Erik,
The lens was the plastic fantastic, my $90 50 1.8D, hand held at 1/125, at 5.6. Its the only AF Nikon 50mm I have. It is light weight, sharp, contrasty, but not much magic. My 50 1.4Ai from 1975 (this belonged to my mother who was a PJ) is not as sharp but looks better.
For scanning B&W I use the V750 with the Better Scan variable holder. I really like the B&W output. I scan at 6400ppi then downsize in PS. I would gues sreal resolution is in the 2400 range, maybe less. It resolves grain, which is where I want my scans to be. The dedicated MF scanners I've used resolve smaller grain and do so with more acuity thatn the Epson with the BetterScan holders, but they end up being similar in sharpness at print sizes. I've been scanning for YEARS but am by no measure a scanning expert. I know what it takes to get the best scans out of film, and I know what is in a negative and the quality that can come out of one. I've had an Imacon 343, 646, Nikon 9000, and Microtek 120tf. I wish I still had the Imacon 646. My current thinking goes something like this: for editorial publications and prints up to 17" on the short side, the Epson does an admirable job with the BetterScan holders. Higher quality is available from the Epson, but requires wet mounting, which I'm not willing to do. When I need a higher quality scan I take the neg to a service bureau that does lots of work for ad agencies, wher ethey drum scan on a Tango. This process works well. I may or may not get the new Plustek when it is finally available, it really depends on the quality and more importantly, the convenience. I'm sure it will be better than the V750 with the BetterScan holders, but the quality I get is fine from the V750, and is a fairly painless (for scanning) process. If the Plustek is not a pain to use, and produces better files, I will replace the Epson.
The Nikon 9000 was a pain. Capable of great quality, but the MF holders are not great. The Microtek was awesome, was easier to use, but slower. No ICE, but I hardly ever used ICE anyway (still don't with the Epson). When the stars aligned the Microtek was almost as good as the Nikon, but the Nikon lens was better at the margins. The Imacons were slightly easier to use with the magnetic holders, and allowed better results with less effort. Not worth the price of an X1 unless you are fully commited to film.
Fred G. has some nice scans posted with the V750, I believe they were wet mounted.
Yup I posted some scans done with the v750, but they were dry scans. I have done wet scans too, but can't post them because I shot them for commercial clients.
Here are a couple of examples that I can post....
They are full frame 6x8 and crops.
The v750 is a good scanner. The software that comes with it Silverfast is good, but can be frustrating at times. Some of the complex curve editors are small so
playing with them can be tricky. A big wacom tablet can help a bit in particular if your monitor is large. Sometimes the curve editors after much tweaking can just go waco and you loose everything.
Regarding wet scanning it improves things in certain conditions. If you have a lot of curved tension in the negative it helps keep it flatter.
There are two ways of doing a wet scan with the v750. Single wet layer or dual wet layer.
With single wet layer you put the negative face down on glass with the fluid between the glass and the film. You put it emulsion down.
This will take away emulsion surface texture or at least dramatically reduce it.
With a dual wet layer you doe the above, but also wet the top of the film and place a clear mylar film on top.
This will smooth out and hide scratches on the plastic surface of the film.
here is a video of the dual wet scan preperation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMnxWknF4SMWith the v750 you can use the wet scan glass tray (the one with the little handles in the video) for upto 5x7 film.
For 8x10 film you have to prep the negative right on the scanner proper. It's advisable to tape the edges of the glass plate to avoid fluid getting under the glass.
Here is a video of a single wet layer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8l0rLtsCLg&feature=relatedWith a single layer you have to tape around the negative to avoid the fluid evaporating and drying out during your scan.
And remember emulsion towards the glass.
I use Aztek SMF 2001 fluid. It leaves no residue, but it is rather fast drying so you have to tape the edges well for longer duration scans.
The epson v750 produces great detail quite close to very high end scanners, however for transparancy film you will get better results with a higher end drum scanner.
Negatives "fit" just fine into the DMax of the V750.