Rafe,
> Curious silence from
> the "other" camp.
If SS120 users came to list singing its praises every day you would smell a
rat and call for the exterminator :-)
You can only coverup a problem for so long and I've had the the SS120 longer
than most, namely April. It doesn't suffer any of the problems the Nikon
seems to suffer, i.e. banding, unstable software, poor depth of field, etc.
There are also a hell of a lot more SS120's in the field than 8000's. I
don't here much screaming for level 2 tech support and as you have already
noted they are whining here either :-)
The only problems I find with the S120 were reported to the list and other
forums long before the 8000ED even hit the streets. See
David Hemingway has also commented on these problems here and elsewhere.
Talking of company representatives I'm still trying to figure which stone
the Nikon guys hide under :-)
SS120 Problems or Disadvantages:
The SS120 the 35mm strip film holder is of poor design and needs fixed. It
is too damned fiddly. See the above linked message for my other thoughts on
film carrier problems.
You mention workarounds, well the SS120 requires one also. Medium format
camera makers can't agree the distance between frames so we end up with some
frames out of line on prescan. This happens more with 645 format than other
sizes. The workaround is set the software for 6 by 9 and overscan. Time
penalty, about 30 seconds per scan! Hint to David, with a bit of thought
this could be turned to a MAJOR advantage - full size single scan panoramas.
One of Nikons big selling points is ICE Cubed - Well given sufficient heat
ICE will melt. I don't think Polaroid have a problem beating the Nikon in
terms of hardware and overall scan quality, but the customer wants ICE and
that they can't deliver, yet. Although, stranger things have happened.
I'll keep looking for other problems, but it's getting awfully difficult :-)
A few Pluses:
The SS120 produces superior 35mm scans to the SS4000 and wipes the floor
with the 4000ED. If the 8000 scans anything like the 4000ED then I'm real
sorry for you Nikon users. The SS120 comes mighty close to Imacon quality
when scanning anything up to 6 by 9, but the Imacon costs 4 or 5 times the
price.
Shadow detail is excellent. Scans are very neutral right off. Noise levels
are very low and multisample scans aren't necessary.
Insight 5 (and I don't like it) allows the user to scan, edit and
export/save images in high Bit mode. Does NikonScan 3 allow this?
Ian Lyons
PS: I think the silence has just been broken, or maybe as a VERY satisfied
SS120 user I just needed to crow and let you Nikon users know that the grass
IS greener on the other side of the fence and judging by some of ex Nikon
8000 users on the list; the ICE has already began to melt <lol>
