Microtek ScanMaker i900 Flatbed Scanner

by Microtek

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 27 x 11 x 21 inches ; 10 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00018JMZU
• Item model number: i900
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 3, 2008

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Professionals seek perfection. Now Microtek has the perfect scanner for them: the ScanMaker i900. Designers and photographers alike will appreciate the depth and clarity of its 4.2 maximum optical density and generous 8.5-by-14-inch reflective scan area. Batch scanning is a snap with SnapTrans templates for multi-format film scanning. And only Microtek gives you Emulsion Direct Imaging Technology (E.D.I.T.) for distortion-free glassless film scanning.

Taking productivity to the next level, the ScanMaker i900 delivers automatic photo reconstruction and restoration. DIGITAL ICE Photo Print Technology, built into the hardware, eliminates even severe surface damage from prints as you scan. Accurate one-step color restoration quickly transforms faded photos and film to their original colors. The ScanMaker i900 is the only true photo reconstruction and restoration solution for professionals. Look beyond, at the ScanMaker i900 for superb image quality, speed and exceptional productivity performance.

The ScanMaker i900 offers reconstruction beyond photo restoration. Automatically reconstruct photos with creases, cracks rips, tears, and more. ColoRescue restores faded photos and film to their original brilliance as you scan. Achieve professional photo restoration results in a fraction of the time.

The ScanMaker i900 is a productivity giant. Workflow efficiency improves the bottom line. SnapTrans film templates for easy batch scanning of 35mm slides, strips, 6cm by 9cm, and 4-by-5-inch film. Enjoy incomparable quality, with professional features.

Features:

• 4.2 max optical density for stunning image depth
• 6,400 x 3,200 dpi optical resolution
• Exclusive dual-platen design with legal size flatbed and 8-by-10-inch bay for glassless film

Software:

• LaserSoft Imaging SilverFast Ai 6 (PC/Mac)
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 (PC/Mac)
• Adobe Photoshop Album SE version (PC)
• Microtek ScanWizard Pro (PC/Mac)
• Microtek Scan, Copy, Email, OCR, Scan-to-Web utilities (PC/Mac)
• Microtek LANShare: LAN scanner sharing utility (PC)
• ABBYY FineReader Sprint OCR (PC/Mac)
• Kodak Digital Science Color Management (PC/Mac)
• Ulead Photo Explorer (PC/Mac)
• Adobe Acrobat Reader (PC/Mac)

What's in the Box
ScanMaker i900 scanner, SnapTrans film templates for 35mm slide, 35mm filmstrip, 4-by-5-inch film, 6-by-9-cm film, glass film tray, FireWire card (PC), 6-pin FireWire cable, Hi-Speed USB cable, power cord, software CD-ROM(s)

Product Description

The world's first one-step photo restoration flatbed scanner has arrived! In just one step, the ScanMaker 6800, with Digital ICE for Photo Prints built into the hardware and software, corrects most scratches and cracks commonly found on photo print surfaces, while also removing dust and lint. In addition, the ScanMaker 6800 offers high 4800 x 2400 dpi resolution, 48-bit color depth, FireWire and Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) interfaces, plus an integrated 4" x 5" transparency adapter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm in Scanner Heaven, November 1, 2004

By 

A. Larson "MacAholic" (Hapeville, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microtek ScanMaker i900 Flatbed Scanner (Office Product)

I wanted a scanner that would scan any size film negative and paper too, but did not want to to pay a million bucks for it-This is the one! I know an antique dealer who gets these glass negatives from sales and estates and I have been able to place 4 of them on the pull-out drawer and scan them with great results. I have also scanned some old negatives from film cameras from the 1920s and 30s. The scanner has a large platten (legal size) for doing paper and a drawer like platten that pulls out from the bottom for doing slides and negatives. There are several inserts that will accept the different types of media. I have found that the 8x10 glass drawer is the most versitile and easiest to use.

The i900 comes with 2 different software packages for both Mac and Windows; Scan Wizard Pro, and Silverfast, professional scan software. I installed both of them but so far have found it easy enough to stick with just the first one. It has a very intuitive interface and I have had no problems at all. The "Digital Ice" technology is interesting and effective but it is slow- I have found it just as easy to do a regular scan and repair the photo myself in photoshop.

