2012-07-04T21:00:00
Rated 2 out of 5
Poor design for expensive scanner
I bought a second Nikon FH-835S 35 mm film holder as a backup in case efforts to add a glass member damages the holder.
Both the glassless 35 mm and 120 film size holders provided by Nikon with the 9000 scanner are very weak designs, because they are not able to assure that the film is flat enough in the carrier, particularly for black and white films that tend to have substantial curl. The focus of the N-9000 scanner is quite critical in order to achieve the sharpness that the scanner itself is capable of delivering.
The idea of the FH-835S holder is good. It can hold up to twelve 35 mm negatives easing batch scanning of numerous frames. The base of the film holder is excellent, providing great rigidity. However, the gate that holds down the 35 mm film is very flimsy and not able to hold film flat enough to take advantage of the high resolution that the scanner itself is capable of achieving. The weakness is exacerbated by attempts hold two strips of 35 mm film at one time, but it even fails with just one strip.
Bottom line: The FH-835S is a remarkably poor design for such an expensive scanner. It may be possible to modify the holder achieve the necessary film flatness.
Yes, I would recommend it to a friend, with these cautions.
Harvey L.
