It simply blows the i800 away - and that's using stock software. I don't think you could spend twice as much to find a better scanner. In a nutshell - this could be the BEST scanner out there for the money. Using the stock Scan Gear for now with the 9000 as it is very good, before upgrading - make that IF.
Previous model was a Microtek i800 pro - for about 2 years using Silverfast. MattMatt - I've been using said scanner for about 6 weeks now. I have read the couple of reviews that are available, but would like some real world feedback - especially if you are scanning b&w. Just wondering if anyone is using this scanner, and what your thoughts may be regarding the results? Ultimately, for me, the most important thing is good colour and tonality - that's what the majority of viewers notice right away, and the Canon can provide that, with care. There is a small resolution difference too, but careful capture sharpening covers a multitude of sins, especially if you don't plan on printing at very large sizes. The main difference you'll see in the scans compared to those from a dedicated film scanner is in shadow detail. Also, don't be afraid of giving the scans a decent whack of sharpening, they can take it. Then you'll have a reasonably good starting point for further work in PS or wherever (once the scan has been inverted). For negatives, go into each colour channel and adjust the black and white points manually, leaving a smidge of headroom at either end. I used an 8600F for a while (still have it somewhere, actually) and my advice is always the same - scan everything as 16-bit (ie 48-bit colour) positive. It would pay to look around this forum for scanning tips - there's been a lot of discussion here over the years. it is important not to set too high on expectation. When I compare my scan with that from local lab, my scan on 35mm film does poorly while my scan on 120 seem to do reasonable. My recent favorite settings are to turn OFF all editing in the scan for tone, brightness, scratch, highlight, grain correction and rely on PP after the scan.Some studies on web search suggest importing from Canon from within PSE or other editors to bypass the limitation on MP navigator.
Though the driver can use 16 bit grayscale but the MP navigator default application can't handle the 16 bit output.
In monochrome negatives, there is no option to turn on FARE