In the 90s high-end 35mm film scanner resolution stalled hitting a limit of around 2700-2800 dpi resolution. Then in 1999 Polaroid surprised the world when they released the SprintScan 4000 (SS4000) with a industry leading 4000 dpi resolution. At this time Nikon was selling the 2700 ppi LS-2000 and it wasn’t until 2001 that Nikon released the 2900 ppi COOLSCAN IV ED (LS-40 ED) and the 4000 ppi Super Coolscan 4000 ED (LS-4000 ED). By 2002 film scanners disappeared completely from the Polaroid website but the SS4000 did sell in large enough numbers that these are very easy to find on the used market now and are an excellent value at $15-20 USD in parts-only condition. Even the rebranded Microtek ArtixScan 4000T can be found for prices as low as $15 USD in 2023.
Updates
Update March 24, 2023: RafCamera has made us a custom mount adapter for the SprintScan 4000 lens. This cylindrical type of adapter makes setting the exact magnification ratio very easy. Also mounting a lens hood at the front of the adapter is simple.
Polaroid SprintScan 4000 scanner lens mount adapter
21mm ø clamp to SM1 male threads, 29mm total length
Clamp style step-down adapter with a full-length threaded body
Adapter tested March 24th 2023
RafCamera link: https://rafcamera.com/clamp-21mm-to-sm1m
Update November 14, 2022: Managed to find the data sheet for the Sony ILX718K CCD sensor used in the Polaroid SprintScan 4000/Microtek ArtixScan 4000T. Made by Sony and is the usual CCD surface mount through hole surface-mount CERDIP package chip with a 43mm wide active sensor width. See the Sensor Info Data Sheet section below the Final Verdict near the bottom of the page.
Update November 24, 2021: Picked up a Microtek ArtixScan 4000T and I can confirm that the lens is the same spec as the Polaroid SprintScan 4000. This fact makes finding a cheap parts only non-working scanner a little easier since both brand scanners share lenses. The ArtixScan cost me $29 with free shipping.
About This Test
I run this site in my spare time for fun and pay for all the equipment out of pocket for my own use. All the tests are run by myself for a direct comparison. I am not paid for any company or by anyone for testing. This website does not use affiliate links so we never make a commission based on equipment recommendations. This test and all of the content on this site are completely independent and free from industry influence. All tested equipment is owned by our company unless noted otherwise.
Polaroid SprintScan 4000 / Microtek ArtixScan 4000 Quick Facts
43mm f/5.6
APO chromatic aberration correction
1.8x magnification (0.55x in reverse)
Excellent price / performance value
Good availability on the used market
Polaroid specifications claim 4000 dpi from SprintScan 4000 lens, which would be great if it was an accurate figure, but few scanners from the film era manage to reach even 50% of the manufacturers nominal resolution specs with 20-30% being a common figure. With the SprintScan 4000s conservative f/5.6 aperture I have my doubts that this lens is going to break any resolution records. It would be quite an accomplishment if the Polaroid lens can even match a Scanner-Nikkor ED 7 element lens, a true 4000 dpi APO scanner lens.
Film scanner lenses can make fantastic optics for macro photography since they designed for a much higher level of correction for chromatic aberrations, sharpness, distortion, and corner shading than a typical consumer market macro lens. Some like the Scanner-Nikkor ED, and the Minolta Elite 5400 are excellent performers. Typically scanner lenses are apochromats, corrected so that all 3 wavelengths of light are equally focused. In the real world APO lenses should be free from chromatic aberrations, CAs, that is; lateral CAs, or color fringing, and longitudinal CAs, or LoCAs, also called Bokeh CAs.
Special thanks to my friend Christian for the loaner SprintScan 4000 lens to make this test possible.
