Customer Reviews
Excellent Scanner
Really like this scanner. It's a bit on the pricey side for a scanner alone. However, add that it is an excellent film scanner and it's actually a good deal. Negatives are really easy with the software - load a full carrier with 20 to 36 negatives, preview in under a minute, and each shot is placed in it's own thumbnail. Click on which pictures you want scanned, and only those are scanned. Couldn't be easier.
There is a tough moment with this scanner and software - you absolutely have to calibrate the scanner before doing negatives. I had read a review that somebody returned this model twice because it left vertical streaks on the scans. I had the exact same problem - in addition to awful color and totally black frames - I reviewed the troubleshooting guide and it said to make sure the calibration window was free of dust, and force a calibration. Voila, streaks gone, images just about perfect.
It's a very fast scanner. Does absolutely beautiful, nearly perfect photocopies. Paper scans are outstanding. Previews come up very fast. And excellent film scanning. A great package.
It's a pretty big scanner, but it also has a ton of electonics inside. It has the feel of a very well built unit, with a good bit of heft. And it's a very good looking black, shiny.
One of the best features, the lid is spring loaded so that it stops where ever you leave it. Great feature to partially lift the lid, it stays there.
Highly recommend this scanner.
Great for Slides and Negative
I've had the machine for about a month, and scanned in several hundred 120 negatives and about 1000 slides so far (5 or 6 thousand to go). It takes about 45 minutes to scan in a set of 12 slides, but they come out great. The 'faded' setting on the machine worked good for some slides from the 70s. Dust and scratch setting also makes a big difference. I don't use the 'Autotone' setting - I do that in Photoshop CS and I think it does a better job. Scanning the slides in 16 bit color, 4800 dpi, doing a batch color, size, bit depth and saving in Photoshop. Not using the included photosoftware - Photoshop CS out of the box (and other programs like Thumbs Plus) work fine. Scanning photos at 600 dpi goes much faster than slides or negatives - good thing since I have 22 albums. I've worked with several scanners for over 10 years and this one is well worth the money. Easy to use and looks good on the desktop.
What????
Probably a good scanner, but: CanoScan 9950F instructions: When installer is done click Next. Do not click any links. But when prompted, click a link. You won't know what link to click. Then unplug unit. Install software. Don't install software until you have connected unit. But don't connect unit until you have installed software. After installing software, don't expect the unit to work. You must connect unit before installing software, and then connect unit. By the way, if you fail to install software before connecting unit, you must connect unit before installing software. AAAAAHHHHaaaaahhhh!
