Nikon Coolscan IV ED Film Scanners

Nikon Coolscan IV ED Film Scanners 

DESCRIPTION

  • 2,900 dpi Optical Resolution
  • Nikkor ED high-resolution lens
  • Dynamic range of 3.6
  • 48-bit scans
  • Science Fiction''s Digital ICE3

  • USER REVIEWS

    Showing 1-10 of 69  
    [Feb 04, 2008]
    Cristian
    Beginner

    Strength:

    Very good Zoom capabilities

    Weakness:

    tri-dophilus virus vulnerability[TESTED]

    Easy to handle, helpful functions, great resolution and user friendly

    Customer Service

    Poor in Romania

    Similar Products Used:

    None that can compare to

    OVERALL
    RATING
    3
    VALUE
    RATING
    3
    [Nov 28, 2002]
    Gareth Watkins
    Intermediate

    Strength:

    Great scan quality. Worked immediately.

    Weakness:

    Can't cope with Kodachrome's dense shadows.

    After all the horror stories about software problems, I took the plunge and installed the V3 software on my K6/400 196Mb W98 setup. It worked a treat first time! Scans are superb; the dirt reduction option a real bonus for anything but the cleanest negs. I was thinking of getting a digital camera, but the Coolscan has given my 25 year old Canon system a new lease of life! My friends with digital cameras are impressed when I say the scans are over 12 Megapixels. Fuji Sensia 2 slide film scans beautifully, but Kodachrome is just too contrasty. Have restored and reprinted some 35 year old slides and they look like new.

    Customer Service

    N/A

    Similar Products Used:

    None

    OVERALL
    RATING
    4
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Aug 09, 2002]
    Saimon
    Intermediate

    Strength:

    Without any doubt digital ICE is really terrific (fantastic)!!

    Weakness:

    Maybe too noisy when performing autofocus!

    I think to have done the right choice! For the money I have paid I think to have bought the better product! I found that it's better to scan images as they are and then try to modify with photoshop! In this way I spend about 10-15 minutes for photo! This hobby need a lot of time !!

    Customer Service

    I purchased the scanner at CENTRO FOTO CINE (p.za Argentina)in Milan! I paid about 900 euro and I asked for a little discount without any success .. IT IS VERY SAD!!! The owner is a real stingy!!

    Similar Products Used:

    This is my first scanner

    OVERALL
    RATING
    4
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Mar 05, 2002]
    John Hallett
    Intermediate

    Strength:

    Excellent scans with accurate colors. On the computer screen they look like the orginal slide. Simple to operate.

    Weakness:

    None so far.

    I bought this scanner based on the reviews here (my choice was this or the Canon 4000) and am very pleased. I had never used a scanner before and am just learning about digital photography. I have Windows XP and had trouble downloading the latest Nikon Scan 3.1.2 but the Nikon tech support was fast and helpful. However once it was loaded (which took about an hour) I have had no problems and found it very easy to start scanning within minutes. I was amazed at the quality of the scans for slides. They are much better than the ones I was having done at my local camera store (they were about 1800 x 1200 pixels). The detail on the screen when a full scan is shown with the actual pixel size blows me away. There are no adjustments necessary and any fine tuning I do with Photoshop Elements. In terms of negatives, the color isn''t quite as good as the scan done by my camera store. In terms of time for scans I find a full scan of 4200 X 2800 with ICE takes about 2 and 1/2 minutes. As people have mentioned, ICE is amazing. At this point I have no complaints whatsoever and am a happy customer. I would recommend the Coolscan IV to any one new to digital photography. If you''re not handy with computers, wait until the scanner comes with the updated Nikon Scan 3 for Windows.

    Customer Service

    Nikon phone tech support was prompt, friendly and helpful

    Similar Products Used:

    None

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Feb 16, 2002]
    chenjoseph
    Intermediate

    Strength:

    Great quality scans and excellent software package. Fast scans even though USB only.n

    Weakness:

    No batch scanning ability with slide adaptor.?