Polaroid SprintScan 4000 scanner specs:
Model: Polaroid SprintScan CS-4000
Type: 35mm film scanning
Optical Resolution: nominal 4000 dpi
Maximum Scanning area: 26mm
Sensor: Sony CCD (see the sensor section below)
Production: 1999-2001
Country of origin: Taiwan
Barrel OD: 21mm
Barrel Length: 28.5mm
Focal length: 43mm
Fixed Aperture: f/5.2 (f/5.7 in reverse)
Mounting threads: None
Size: 21mm x 28.5mm (diameter x length)
Designed scanner magnification: 1.8x (0.55x in reverse)
Usable Magnification range: 0.50x to 2.0x
Street price: $15-$45 USD for parts-only condition
Manufacturer: Microtek International, Inc. Hsinchu, Taiwan
Note: the bright orange/blue special filter coating on the front of the lens is to cut IR/AR light (Infrared/Ultraviolet). That is usually below 415nm and above 655nm. Visible light is in the range between 320nm – 760nm. IR ranges between 700nm to 1000nm on the electromagnetic spectrum. UV ranges 10 nm to 400nm.
Polaroid SprintScan 4000 scanner lens on the left and the Scanner-Nikkor ED 7 element lens on the right.
Polaroid SprintScan 4000 Scanner Lens VS Scanner-Nikkor ED AT 1.35X MAGNIFICATION
Click on any image below to view a larger version in a Lightbox viewer, but this will only be the largest size image if your screen/window is large enough. The size of the image sent to your device is based on the screen size. The comparison images below are 1500 pixels across. To check the size of the image you are looking at, look up at the URL window at the top of the browser, the address should have 1500w at the end. If the image size is anything smaller you can easily change the number to 1500 manually and press enter to bring up the largest image.
To see an images in a new browser tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. You can also right click, or two-finger press, and select Save Image As and compare the images in an image viewer.
100% View Center CROPS AT 1.35X
Both lenses are set up using extension only on an APS-C sensor camera, the Sony A6300. The SprintScan lens is a 43mm f/5.6 lens the Scanner-Nikkor ED is a 7 element, 45mm f/2.6 lens.
Polaroid SprintScan 4000 center crop at 100% view at 1.35x
At 100% view the SprintScan 4000 lens does a decent job with good CA control, it looks like this is a true APO lens. The image is nice and clean but disappointing since there is no way possible that this is a real 4000 ppi lens.
Scanner-Nikkor ED 7 element scanner lens 100% view center crop at 1.35x
At 100% view the center crop from the Scanner-Nikkor is very sharp, and its easy to see the difference that the two stop advantage that the Nikon has over the Polaroid. There is just no way the SprintScan 4000 lens can provide the same resolution of a f/2.6 lens with the slower f/5.6 aperture.
100% View Corner CROPS AT 1.35X
To test the corner performance of the two lenses I moved the same central area of the disk to the far corner of the sensor.
The good news in the corner zone is that the SprintScan 4000 lens is very consistent with no visible drop in performance from the center to far corner.
The Scanner-Nikkor ED crop sees a slight drop in performance compared to the center. The Nikon corner performance is higher than the SprintScan 4000 in the corners no doubt but the Polaroid is more consistent from the center to the far corners.
CHROMATIC ABERRATION TEST
The crops below are shown at 200% view. The SprintScan 4000 lens shows a cooler more neutral tone, both images were processed at the same time with the same settings.
Both lenses are free of any hint of lateral CAs.
Chromatic aberrations (CA) are one of several aberrations, or imperfections, that degrade image quality. Lateral CAs, or just CAs, are visible as red and blue fringing at hard edges, especially towards the corners of an image. CAs are pretty common with fast lenses and wide-angles at larger apertures. This results in softening of edges in the corners of an image. CAs occur because the different wavelengths of light are magnified by slightly different amounts by the lens.
Both lenses are free from any hint of longitudinal chromatic aberrations.
Longitudinal CAs, or LoCAs, are visible as halos of different colors in out-of-focus areas, usually magenta in front of the focus point and green beyond. LoCAs are extremely difficult to correct, especially wide-open, and only a handful of lenses are LoCA free. Almost all fast lenses and almost all macro lenses show LoCAs at larger apertures.
