Nikon Super CoolScan 9000 ED Film Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased the Nikon 9000ED scanner mostly because I could not find anything else that would scann my 2.75 x 2.75 slides. There may be other products out there but the recommendations I got was to go with the Nikon. Basically I inherited a case of these slides which feature my family from roughly 1960 to 1979. Most of the slides are badly faded, underexposed or otherwise not usable. So I figured in order to save the memories I need to spend the money to do it right.
I am not disappointed. Initially I kept getting a mysterious error in the post-processing cycle. After many emails back in forth with 3rd level support staff at Nikon (nice to be able to get support) we figured out that I was setting something called digital GEM on when that wasn't necessary. The process works on badly grained film which I didn't have. Once I changed the default scan settings by not asking for GEM corrections, all has gone beautiful for me.
The red-brown slides magically come back to me with their original colors via the digital ROC process. I'm not too technical on all the things that happen within the hardware-software process but the results an amateur like me can get are simply awsome. I scan the slides at a full 4000 bpi and store the results as huge TIFF files. I figure that disk space is cheap but at least I have the original in a best possible digitized format. The slides will continue to deteriorate but not the digiatl data.
Fred Rump


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A high-performance dedicated film scanner designed for imaging professionals, the Super Coolscan 9000 ED offers high-quality scanning of 35mm slides, 35mm film strips, medium-format film, medium-format slides (with optional 120/220 mounted film holder FH-869M), glass slides for microscopes (with optional Medical Slide Holder FH-8G1), and 16mm film (with optional 16mm film holder FH-816). The Scanner-Nikkor ED glass lens offers a 4,000 dpi optical resolution, while the 10,000-pixel, three-line monochrome linear CCD image sensor and 16-bit per color A/D input (8-/16-bit output) provide true-to-life, brilliant results.
Nikon's own LED illumination technology ensures accurate color separation with no warm-up time or risk of heat damage. Scan times are as fast as 40 seconds including image transfer to display, and as fast as 13 seconds in preview mode. Automatic color/contrast compensation helps you achieve accurate results, while the ICE4 advanced digital image correction suite of technologies, including digital ICE, digital ROC, digital GEM, and digital DEE, helps to restore old slides to their original glory. Additionally, the included Nikon Scan 4 software provides a comprehensive and easy-to-use interface for managing your scans.
The Super Coolscan 9000 ED has an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interface, while one-touch scan and preview buttons will have you scanning film in no time. PC and Mac compatible, the Super Coolscan 9000 ED also comes backed with a one-year limited warranty.
What's in the BoxScanner, CD-ROM, interface card for Mac OS and Windows, strip film holder FH-835S, slide holder FH-835M, 129/220 strip film holder FH-869S

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Epson Perfection 4870 Photo Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought the Epson 4870 scanner to scan my old pictures and negatives. I read many reviews on different scanners. I chose Epson 4870 mainly for the high resolution. I also, liked the firewire option and the speed seemed to be reasonable.
I managed to scan hundreds of films and pictures in the last few months with no problem. The product works excellent, but that itself could be the problem. It is just too good for my needs. The very high resolution would produce files about 100 MB; way too big to adjust the lighting or the color on it. My Intel P4 machine with 256 MB RAM had hard time managing those files. The resolution was much higher than anything my $1000 digital camera could ever produce. Unless you are a professional photographer or you need to make large posters of your pictures, you will never need such a high resolution capability. I ended up using the lower resolution settings and still have very good quality scans. Save your money and buy the Epson 3170.
Here are some technical notes:
The setup on my XP machine was very easy and took only few minutes. I used both firewire and USB with no problem. I noticed absolutely no "stability & reliability problems" as other reviewer has reported. I wonder if that reviewer's machine did not have the muscle to handle the large files. You need at least 128MB of memory. Also, if you use Windows, make sure you have set enough space for your virtual memory (on XP: Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System ->Advanced -> performance ->Virtual Memory).
The black & white setting of the software does not work, but you can use the color setting for scanning the black and white pictures with no problem (you will get a good quality B&W scan).
The Adobe Photoshop LITE included with the package is definitely needed to adjust the lighting and the color. For more repair work on damaged films or for applying special filters, I would recommend the full version of the Adobe Photoshop.


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EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo Scanner brings professional quality scanning within reach of everyone who's serious about graphics or photography. An optical resolution of 4800 x 9600 dpi allows a 35mm piece of film to be enlarged to 60cm x 80cm (A1). By coupling this outstanding resolution with a moving transparency unit lamp, this flatbed scanner challenges conventional film scanners on quality and price.OS Compatibility -Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP; Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x, OS X 10.2+

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