robert_landis Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Forgive my lack of knowledge, but.... What is it like to get going with a film scanner? Is it just a matter of loading up the software, plugging into a USB port and "away we go"? IE- load up the film or slides, click a few times and viola? (I have Windows XP pro with 60 GB, 2.6 Ghz chip, 512 mb ram) Or is it a possible entry into a computer black hole with hours of tech support, frustration, etc? I was thinking along the lines of Dual scan IV or similar. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ribook Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Robert,</p>I bought a CanoScan FS4000US a couple of weeks ago. It's just as you said in the more hopeful of your suggestions--plug it in, load the software, figure out how it works (shouldn't be very difficult with user's manual, internet info., etc), pop in the negatives and away you go. My experience is that the system is very user friendly, and I haven't had any problems. Of course I've had a few questions here and there, but either I've been able to figure it out on my own or find answers on the web or through this forum. -Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_hegge Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 I recently purchaced the older dual scan III model and have had absolutely no technical problems. The computer's technical specs you listed are more then enough. Simply install the software and away you go. >Or is it a possible entry into a computer black hole with hours of tech support, frustration, etc? well, no more then a flat-bed scanner or printer for that matter. myself i've had no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom film holders for fl Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='tab-interval:.5in'> <p class=MsoNormal style='tab-stops:list .5in'>Sometimes the installation of the scanner is a snap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sometimes it can be a frustrating experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It all depends on your specific computer and its configuration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I would say that the majority of people don�t have too many problems setting things up though.</p> <p class=MsoNormal style='tab-stops:list .5in'>If you are a total newbie to scanning, you should start here <a href="http://www.scantips.com/">http://www.scantips.com</a> and work through all the tutorials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The �just click one button and you will always get perfect scans� myth that scanner manufacturers try to hype is rarely a reality if you want to obtain really good quality scans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You have to get a good grasp of the basics on your own!</p> <p class=MsoNormal style='tab-stops:list .5in'>Doug</p> <p class=MsoNormal style='mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://home.earthlink.net/~dougfisher/holder/mfholderintro.html">Doug�s �MF Film Holder� for batch scanning "strips" of 120/220 medium format film with flatbeds</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></p> </body> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Currie Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 I can only speak for myself and the scanner/computer combination I have, which is a Nikon Coolscan IV (USB 1.1), on a fairly robust and stable Dell Dimension Pentium III/500 running Windows 98SE. In this case it was pretty much as you hope, a matter of reading the instructions, installing the software, plugging it in and scanning something. I have had no hardware issues, and the software has behaved well too. This is not to say that there isn't a good deal of learning to do in how best to use the software, how to get good results, etc. Depending on your film, your taste, and your equipment, you can spend a lot of time on color correction and other details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dano1 Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 I think alot of the worries people have with film scanners and being hard to set up comes from the days of SCSI. SCSI was a type of interface that the majority of good film scanners used as recently as the late 90's. Last December I bought one of these older scanners off eBay. It came with the SCSI card and cable for $84 plus $16 S&H. I thought it would be simple. What I did not know was that the SCSI card was designed for the older type of slots, before PCI. I had none of these as I had a pretty recent motherboard. So I bought a "new" SCSI card off ebay. It cost me $15+ S&H. So, it arrived in the mail 20 some days later out of Canada. (That's the last time I order something from a Canadian) Now I realized that the card no longer fit the cable. I went down to my local computer repair store to pick one up, only to find that there were dozens of standards. I showed him my old cable (the one that fit the scanner) and the new card and he found one after pouring through several pages of a catalouge. About another 10 days later I had it. All in all it took me over a month and a half to get all the parts that I needed. Don't let this worry you though, you have USB. As long as you have a USB port on your computer, (1.0, 1.1, 2.0) it should be just plug and play. If you have a newer OS such as Windows XP, all the better, you may not even need to install the drivers from the CD, Windows may already have them. BTW, to all those who think that there are no Win XP drivers out for the Minolta Scan Dual (the original), just use the Win2K drivers, they work just fine. Dan O. (a satisified Minolta Scan Dual owner) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_herring Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 I just set up a Minolta 5400 on a Windows box. Installation and initial setup was trivial. I expect that learning all the nuances of the scanning setting will not be trivial. My experience with scanners in general: It's pretty easy to get adequate, but "really good" takes longer. Slides, of course, are another dimension---I'm hoping this scanner will at least get me to "adequate" with the 50-100 slides that are worth scanning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl smith Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I have the Canon FS4000, easy as pie to set up for USB. SCSI is quite simple as well, however using Vuescan make sure to install ASPI. After that just hooking the scanner up and having it on is all you need to do. Technically SCSI is not plug-and-play, you should have to have the scanner on when you boot the computer. However in fits of laziness, I can turn on the FS4000, go to the control panel and go to the hardware manager and manually force it to scan for new hardware. The scanner comes up and I'm on my way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_k3 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Robert Your quote: Or is it a possible entry into a computer black hole with hours of tech support, frustration, etc? I was thinking along the lines of Dual scan IV or similar. Is very close to the reality, esp when your films are mostly negative. I bought my three or four flat bed scanner to scan film before eventually throwing myself to Scan Dual II. It took hours to finish a strip of six exposures and yet the result was fair. I bought the latest Scan Elite 5400 and it has focusing problem. Scanning slides, on the other hand, is a fun. I have upgraded my computer three times since the age of Scan Dual II and I am now equipped with a Pentium IV 2.4C with 1Gb RAM, 360Gb harddisk, DVD writer, a video display with 128Mb RAM supporting one 19" CRT and another 18" LCD monitor simutaneously Have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted_marcus1 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 <i>Technically SCSI is not plug-and-play, you should have to have the scanner on when you boot the computer. However in fits of laziness, I can turn on the FS4000, go to the control panel and go to the hardware manager and manually force it to scan for new hardware. The scanner comes up and I'm on my way.</i> <p>I know it's a "fact" that a SCSI device needs to be powered up before booting the computer so Windows can recognize it. But I normally keep my FS4000US (using SCSI) turned off. When I'm ready to scan, I turn on the scanner then start up VueScan. The splash screen displays for about a minute, presumably while VueScan finds and initializes the scanner. Then the interface comes up, and I'm ready to go. No need to open the Windows (98SE) hardware manager. <p>I don't know how VueScan defies the supposed "fact" of SCSI life. Maybe it normally searches for the selected scanner, or else it automatically does its own device scan if Windows says the scanner doesn't exist. Regardless, it's very convenient this way (and much much faster than USB). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Unless there's an unusual problem with your set up or the unit/software that you get, it should be straightforward to plug the scanner in and get started. Results from any of the well-known units will be pretty good right off the bat. Now, getting the best possible results from your scans, digital editing, and digital printing is another matter. That can take some learning... Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl smith Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Ted, I haven't been so smart as to try that. I'll give it a go next time. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl smith Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Didn't work for me. Oh well, scanning in the control panel is easy enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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