Longitudinal chromatic aberrations or LoCAs are ugly purple and green fringing seen in the out of focus areas in front of and behind the focus point of an image. LoCAs are common, especially with fast lenses, so chances almost all of your lenses have at least a trace, you just never noticed. The problem is that LoCAs are extremely difficult to correct with complex designs using special glass to fully correct the aberration.
TEST SETUP
Camera: Sony α6300, model # ILCE-6300, also known as: A6300
Sensor size: APS-C. 23.5 × 15.6 mm. 28.21 mm diagonal. 3.92 micron sensor pitch
Flash: Godox TT350s wireless flash x 2 with one Godox X1s 2.4G wireless flash transmitter
Vertical stand: Nikon MM-11 with a Nikon focus block
A series of images was made with each lens in 20 micron steps. The sharpest frame was then chosen using Photoshop at 100% actual pixel view. Separate images were selected for center, edge, and corner if needed. Each image was processed in PS CC with identical settings with all noise reduction and lens correction turned off, all settings were zeroed out (true zero) and the same settings were used for all of the images. All of the images shown here are single files. None of the images are stacked. Since only one sample of each lens was used in this test it should give you a good idea of how a lens can perform but it doesn't mean that your own lens will perform at the same level.
WHAT I LIKE
Easy to find on the used market
Excellent chromatic aberration correction
Low prices, down to $15 USD.
Compact size
Excellent performance price ratio
WHAT I DON’T LIKE
Conservative maximum aperture of f/5.6 won’t set any resolution records.
TEST CONCLUSION: THE BOTTOM LINE
The Polaroid SprintScan 4000 lens is sharp and consistent over the entire APS-C sensor with great chromatic aberration control. For the price, this lens is a good value with an awesome performance to price ratio. The lens extraction does take some time, see the next section below for more details. Email me and let me know if you need any help removing a lens.
The SprintScan 4000 lens for this test was purchased for $35 in 2019, but this has dropped to $15 USD in 2022.
SprintScan 4000 lens is not as sharp as the Scanner-Nikkor ED due to the difference in maximum aperture and the difference is easy to see in areas with fine details.
Scanner Specs
Model: Polaroid SprintScan CS-4000 also rebranded as the Microtek ArtixScan 4000T
Type: Multi-format film scanner
CCD sensor: Sony ILX718K Tri-Linear Color Array x 5363 pixels 8µm square pixels
Manufacturers claimed optical resolution: 4000 dpi
CCD maximum resolution: 3175 ppi without any optical scaling
Maximum optical resolution: 5041 ppi*
Scanning area: 42.9mm wide
Production: April 2001-2002 (The Polaroid website does not list film scanners by early 2022)
Scanner street price in 1999: $2000. USD $1795 for the Microtek ArtixScan
Used market scanner price in 2022: less than $100 for-parts-only unit
Country of origin: Taiwan
Manufacturer: Microtek International, Inc., Hsinchu, Taiwan
Note: The SS4000 film scanner was released in 1999, unfortunately this was shortly before Polaroid went bankrupt in 2001.
The ArtixScan 4000T was listed on the Microtek USA site from 2000 until January 2007. In 2009 all film scanners were discontinued by Microtek USA.
*In the real world optical resolution of any scanner is the combined resolution of lens resolving power, film transport and sensor sampling rate. So the true resolution is limited by the physical size of the CCD cell site, the scanner optics, and the accuracy of movement of the imaging components within the scanner.
The Polaroid SprintScan 4000 Sensor data sheet
These are two data sheets for the SprintScan 4000 Sony ILX718K CCD sensor. This was not an easy data sheet to get a hold of since it seems that Sony has stopped making these CCDs a few years ago.
