Scanner Reviews

When scanning photos this scanner is everything I require.
The scanning software is easy to use with a good range of options.
However, when it comes to scanning slides it is most disappointing as they always come out dark.
To compensate I try tweaking the brightness and contrast settings in the software but the colors in the dark areas are never true. You can play around with the image in a photo-editing program but they are always disappointing and never get near the quality of color and clarity that you get when projected onto a screen.

If you want a scanner that scans slides then go for something else, and if all you need to scan is photos and documents then you don't need this scanner.
Beware of reviews that appear to parrot the sales blurb.

I've always been a big fan of Canon's scanners, but the Canoscan 3000f really let me down. I've been using the Canoscan n1240u and have always liked the great colors and vivid scans. I decided to upgrade to the new 3000f, manily because it will scan negatives and slides. Unfortunately, the reproduction quality on these types of scans are not very good. The color reproduction is very poor and the image quality, even at extremely high resolutions is not as true as it is on some of the less expensive Canon scanners. Even after having spent a lot of time working with various settings and options in the scanning software, the quality was still not as good as I would like to have seen. Hopefully Canon will get these problems fixed with their next line of film & photographic scanners.

I recently purchased the Canon CanoScan 3000F Scanner & not only did it arrive a lot faster then expected, but it works really well. I am really enjoying it. I am glad I bought this one. It's not to expesive, yet it has what I wanted & then some. The 5000F Scanner had a little to much for what I needed it for & the cheaper scanners didn't have some of the programs I needed. I would recommend this for people who wants a scanner for just home used. I like how fast it scans & how I can take the red out of the eyes. I also like how fast I can send a picture by email. The picture quality is really good.

I have had this scanner for about 2 years and have never had a problem with it. The drivers are a little hard to find on cannons web site if you are running xp. it has a one button interface that you press when you want to scan something and it will ask you what program you use for the picture. that is a nice feature. The "scangear" drivers and software are pretty good and let you do some simple things when you preview the scan like brightness, contrast, cropping, before you do a final scan.

If you want to print your pictures at high quality than i would resommend getting a higher quality scanner, but this is a great deal and qorks great for small images and posting your photos up on the web!

Picked this up for (...) - and except for lacking the Z-lid of the newer Canon scanners, it works like a charm. Only uses a single USB connector and smooth as silk when used inside of Photoshop. I've actually left his scanner in my briefcase and forgotten it was there. A great compliment to a laptop, and a breeze to operate.

I have been using this scanner for approx. 1 year and have had no problems at all with it. I realized when I bought it that it was not the new FB630U scanner, but a refurbished or factory-reconditioned scanner, and anticipated problems, however, the only difficulty I had was hooking it up and that was due to my lack of knowledge, not the scanner. I called the company and they very pleasantly walked me through the installation and I haven't needed anything since. My experience with this scanner has been comparable to it being a new scanner.
There are sometimes "lemons" produced in all things, new or re-furbished but I would not hesitate to recommend this product based on my experience with it. Due to this also I would not hestitate to buy another product that had been factory reconditioned if I were carefully managing my money.

This scanner, its software, and Umax support stink. I cannot get the scanner to work with Windows ME and have tried all kinds of methods without success. What a waste of money! I paid over $200 for this worthless piece of equipment.

do not buy umax products... it is a total waste of money.
most of the time the drivers and software provided by the company does not work with the operating system you are using. in order for it to work properly you must go to their web site and download a patch that supposed to fix the problem but instead the patch conflicts with other softeware such as camera software or even the operating system (one more thing the drivers and patches at their website are not free).

I wrote to umax and they have never responded to any of the emails i have sent to them. I decided to call the support center and I was refered back to the website to download another patch. (very bad customer support)

I would give 5 stars to the scanner and only 3 stars to the driver. The scanner is realy good. Most valuable featues are big resolution and large scan area (8.5"x14"). It could do it's job very nicely if it had a good driver. VistaScan 3.52 (PC version)which is shipped with the scanner on a CD can only work on Windows 98. Umax makes no support for Windows 2000. The output image has too many reds and not very clear on some color borders. And no eyedropper tool to easily make background white.

