Canon FS4000US Scanner, Introduces Weird Distortion!

I have rather bad experience with this scanner, and what I noticed

recently is the very significant distortion it introduces. Situation

is random as far as I can see and seems to have affected about %20 of

my scans till I noticed, obviously it is hard to detect in some

subjects and very obvious in some others. Any clues before it goes

for the service?<div></div>

And here is how it is in reality.

Owning an FS4000, though not having seen these symptoms, I'd guess you've got some dirt in the teeth on the bottom of the film carrier. Might also be worth while checking the cleanliness of the film carrier guides within the scanner and the corresponding surfaces on the carrier itself.

I've never seen that before either but I think Chris makes a good suggestion.

Thanks, I had suspected there could be some dirt or deformation in the bottom of film strip carrier, and I did a test with the other tray supplied (for the mounted slides, which I never used), results kept showing random distortion. I agree dirt can be the reason but probably it is in the inner moving parts, which are unfortunately not user serviceable.

If your scanner is out of warranty it's not too difficult to disassemble in part for basic maintenance. There's four screws on the bottom to detatch the main cover, then you can get at most of the mechanism quite easily. Obviously unplug everything first, and keep fingers away from the power supply to the rear of the unit at all times. The film carrier guides are accessable through the little "door" at the front of the scanner so you don't even have to get the screwdiver out to clean those.

 

Don't squirt anything into the unit, not even compressed air. All cleaning should be done with cotton buds (Q-Tips) or similar. Keep away from the CCD and the lamp. I use methylated spirits (surgical spirits), which is relatively inert and doesn't evaporate too quickly, for most cleaning jobs like this. An absolute smear of light lubricant, such as WD40, similarly applied, can often help reduce the re-occurence if it's just a case of "things getting sticky".

I also have a canon fs4000. I am happy with it. I did some tests with the nikon 4 thousand and couldnt see a lot of difference. Yes digital ice is better, no doubt. I have also noticed the random streaking . You have to have a scsi and it is still slow if you are doing a lot of slides as it doesnt have a bulk loader.

but for price, well it has been fine for me.

 

I have had none of the distortion problems.

 

Be real careful with WD40, it can react with some materials, some plastics and some rubber type materials.