The Sony ILX718K is 5363 pixel CCD is tri-linear CCD, with is 3 rows with 5363 sites in each line with 8 μm square elements, and each row has a color filter over it. One row has a red filter, one row has a blue filter, and one row has a green filter. There is no need for a Bayer pattern, since one row is scanned at a time, and the final result is three color channels of information. The ILX718K’s 5363 8 μm photosites would have a maximum resolution of 3175 dpi (without any optical scaling). In the Polaroid SprintScan 4000 scanner the ILX718K is being used to scan a 24mm width so the resolution at the work being scanned is 5041 dpi maximum optical resolution. These are maximum figures, in the real world optical resolution is the combined resolution of lens resolving power, film transport and sensor sampling rate.
CCD Sensor: Sony ILX718K CCD
Sensor width: 42.9
Package: 22-pin CERDIP 400 mil DIP through-hole mount IC chip
Sensor cover glass: 0.7mm
Sensor cost: around $15.00 new depending on qty
Sensor Origin: Made in Japan
Note: as far as I know Sony has stopped making these types of ICs
Click on an image below to see a larger size file.
SprintScan 4000 LENS REMOVAL
Removal of the SprintScan 4000 was not the easiest, most scanners allow for easy access to the lens with a bracket holding it in place with top access but the SprintScan 4000 lens was a bit buried and is scured in a aluminum bracket and a 1.5mm set screw holding it in place. Nothing special tools required just sometime, maybe 20 minutes or so.
HOW TO MOUNT THE SprintScan 4000 LENS FOR MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY
Since this lens does not have any mounting or filter threads you would need to have a custom mounting adapter made but this would cost more than the actual lens itself. As an alternative to a custom thread adapter I used silicon sealant to temporarily glue the lens to a 52mm mounting adapter that way the lens will easily thread into my existing studio setup.
What happened to Polaroid?
The Polaroid Corporation, founded in 1937, filed for federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October 11, 2001. According to the filing, Polaroid's liabilities were $901.6 million, and long-term debt and liabilities totaled $732.8 million.
As Polaroid Corp. wrestled with its reorganization nearly a dozen of its local vendors are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid invoices. The suppliers and service companies are creditors holding unsecured claims, which puts them near the back of the line when it comes time to collect money.
Polaroid Corp. agreed to sell most of its assets for $265 million in a bid to recover from bankruptcy to One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of Bank One Corp. The price represents less than 15% of the value of Polaroid’s assets when the company filed for Chapter 11 protection. The business was sold to an equity company that changed its name to Polaroid Holding Company then started doing business as the Polaroid Corporation. The executives took large bonuses while stockholders and employees were left with nothing. The company employees were restricted from selling their stock before leaving their jobs. After the bankruptcy the Polaroid name was licensed for use on other products in the US and internationally. In 2002 the company announced that approximately 2,000 jobs out of a global workforce of 8,000 will be "phased out". As part of the settlement, the original Polaroid Corporation changed its name to Primary PDC, Inc. Having sold its assets, it was now effectively nothing more than an administrative shell.
On December 18, 2008, the post-reorganization Polaroid Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, again. The bankruptcy filing came shortly after the criminal investigation of its parent company, Petters Group Worldwide, and the parent company founder, Tom Petters.
In May 2017, the brand and intellectual property of Polaroid Corporation were acquired by the largest shareholder of the impossible project that produced new instant films for Polaroid cameras. The Impossible Project was renamed Polaroid Originals in September 2017, and in March 2020 Polaroid Originals rebranded as Polaroid. The company is now owned by Polaroid B.V. a Dutch company that manufactures instant film for original cameras as well as for select Polaroid corporation instant cameras.
Another polaroid lens for macro photography
Polaroid Sprintscan 120 lens:
https://www.closeuphotography.com/polaroid-120-scanner-lens
Links for more information on the Sprintscan 4000 lens
Review with lots of information about the SprintScan 4000 lens on Enrico Savazzi’s site:
Polaroid SprintScan 4000 Scanner Lens