It was always too slow to be of much use. Now it's just a piece of junk. It is not compatible with XP and IBM no longer supports it, in fact, IBM no longer supports anything I've ever bought from them. I will no longer buy from IBM. They are too big and are willing to eliminate entire product lines at the drop of a hat, leaving me stuck with yet another piece of IBM junk!

I bought this scanner 2 years ago and it's worked okay. Several times I ran into some gliches and it didn't scan well when hooked through my priner.

We just recently bought a new computer which came with Windows XP and this scanner is not compatable with that program. I might as well throw it away! Anyone want mine for free??? LOL!

I read the other two reviews. I've had my Ideascan for two years, too. The original unit died within a couple of months and IBM instantly replaced it with another on a swap-out basis (they sent me the new scanner and asked me to put the old one into the shipping carton and call FedEx for a free return pickup--can't ask for better customer service than that!).

Removing that annoying control panel that appears on startup is quite easy. Just go to the Win-doze startup menu and remove it. How to do it is all there in the Win-doze documentation.

As to the XP install problem, my guess is that this is an XP and not a Ideascan issue. Last week, I moved my Ideascan from my "old" W98 SE machine to a new Windows 2000 machine and the install went seamlessly. XP and W2000 are said to be the same code base--W2000 is really NT 5.0 and XP is NT 5.1. Just visit the microsoft.com web site and I'll bet that anyone experiencing install difficulties will find a fix or a patch there. That's where I found the fix that allowed me to install a HP 960 printer on USB in W2000.

This is a terrific scanner for the money. We've used it with Photoshop, Photosuite, Printmaster, and Printshop and the results have been excellent.

Why would anyone sell a scanner that is MacIntosh compatible in a package with a digital camera Macs cannot use? That is what happened to me! This Mikrotek camara is useless on my Mac G3 since it's for Windows only! I assumed since the Scanner was Mac compatible then the camera must be too! .... Also the camera is super small (about 4" by 3") and there isn't any guidelines with it or directions and specs. Just a tiny slip of paper with about two generic sentences on it telling you things that anyone with common sense already knows. It's made in China and consists of cheap plastic like those throw away cameras from you local drug store you use one time only. The cap for the lens cover falls off constantly and no way to fasten it back on. ....

I purchased this scanner just over a year ago. It is alot slower than the last scanner I had....which lasted quite awhile, and the ScanMaker 4600 is already broke after only 1 1/2 year of use.

The scanner is real good and fast and has good quality. The digital camera is nothing special and for me is a pain because there are no instructions, just a slip of paper. It has internal memory so you cant use a card. However overall I would give this 4 out of 5.

The picture quality is very nice... WHEN you can get it to work. It's not supported under WinXP, so to get it to work takes a lot of work... Good luck ;)

I got this awhile ago and it just doesn't work now. It scans, but there is a blackbar on the side. So, I am looking for a new one. It's ok for the price that it's at.

I got this awhile ago for around and it is ok for the price. Unfortunately mine just broke down. I keep scanning and there is a black bar on the side. So, I am trying to find a replacement one. I guess this is an ok scanner if you don't want to pay alot for one.

Very noisy & slow scanner.
ADF unit stopped working after 6 months.
Scans not the best, would not reccomend.

When using the automatic document feeder, it produces document scans that are skewed slightly. HP technical support says this is normal. I find this completely unsatisfactory. You will not be able to produce accurate document scans.

Do not purchase this scanner if you intend to scan photographs. The scan quality if very poor. Scans appear with no contrast and overly pixelated in dark areas of photo scans. The colors do not appear correct.

The performance is also unsatisfactory. It is very slow and extremely noisy.

I love this scanner! I got it over a year ago and it is still working strong. I got it for the ADF feature. I use the ADF with Acrobat Writer. Very rarely does the ADF jam and when it does its due mostly to user error. When it does jam it does not eat the paper and it's easy to correct. The software that comes with it is simple to use. Make sure your computer has loads of memory if you plan on scanning anything over 600dpi. I've also used this to archive photos taken on the job and it does a great job at that. I don't suggest buying this scanner if your main requirement is film or slides. For that you should get a dedicated machine. I've used with USB and SCSI. SCSI is faster but usually I don't notice the difference unless I'm scanning over 600 dpi. The only bad thing I can say about this machine is that it can be noise. Good luck.