    This is an excellent performer at a very good price. The dynamic range of this scanner is quite good, and is more than wide enough for most all film types used. Very sharp images are obtained - grain can be very evident depending on emulsion. 12 bit/channel mode allows for great flexibility when post-processing images. Software has been very solid when used on my Mac OS 9.2 PowerBook. ICE and ROC have been very useful. Include Photoshop 5 LE which is a great image-manipulation program.P

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Jan 11, 2002]
    millhouse
    Professional

    Strength:

    Accurate exposure Digital ICE

    Weakness:

    Reliability (hardware errors) Autofocus

    This scanner produces excellent results for the price you pay. I use this scanner to make high quality duplicates on a digital film printer. The digital ICE feature is a dream, and saves a lot of time. It pays to add a little extra RAM in your computer. With todays low RAM prices it''''s only $50 or so for a serious upgrade. ROC and GEM options are very slow on my old PII 300 MHz, but I seldom need to use it with Fuji Velvia films. I am a bit disappointed with the reliability of this scanner. It often produces ''''hardware errors''''and makes clunky noises. Also autofocus is sometimes completely wrong. Switching off and on sometimes solves the problems (but not always). So far the Nikon distributor hasn''''t responded on my email complaints. I also have a remark about the software. This could be better. The preview window is too small and color balance is not the same as the final image in the scanner program or in Photoshop. I prefer to do my color corrections in Photoshop (5.0 LE was included with the scanner). I must say that the scanner''''s exposure is very accurate. Generally only small corrections are required. Wish my computer was a bit faster, I have to scan a lot of images for my website: www.millhouse.nl Bottom line: a professional product, but needs a few upgrades.

    Customer Service

    Inca slow to respond to emails (and they have just opened a new site at: http://www.incabv.nl)

    Similar Products Used:

    HP flatbed scanner

    OVERALL
    RATING
    4
    VALUE
    RATING
    4
    [Dec 08, 2001]
    Gilles
    Expert

    Strength:

    Quality of manufacturing. USB connection. Excellent software. Amazing ICE/GEM/ROC features. Very good performance in dark aeras.

    Weakness:

    None so far. Could have a limited multisampling function to recover more details in dark aeras.

    First, I was very tempted to replace my old LS2000 with the very attractive Canon FS4000US. Because of the many reoccuring problems ( shadow noise, streaks, reliability, poor software & color management , I went to the Coolscan IV. So far, I''m very satisfied with it. This scanner is a remarquable piece of hardware for its price. Performance improvements over the LS2000 are immediately visible. Roughly, a LS2000 scan has always to be reworked with a photo editor. The Coolscan IV produces sharp, clean and saturated raw scans which can be used directly, thanks to the excellent NikonScan 3.1.1 software. As I''m using an old PowerMac 6500 ( upgraded with a G3/300 L2 card and USB PCI card )limited to 128 MB RAM max, I was very anxious but it works fine, even with ICE/GEM/ROC @ 12 bits. Its not very fast but still acceptable ( looks like using LS2000''s multisampling ). For your info, my Mac runs 9.1 and RAM Doubler. USB connection doesn''t slowdown the process and I''m very happy that I can switch my scanner on or off as I wish. NikonScan 3.1.1 is a very powerful software and its features covers the needs of advanced amateurs & pros.In Europe, The Coolscan IV is bundled with Silverfast 5.5 SE, featuring the Negafix function which compensates the negatives orange mask. GEM is amazing, ICE as well. I didn''t use ROC too much but I noticed that, even with recent films, it helps to recover some details in dark aeras. Please note that the Coolscan IV produces noise free dark aeras.

    Customer Service

    Not needed.

    Similar Products Used:

    Canon FS2700 Nikon LS30 Nikon LS2000

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Dec 05, 2001]
    lakern
    Intermediate

    Strength:

    Digital ICE/ROC/GEM. 2900 DPI Very easy to use and install

    Weakness:

    Multiple software problems. Originally set up and working fine and then quit working after about one week. Called Tech support and they told me it was a USB problem and updated my USB drivers. It worked fine again for another 2 weeks and now there is no auto focus and the scans are showing up very grainy. Another long talk with tech support and told it is a hardware problem and I had to pay $24 to ship it back to NIKON to get it fixed (hopefully). Now I am without a scanner that I have only had for one month. Disappointed in overall quality and workmanship that it would break down after only one month of use. Software could be better also.

