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I have a 500CM Hasselblad medium format film camera that I shoot with Kodak Ektachrome color transparency slide film. It seems to me that the best medium format slide scanner around is the Nikon Super CoolScan 9000 ED, which has been out for a very long time. Does anyone know of a newer\better medium format scanner in a reasonable price range? I am not interested in a drum scanner.

Thank you.

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2 Answers 2

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Welcome Tim, Yes, the Super CoolScan 9000 ED is the best medium format scanner out there w/in reason, I owned one 2 years ago for my 500CM Hasselblad shooting and it was awesome (I since gave up MF for a Leica and changed to a CoolScan 5000 ED). If you're looking to improve your scanning, and you haven't tried it already, get the fluid mount carrier for the Coolscan 9000.

The only reason I'd consider switching up to an Imicon is for 4x5 shooting, and even then the price delta is so great that I just bought a Epson V750 Pro instead (works great!) and would rent the Imacon for a day if I desired it.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I tried the Epson V750 Pro, but I just don't like the user interface and I do not get the same results as the Nikon Super CoolScan 9000 ED. Thanks for your answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Timothy Burak
    Commented Feb 13, 2011 at 1:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ Oh yea certainly not as good as the 9000ED for 35mm or MF film, its only something to consider when doing 4x5 or 8x10 (the two reasons I got it). \$\endgroup\$
    – Shizam
    Commented Feb 13, 2011 at 19:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ The actual resolution of the V750 is quite bad with only 2300 dpi (effective)... filmscanner.info/en/EpsonPerfectionV750Pro.html \$\endgroup\$
    – FarO
    Commented Apr 12, 2018 at 16:17
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"Out for a long time" pretty much describes the whole field these days. Hasselblad took over the Imacon line (the Flextite series), which is pretty much the only desktop dedicated medium format scanner with any ongoing development. At $13-20K+, though, it's only "in a reasonable price range" for a very small segment of the market -- it's reasonable if it pays for itself; not so much if you are paying for the privilege.

Konica has gone out of the business altogether, as has Polaroid. Kodak will gladly sell you something that you can (and must) build a business around. Epson and Canon are down to clamshell flatbeds (which may be perfectly adequate, if not quite as handy to use as a slot-loading film scanner). All of these had very good dedicated film scanners in the old days, but the preponderance of digital cameras (including medium format) in the industry has made it tough to commit to film scanning.

The few people who still need but don't yet have a 4K or better scanner for anything other than, say, an attic full of 35mm vacation slides or a closetful of 35mm negs are a vanishing breed. There just aren't that many people lining up to pay for something to scan their old Brownie 620 negs at high resolution -- and that's the crowd you'd need to keep a low-cost medium format film scanner afloat.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I didn't know about the Imacon Flextite, but it is out of my range. Thanks for your answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Timothy Burak
    Commented Feb 13, 2011 at 2:01

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