I've been trying to get good results with the Coolpix 5000, but with very limited success. The problem is the back light source -- and that the camera automatically zooms to 1.4x digital zoom. So, you start off with an iffy light source and the loss of image and resolution -- no thanks! It is also not exactly rugged material in construction, either.

If you do get this, the best light source seems to be a light box (which I don't have) or setting your computer monitor to a blank word processing page and adjusting the monitor's brightness. On the other hand, experimenting with various light sources (color and intensity) could create a whole new avenue for manipulating the results, but I'd rather do that in Photoshop, etc.

Bottom line: ok for fast and dirty, but forget it if you want high quality transfer from slide to digital. Save your money: get a print and scan it.

I bought this outfit with the hopes of copying slides and stills with my coolpix 995. I can say that it does a fair job if you get an even light behind the lens. If not...forget about it. Then I saw the quality of a coolpix scanner, scanned image. I am now saving for the scanner.
My advice is if you are looking for a easy cheap way to transfer negative and get decent quality this is the ticket.
If you on the otherhand are going to take the time to scan lots of your precious memories you may want to purchase a higher end scanner.

I love this, but don't expect the same results you would get with a top of the line film scanner. You'll have to work a little harder yourself to get the light right. It works great with a light table, or overcast daylight. Sunlight works for dark negatives or slides. Just remember, the color of the light you use will make a difference in the copy. If you use this outside point the lens straight up toward the sky (away from the sun), find a white wall, or hang a white sheet, paper, or card to aim at, and be aware of where your shadow is falling, otherwise you may get some unwanted shadowy background, or muddied color in the copy. I use this with a Coolpix 950 and have had spectacular results with black and white copy negs and good results with both color negs and slides.

I ordered this item on June 14th and have yet to be updated on the real shipping date. Although e-mails are said to be answered in 24 hours, I have sent three without response for days. Will Amazon ever fill this order, respond to e-mails or just cancel the order after an inordinate wait?

The supply problem with the Nikon 9000 ED scanner isn't Amazon's fault, it's Nikon's. From what I'm told by our local professional camera shop here in Seattle and more than a dozen mail order firms I've called trying to find one of these things, Nikon announced the ED9000, shipped one demo model to each of its big dealers and that was it. Nobody has seen one since and Nikon won't say when they are going to ship.

I ordered my Nikon Coolscan 9000 back on June 18th. It arrived on July 13th just as the updated Amazon shipping estimate email promised. I admit I was a little skeptical when I placed the order that I would ever see it, especialy at the price Amazon had at the time - $1804.99 I checked with my contacts at B&H in New York (I order alot from them and have come to know a few of the salespeople) - they said "no way" could the price be for a legitimate USA model. In addition to being lower than B&H's cost, Amazon was giving a shipping date way ahead of when anybody else could promise. It turned out that Amazon was about a week late on their "original" shipping date, but they kept me updated and it came exactly when they said it would.
As for the scanner, it seems to me to be just about perfect. The scans are beyond belief. Nikon Scan software is a little confusing...I might give Vuescan a try. The scanner does make a bit of noise from the stepper motor during the scan process, but this appears normal. Overall, I could not be happier with my purchase. Amazon has never given me a bad experience so far and with the new Amazon credit card, I have intrest free financing for 10 months to pay for this beauty. I'm completely satisfied with my Amazon transaction!

I have windows xp on my computer, scanner dont work with system.
I would have given it 0 if I could.

Olympus has decided to discontinue the manufacture of the ES-10 scanner. So, it did not develop a driver for Windows XP. Thousands of ES-10 owners will have to throw their scanner in the garbage.
Without a driver for Windows XP, the scanner is useless. Olympus supports its customers? Yeah, sure.

First the bad news: its driver supports Windows 95, 98, and ME. Now the good news: this is a serious film scanner. Unlike the new cheap film scanners or adapters for flatbeds, this unit scans at 2400x1600 resolution. This produces really high quality results; so much so that I hardly ever used it at the max res. The 35mm module accepts a six neagtive strip holder and a single slide holder (both included), and the motorized APS module allows you to drop in a cartridge and go!