    Overall it worked great until after about 700 slides when it didn''t work so great anymore. I was amazed at the ICE/ROC/GEM and how it cleaned up and fixed 50+ yr old slides. It has been sent back to Nikon for repair as the auto focus stopped working and the slides began to show up all grainy after the final scan. Overall, if they get it fixed again it is a great product.

    Customer Service

    Many times I have spoken with the 24/7 customer support and they have seemed very helpful. Got the USB problem cleared up right away. The auto focus and grainy problem took much longer and the perso

    Similar Products Used:

    None

    OVERALL
    RATING
    3
    VALUE
    RATING
    3
    [Nov 27, 2001]
    Joost
    Intermediate

    Strength:

    Bit-depth, resolution, scanner software, even scannerspeed although the scanner uses the USB connection of my PC. Everything is great. I don''t want to wine about the noise it makes, because that''s not affecting the picture''s quality.

    Weakness:

    The bad start: the nikonscan 3.1 software wouldn''t start under Windows98. It needed Windows98SE(Second Edition) to operate properly. As I was a user of the first edition apparantly -how was i supposed to know- i needed to upgrade to Windows98SE, ME or 2000. Since I was quite happy about Windows 98, I decided tot upgrade to Windows98SE ("Must be even better than the first edition", i thought). Bad choice. The CD-ROM was about 150€. The problem: Windows 98 (first edition) had to be removed first! Only from Windows 3.X or Windows 95 the upgrade could be runned. Format c: was the only thing to do. It took a while, but now i have a clean machine (PentiumII400Mhz, which is more than powerful enough) with Win98SE and the Nikon soft that''s working quite neatly. Standard my PC had 128MB of RAM, but even before checking i upgraded to 650MB, simply because it''s stupid to spend more than 1000€ on a scanner and not willing to spend 99€ on an extra 512MB of RAM. It made my system run about five times quicker. I''ve got a HD of 4!!!GB, which i want to replace, but it''s not that urgent, because i''ve got a CD-rewriter to store all my photographs on CD''s. For printing, i use the E

    The Nikon made a bad start, but did the job anyway, eventually. And how. This is my first filmscanner, but i''ve seen results of the LS-2000, and some HP-scanner (is it Photosmart or something?). Only Nikon''s LS-2000 came close to the coolscan IV. The HP-scanner was a desperate loser.

    Customer Service

    Not needed. I''m a self-made man ;-)

    Similar Products Used:

    None, though i''ve seen results of the HP-scanners and of the Nikon LS-2000

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    5
    [Nov 02, 2001]
    Steve Catmull
    Casual

    Strength:

    ICE, GEM, Reputation

    Weakness:

    Batch scanning

    Having read previous reviews, I was fairly confident that I would be satisfied with the quality of the scanner. After a few scans, there is no disappointment on my part. After the initial confusion with the way the scanning software works, my output has been very good. The ICE and GEM technology has been stupendous enhancements from standard prints. What can I say, it does what is advertised and for a decent price. Scans have been reasonable, but do keep in mind that CPU and memory will be constraints especially as you use the GEM and ICE technologies. I see a noticable difference switching between an Intel Pentium III 600 and AMD Duron 800.

    Customer Service

    There is an 800 number and they seem honest and wait time was next to nil.

    Similar Products Used:

    None

    OVERALL
    RATING
    5
    VALUE
    RATING
    4
    Showing 1-10 of 69  

    (C) Copyright 1996-2018. All Rights Reserved.

    photographyreview.com and the ConsumerReview Network are business units of Invenda Corporation

    Other Web Sites in the ConsumerReview Network:

    mtbr.com | roadbikereview.com | carreview.com | photographyreview.com | audioreview.com