Nikon 9000, where to buy?

Anyone here know of a store that has one of these in stock? These things are harder to find than a new D3.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mark

There are always a couple in ebay stores.

Also Keh has a Nikon 8000 with film holders for $1200.00 which is about the going rate.

Greg_E said:

There are always a couple in ebay stores.

Also Keh has a Nikon 8000 with film holders for $1200.00 which is about the going rate.

Click to expand...

Thanks Greg. I've been looking at eBay for two solid weeks and haven't seen any listed except one I bid upon today. It was used and sold for $2099.00 Maybe the 8000 at keh is a good idea.

If you see anything else please let me know.

Mark

You are right, I guess the last of the new ones in the ebay stores went while I wasn't looking. There are 3 8000s listed right now, but I have not read the descriptions to know if they are good deals. You could see how long it will take B&H to get one for you, I have a feeling that they don't really stock them anymore. They can probably get you one in about 2-3 weeks unless Nikon is really out of them. You could also try the Nikon "where to buy" and see if any of the nearby Nikon dealers can get you one:
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?goingto=wb_search2&cmbCategory=1&cmbGroup=98&productNr=9237

Assuming that it really works when it arrives, this was a good deal:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200199327692

Several others I had on my list went for higher prices with far fewer film holders which is why I said that around $1200 is the going rate. From what I have read as long as you use the superfine mode with the 8000 it scans as nicely as the 9000 unless you are using ICE. The 9000 has a newer version of ICE so it does a better job. I didn't care about ICE because anything that is worth that level of scanning is going to be wetmounted.

I'm going to call local dealers tomorrow to check the supply situation. There are several places within driving distance of Cincinnati so should I find one I'll just pick it up.

My only concern about a used 9000 or 8000 would be to make sure to get the Nikon supplied firewire card with the unit. I've read posts that Nikon developed these scanners to use a NEC chipset and cards that are based on other chipsets simply will not work.

Hope your scanner works as advertised.

Mark

I have not read anything about firewire problems yet. And in all the years that I've used firewire (almost 10 now), I can't remember ever having a NEC based card. Most have been TI based. Since they work fine with Macintosh onboard firewire, that would say that the chip Macs use is fine (a french manufacturer), and believe it or not the best (most comaptible) firewire card I have is based on a VIA chip, it works with everything including devices that do not like the TI chips. It's also PCMCIA for my laptop.

I'm not too worried about the firewire card, it really should work fine with just about everything. Problems between the cards should have been fixed a few years ago. If mine comes with the card, I may be able to get rid of it as I really don't think I'll be needing it.

Here is one post from the Nikon FAQ:
Dead Link Removed
from this post:
http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00950o
Don't bother with the link in that thread to another photonet thread, if it took the guy an hour to install a firewire card, then this is not a person that you want to take advice from. Installing a firewire card in a windows 2000, xp, vista, or any macintosh should be a 20 minute job (at most), and that's if you take 10 minutes to locate a screwdriver. There are no drivers to install from disk, just plug it in and go. I'll try mine with as many different cards as I can when it arrives, but again I doubt I'll have issues with the TI cards that I have at work (made by Adaptec), and I'm almost certain that the VIA card for my laptop will be just fine as it has already connected to one 8000 that I had to return for non-functional reason (door switch was broken and the scanner otherwise mashed in shipping, see one of my threads for details on that mess).


I'm willing to bet that problems with the TI chips come from the 1394 network that also installs with some firewire cards (on windows only???). It causes a conflict with the card that stops most devices from working. Disabling the 1394 network generally solves the issues. Again, firewire card problems are low on my list of concerns. Infact I had not read of any issues until you brought it up, so now I feel I need to test it. Don't be put off by lack of a card with the machine, now you know it was a Ratoc so you can buy one if need be.

Reading a few more posts, it is always a Windows box with the TI card, though a few people reported fixing the problems with an Adaptec card (still a TI chip). I'm more convinced that it is the 1394 network adapter that goes along with the OHCI adapter that is getting in the way. It's the first thing I disable when I put in a firewire card on a Windows machine.

Greg,

Here's the post I was referring to:

http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=198&topic_id=3870&mesg_id=3870&page=

And the text in case you're not a nikonians.org member,

"Super Coolscan 9000 ED - Technical Bulletin"

Nikonians,

I purchased a Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 ED scanner from ePhotocraft.com.

I started doing a large series of batch scans. During the scans I started having a problem with the scanner. It would scan maybe two out of five of the slides, give me a scan error, and then report that the scanner was not powered up. I had to reset the scanner to get the slides out of it, and get it working again.

I called Nikon USA tech support to discuss this issue. And an individual named Harold helped me. He had me run a test on the scanner by powering down my computer and the scanner. I then turned the scanner back on and noted what it was doing. The normal startup procedure is for the scanner to blink "once per second" for a couple of minutes while it performs an internal system test. If you look in the little door, you will see the LEDs changing colors as it cycles through the test.

My scanner passed the self-test by completing the cycle without changing the blink rate from once per second. At the end of the internal test, the light goes solid green, and it is ready to scan.

So, since my scanner passed its own self-test, the Nikon technician asked me about the firewire card installed on my computer. He said, "Did you use the firewire card supplied with the scanner?" I had not done so, but instead had used the current firewire card in my computer. He asked me what chipset the firewire card uses, and I reported that it was a Texas Instruments (TI) chipset.

At this point he said..."most likely that is your problem." He said that they were having difficulty with TI chipset Firewire cards, and so had decided to supply a firewire card with the scanner to keep from having the very problem I was experiencing. Evidently, the scanner was developed and tested using an NEC Chipset firewire card.

So....if you buy a Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 ED scanner (LS-9000), USE THE FIREWIRE CARD SUPPLIED WITH THE SCANNER!

At the very least, make sure that your firewire card does not have a TI Chipset.

The Nikon supplied card has two external firewire ports and one internal port. If you need more expansion, you'll need to buy a firewire hub for your other firewire devices. Nikon did NOT recommend running the scanner from a hub, so use a direct port for your scanner. It probably won't damage the scanner, but may have communications problems, resulting in scanning errors like mine.

For those that need it, Nikon's USA Technical Support Number is:

1-800-NIKON-UX, or 1-800-645-6689.

End of Bulletin...

However sounds like you have a good handle on the situation. For myself, if I have a choice, I'll get one with the card.

Mark

Saw that one. I have to say that as popular as this scanner is, if it was more widespread I think there would be more posts about this. I only found a few before google started using parts of my phrase for results.

And if you are using a Mac, there don't seem to be any problems with the onboard firewire (Agere chips).

After reading a few more posts it does look like a non-issue. Lots of work arounds. Thanks for the links.

Hope you get your scanner soon. I'll get mine as soon as I find a new one available or a reputable supplier tells me they can get one in a few days.