diff --git a/bench_test.go b/bench_test.go
index d2e0f62c..82b6bc80 100644
--- a/bench_test.go
+++ b/bench_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package pgx_test
 import (
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 )
 
 func BenchmarkConnPool(b *testing.B) {
@@ -22,3 +23,243 @@ func BenchmarkConnPool(b *testing.B) {
 		pool.Release(conn)
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkNullXWithNullValues(b *testing.B) {
+	conn := mustConnect(b, *defaultConnConfig)
+	defer closeConn(b, conn)
+
+	_, err := conn.Prepare("selectNulls", "select 1::int4, 'johnsmith', null::text, null::text, null::text, null::date, null::timestamptz")
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		var record struct {
+			id            int32
+			userName      string
+			email         pgx.NullString
+			name          pgx.NullString
+			sex           pgx.NullString
+			birthDate     pgx.NullTime
+			lastLoginTime pgx.NullTime
+		}
+
+		err = conn.QueryRow("selectNulls").Scan(
+			&record.id,
+			&record.userName,
+			&record.email,
+			&record.name,
+			&record.sex,
+			&record.birthDate,
+			&record.lastLoginTime,
+		)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// These checks both ensure that the correct data was returned
+		// and provide a benchmark of accessing the returned values.
+		if record.id != 1 {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for id: %v", record.id)
+		}
+		if record.userName != "johnsmith" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for userName: %v", record.userName)
+		}
+		if record.email.Valid {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for email: %v", record.email)
+		}
+		if record.name.Valid {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for name: %v", record.name)
+		}
+		if record.sex.Valid {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for sex: %v", record.sex)
+		}
+		if record.birthDate.Valid {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for birthDate: %v", record.birthDate)
+		}
+		if record.lastLoginTime.Valid {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for lastLoginTime: %v", record.lastLoginTime)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkNullXWithPresentValues(b *testing.B) {
+	conn := mustConnect(b, *defaultConnConfig)
+	defer closeConn(b, conn)
+
+	_, err := conn.Prepare("selectNulls", "select 1::int4, 'johnsmith', 'johnsmith@example.com', 'John Smith', 'male', '1970-01-01'::date, '2015-01-01 00:00:00'::timestamptz")
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		var record struct {
+			id            int32
+			userName      string
+			email         pgx.NullString
+			name          pgx.NullString
+			sex           pgx.NullString
+			birthDate     pgx.NullTime
+			lastLoginTime pgx.NullTime
+		}
+
+		err = conn.QueryRow("selectNulls").Scan(
+			&record.id,
+			&record.userName,
+			&record.email,
+			&record.name,
+			&record.sex,
+			&record.birthDate,
+			&record.lastLoginTime,
+		)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// These checks both ensure that the correct data was returned
+		// and provide a benchmark of accessing the returned values.
+		if record.id != 1 {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for id: %v", record.id)
+		}
+		if record.userName != "johnsmith" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for userName: %v", record.userName)
+		}
+		if !record.email.Valid || record.email.String != "johnsmith@example.com" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for email: %v", record.email)
+		}
+		if !record.name.Valid || record.name.String != "John Smith" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for name: %v", record.name)
+		}
+		if !record.sex.Valid || record.sex.String != "male" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for sex: %v", record.sex)
+		}
+		if !record.birthDate.Valid || record.birthDate.Time != time.Date(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.Local) {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for birthDate: %v", record.birthDate)
+		}
+		if !record.lastLoginTime.Valid || record.lastLoginTime.Time != time.Date(2015, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.Local) {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for lastLoginTime: %v", record.lastLoginTime)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkPointerPointerWithNullValues(b *testing.B) {
+	conn := mustConnect(b, *defaultConnConfig)
+	defer closeConn(b, conn)
+
+	_, err := conn.Prepare("selectNulls", "select 1::int4, 'johnsmith', null::text, null::text, null::text, null::date, null::timestamptz")
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		var record struct {
+			id            int32
+			userName      string
+			email         *string
+			name          *string
+			sex           *string
+			birthDate     *time.Time
+			lastLoginTime *time.Time
+		}
+
+		err = conn.QueryRow("selectNulls").Scan(
+			&record.id,
+			&record.userName,
+			&record.email,
+			&record.name,
+			&record.sex,
+			&record.birthDate,
+			&record.lastLoginTime,
+		)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// These checks both ensure that the correct data was returned
+		// and provide a benchmark of accessing the returned values.
+		if record.id != 1 {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for id: %v", record.id)
+		}
+		if record.userName != "johnsmith" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for userName: %v", record.userName)
+		}
+		if record.email != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for email: %v", record.email)
+		}
+		if record.name != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for name: %v", record.name)
+		}
+		if record.sex != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for sex: %v", record.sex)
+		}
+		if record.birthDate != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for birthDate: %v", record.birthDate)
+		}
+		if record.lastLoginTime != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for lastLoginTime: %v", record.lastLoginTime)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkPointerPointerWithPresentValues(b *testing.B) {
+	conn := mustConnect(b, *defaultConnConfig)
+	defer closeConn(b, conn)
+
+	_, err := conn.Prepare("selectNulls", "select 1::int4, 'johnsmith', 'johnsmith@example.com', 'John Smith', 'male', '1970-01-01'::date, '2015-01-01 00:00:00'::timestamptz")
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		var record struct {
+			id            int32
+			userName      string
+			email         *string
+			name          *string
+			sex           *string
+			birthDate     *time.Time
+			lastLoginTime *time.Time
+		}
+
+		err = conn.QueryRow("selectNulls").Scan(
+			&record.id,
+			&record.userName,
+			&record.email,
+			&record.name,
+			&record.sex,
+			&record.birthDate,
+			&record.lastLoginTime,
+		)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// These checks both ensure that the correct data was returned
+		// and provide a benchmark of accessing the returned values.
+		if record.id != 1 {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for id: %v", record.id)
+		}
+		if record.userName != "johnsmith" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for userName: %v", record.userName)
+		}
+		if record.email == nil || *record.email != "johnsmith@example.com" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for email: %v", record.email)
+		}
+		if record.name == nil || *record.name != "John Smith" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for name: %v", record.name)
+		}
+		if record.sex == nil || *record.sex != "male" {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for sex: %v", record.sex)
+		}
+		if record.birthDate == nil || *record.birthDate != time.Date(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.Local) {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for birthDate: %v", record.birthDate)
+		}
+		if record.lastLoginTime == nil || *record.lastLoginTime != time.Date(2015, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.Local) {
+			b.Fatalf("bad value for lastLoginTime: %v", record.lastLoginTime)
+		}
+	}
+}