[BKARTS] RE-Slide scanners

[Jake Benson <boundbyhand@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Regarding slide and film scanners,  I have used dedicated Nikon  
Coolscan 4000 ED film and slide scanner for several years, but then  
recently experiences using a few flatbed scanners at digital labs at  
area universities.  Last summer, I tried a Canon CanoScan 8800F.  It  
is similar to the Epson models in that it comes with plastic frames  
for mounting various formats of film or negatives, and the black  
backing in the lid pops out, revealing a back light.  I was really  
impressed by the resulting quality of the images.

On the other hand, I have been very frustrated with even recent  
Microtek scanners, even though the quality is much improved over  
older models, it's still a long way off from the the Nikon and  
Canon.  Then I've had hit-and-miss (more often a miss) experiences  
with the EPSON Perfection 3170.  The latter often cropped the edges  
of the image, despite my telling the software to not do so.  Perhaps  
it's a software glitch, and there may be a GIMP software that would  
perform better with that model.  I did find that the Epson manual was  
not very detailed or helpful.

I used an recent Intel-chip iMac with the Canon, and a slightly older  
PC with the Epson.  I definitely found the Canon software for Mac a  
lot easier to use and far more flexible than the Epson software for  
the PC.  I forget the highest resolution possible for the Canon, but  
I think it was 4800.

I would be curious to hear if anyone has purchased or used the  
Hammacher Schlemmer slide scanner, and especially how that would  
compare with the nikon Coolscan images.  The main reason to spring  
for a dedicated film scanner is that using the digital ice software,  
scratches can effectively be removed.  I had fairly good luck using  
it, even with a couple of VERY old color slides from the 1950s,  
although out of focus, the image was still a very big improvement  
over the original slide.  I'm not sure if the HS scanner would have  
such a feature, but the price is very reasonable.  I'm not sure if  
it's any measure to go by, but both Nikon and Canon do make great  
cameras, and that may be why their scanners are good too.

Jake Benson

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