaroid). A full frame scan at 4000 spi is pretty quick. The machine looks like new. I also look forward to scanning 35 mm film. Thus far I've only scanned some 120 APX 25.

I first tried using VueScan Pro and for the life of me I can't figure out how in the hell to get VueScan to scan an entire stip of 3 6x6 frames. As a matter of fact, I could only get it to scan the first frame on the strip. On the other hand the scanner works just fine with the Polaroid software even though it isn't quite as nice as Silverfast Ai (which as I understand from reading reviews was included in the original release of the scanner).

So for $400 I snagged a pretty nice scanner!

Good luck with the 8000.

Don Bryant

Hi Don,

Sounds like a good get!

Just curious, can you do 4X5" as well as 35mm and 120 format with this scanner?

Sandy

donbga · Feb 2, 2008

sanking said:
Hi Don,

Sounds like a good get!

Just curious, can you do 4X5" as well as 35mm and 120 format with this scanner?

Sandy

Hi Sandy,

This is the SprintScan Pro 120 model not the 4x5 unit. I wouldn't have minded getting the 4x5 model but as is I'm happy with the 120. I'll continue to use my 4990 to scan sheet film using the Betterscanning wet scanning adapter (except for 8x10.)

Someone mentioned wet scanning with the Nikon 9000. With the Microtek glass carrier for this scanner I'm not sure that would be possible, though wet scanning 35 mm probably would be, especially with unmounted single frame color slides.

Who knows perhaps there could be a method worked out to wet scan 120 film.

Don

Greg_E · Feb 3, 2008

Scan Science has a wet mount 120 kit for that scanner (assuming that it is the same scanner as the Microtek 120TF). Don't know anything about it other than he lists a kit for it.

The Sprintscan 45 only has a 2000ppi resolution for 120 and 4x5 films, so it may not be as good for your 120 stuff, though the 4x5 would have been nice. I'm still hoping that my bashed and battered Scanmate 3000 can be revived for anything that I might want to scan that is larger than 120 film. I was going to try firing it up on Friday, but the weather was so bad that work was closed (where I keep it right now). So it will have to wait until sometime this week to check and see if the lamps will even turn on, and the PMTs will function. Right now all I know is that the circuit is intact, the drum spins when I apply power, and none of the magic smoke escaped when I put power on it.

Obviously I bought the Nikon to have something that is more of a sure thing.

And I know what you're thinking... Why keep the Scanmate at work? That's where my tools are, so when it comes time to tear into it to finish the repairs, I don't have to carry tools back and forth to work each day. Though I will need to buy some sheetmetal tools to bang the case back into shape if it does indeed function well enough for me to want to do the extra work. It's been sitting there for a little over a year waiting for me to get going on it. Finally bought a SCSI cable to give it a try last week. It's also been waiting because it needs a new drum to work back at top form, so I need to really evaluate it before deciding to drop that much money to service it. I would really rather spend that kind of money on something like a Scanmate 5000 that is in better shape, but so far no luck. Even another 3000 in good working shape would be nice.

donbga · Feb 3, 2008

Don Bryant said:
I first tried using VueScan Pro and for the life of me I can't figure out how in the hell to get VueScan to scan an entire stop of 3 6x6 frames. As a matter of fact, I could only get it to scan the first frame on the strip.
Don Bryant

OK mystery solved about scanning an entire 3 frame (6x6) strip with VueScan or Polacolor Insight for that matter. The Microtek/Polaroid 120 scanner is limited to physically scanning 90 mm at a time. This restriction is either set in firmware or the screw drive of the film tray transport. Thus the largest single frame size is limited to 6x9.

Just thought I would pass this on in case others have the same question. This limitation also exists on other scanners as well such as the Minolta MF scanner. The work around for scanning frames larger than 6x9 is to rotate the film in the holder and make two scans to be stitched together. This also necessitates turning Auto Focus off and locking the exposure settings so the magnification and density/contrast of the two scans are the same for both segments to be stitched.

I assume that the Nikon 8000 and 9000 don't have this limitation.

Don

Greg_E · Feb 4, 2008

I think I may have gotten stuffed on my 8000! The guy I bought it from sent me a message that it hasn't been sent because he hasn't received it yet. He bought it from someone on ebay, and before ever even seeing the thing decided to sell it again. I'm getting a really bad feeling about this one.

donbga · Feb 4, 2008

Greg_E said:
I think I may have gotten stuffed on my 8000! The guy I bought it from sent me a message that it hasn't been sent because he hasn't received it yet. He bought it from someone on ebay, and before ever even seeing the thing decided to sell it again. I'm getting a really bad feeling about this one.

Sorry to hear that!

Don

Greg_E · Feb 5, 2008

I gave the guy until Saturday to get me what better be basically a new in box scanner. The description read that it was used for about 8 hours and was spotless.

Here is the auction (in case you want to steer clear of this guy in the future):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290202085277

Notice that there isn't one mention that this guy doesn't actually have the scanner in his hands.

donbga · Feb 5, 2008

Greg_E said:
I gave the guy until Saturday to get me what better be basically a new in box scanner. The description read that it was used for about 8 hours and was spotless.

Here is the auction (in case you want to steer clear of this guy in the future):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290202085277

Notice that there isn't one mention that this guy doesn't actually have the scanner in his hands.

Well the whole deal pretty much sucks, sorry to hear about wankers like this.

Don

Greg_E · Feb 5, 2008

He replied and said that he will do whatever it takes to get me the scanner by Saturday, we'll see what happens. If not I file a dispute and immediately escallate (sp?) to a claim with Paypal. Let's see what the $2000 worth of buyer protection gets me.

On a side note, I've been fiddling with my Scanmate 3000 drum scanner, it is looking somewhat promising right now, just wish I had a user manual for the software so I could stop stumbling around blindly. Going to try a different application tomorrow that I do have the manual for, maybe that will help me decide if it is worth the work it needs, or if it is parts. It's only 3000ppi and a small drum (maybe 8x10 but maybe only smaller) but it will have a better dmax than the Nikon 8000.

jd callow · Feb 6, 2008

Greg_E said:
I think I may have gotten stuffed on my 8000! The guy I bought it from sent me a message that it hasn't been sent because he hasn't received it yet. He bought it from someone on ebay, and before ever even seeing the thing decided to sell it again. I'm getting a really bad feeling about this one.

That take some balls.

sanking · Feb 6, 2008

jd callow said:
That take some balls.

Yeah, in Spanish we would call that jerk a real "pendejo", which literally means "hanging pubic hair" though some people believe it means "hanging balls." For more than you might want to know about the term, see below.

1.
Pendejo
pendejo is a spanish slang word for idiot,stupid or dumass.
El es un pendejo._He is a dumass.
2.
Pendejo
Pendejo is a single pubic hair. In Mexicos slang it is used as an insult like idiot or fool, but in Perus slang it used to describe a smart guy with few or no scruples.
No confies en el. Es un pendejo.
3.
pendejo
Spanish slang for "asshole"
Tu eres un pendejo Pedro! You are an asshole Pedro!
4.
Pendejo
Pendejo is spanish slang for asshole, Jerk etc.
ay mio, tu eres un pendejo._oh , you're such a jerk
5.
Pendejo
On the west side of San Antonio, Texas the conotation has more to do with being called "a fucking idiot."
Hey, stop being such a pendejo.

Microtek 120tf vs. Nikon 9000 which to choose?

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency