The value of a good scanner (Coolscan V ED)

Joe Marques · Feb 24, 2005

For those of you looking to digitize your old slides and film, look no further. Nikon leads the pack with the Coolscan V. Superb quality and outstanding feature set (particularly the dust/scratch removal via Digital Ice4). While my slides are in great condition, my negatives are a mess of scratches (even though I THOUGHT I kept them nicely). Digital Ice4 is a savior. As for the specs: 4000 dpi optical scanning with LED light source. Simply outstanding.

Here's a comparison to show the remarkable saving capabilities (untouched - right from the scanner - only resized):

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Digital Ice4 AUTOMATICALLY fixed the mess:
View attachment 5502

BTW, that's my daughter at the beach nearly 8 years ago.

Slide results are far more impressive. Here's a Velvia scan of a rose (N90 & Nikkor 105 2.8 Macro):
View attachment 5503

Thanks for looking.

Joe

Flew · Feb 24, 2005

That is impressive Joe. Without a doubt, the best scanned film shots that I've seen in my brief foray into photography.

Frank

gho · Feb 25, 2005

Ouststanding! I've been thinking of getting the Coolscan 5000. How does the V compare? Looks pretty good to me. My photos aren't quite as good as yours though.

Steve S · Feb 25, 2005

Wow Joe!

These shots look excellent. I priced one of them out @B&H, wow, "spendy" as they say! Looks just like a computer tower.

greyflash · Feb 25, 2005

Yes Joe, I wish I had one.

Joe Marques · Feb 25, 2005

gho said:
Ouststanding! I've been thinking of getting the Coolscan 5000. How does the V compare? Looks pretty good to me. My photos aren't quite as good as yours though.

Thanks Gregory. I pretty sure the only difference between the 5000 and V is that the 5000 can use attachments - the best being a slide holder (more than 1 slide at a time). I didn't think it was worth the extra money since I need to sit there anyway while scanning so 1 at a time is no biggie.

Regards,

Joe

Joe Marques · Feb 25, 2005

Re: Wow Joe!

Steve S said:
These shots look excellent. I priced one of them out @B&H, wow, "spendy" as they say! Looks just like a computer tower.

Thank you Steven. I must say it's worth every penny to preserve memories at such a high quality. I can print 16x20 without a question and 20x30 is well within reach (a scanned transparency is equal if not better than a D2H NEF).

As for the size, I too thought it was huge based on the photo, however, it's only about 4" wide, 7" high and 12" deep. The photo makes it look much bigger since there's no reference for scale.

Thanks,

Joe

Joe Marques · Feb 25, 2005

greyflash said:
Yes Joe, I wish I had one.

Depending on the number of shots you have in film/transparency it's a cheap option compared to having it done at a lab.

Regards,

Joe