The only thing that might count against this thing is it's size- It's big. And it's heavy. It's dimensions are 15"x22"x6" and it weighs 30 lbs. So if a small footprint is something you have to have, forget this baby.

Installation was a snap- my Mac just loves my new scanner- and so do I. I'm real glad I bought it.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great scanner, but not the greatest..., December 9, 2005

By 

J. Lockard "Wannabe Photographer" (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microtek ScanMaker i900 Flatbed Scanner (Office Product)

I loved this scanner, to a point. I shoot a mixture of 35mm and medium format film. This scanner looked like the ideal solution, it didn't cost nearly as much as a dedicated medium format film scanner, it allowed me to do glassless scanning of negatives and still allowed me to scan 35mm, other transparancy sizes *and* documents.

All was well and good till I checked out the medium format film scanning tray. It has 4 places to load my medium format negatives, unfortunately, these are only big enough for a maximum of 1 6x6cm negative each. For negatives I don't know any photographers that cut their negs into individuals, they usually keep them in strips of several negatives.

Well, if you're using the i900 you are going to have to cut your negatives out of their strips. Also note, this tray isn't really a "medium format" tray as a generic term, it's really a 6x6cm only tray for 120/220/620 film. If you shoot 6x4.5cm you might be able to make due, but you simply won't be able to scan your 6x7, 6x9 or 6x17 film with this scanner. Microtek support tells me that have no intention of make a good medium format tray for this scanner, so... I sold mine on one of those huge auction sites.

I'm thinking of using the money from my auction to buy a Mictotek i800 scanner which will do 6x17cm negatives, which means it will allow scanning of strips of medium format film. I need to make sure that will be enough.

If you will only be scanning documents, 35mm negatives, 35mm slides or 4x5in. film, this scanner was a beautiful system and I would have kept mine if only it dealt with medium format film.

71 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular Product!, June 9, 2004

By 

Sandra Waldie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microtek ScanMaker i900 Flatbed Scanner (Office Product)

I've been waiting for this scanner for months and months but it has been worth the wait. I had it on pre-order and have finally got the opportunity to get it. I was eyeing the Microtek 6800 for quite some time but decided to hold out for a legal sized scanner that also had positive and negative capabilities. I was also impressed with the price point of $599 MSRP. I was expecting it to push $799 or more based on the speculated features but was pleasantly surprised when the vendor told me.

With that being said I received the scanner yesterday and immediately torn into it. I am impressed with the physical construction of the unit. The scanner has metal railings inside and is quite solid. Nothing appears cheap or thrown together and I appreciate knowing that its not just plastic that was formed together last week. The scanner is both firewire and USB 2.0 so I chose to hook it up via firewire as most of my USB ports were tied up with PDA, Printer, Mouse/Keyboard, Smart Card Reader, etc. Installed the ScanWizard Pro software, restarted the computer and turned on the scanner. Windows XP picked it up and I was able to do a Scanner Test to verify it was working within a few seconds.

Once the scanner was up and running I launched Photoshop CS and then ScanWizard Pro through the File menu. Once it was up I imported my ICM profiles for my monitor and printer. This allows for accurate color reproduction but is not necessary depending on what you are doing with the output. I was very impressed with the time it takes to actually scan. About 10 seconds or less for a preview.

As for the actual scans I was pleasantly surprised. I have a dedicated slide scanner but it doesn't do large format items. I bought a piece of anti-newton ring glass and used it to flatten my items between the 8x10 glass plate that is included. This insures that the image is completely flat while maintaining the benefits of the i900's glassless positive and negative scanning. Scanning at a modest 1200 PPI I was surprised at the quality that I got. Reflective scans of course came out even better. I for one am very impressed with the optics of this unit.

As for the main feature, Digital ICE I can honestly say that this too is superb. I've read online how Digital ICE used to take almost half an hour to accomplish, this scanner does it in roughly a fourth of that time. The images that Microtek has online appear close to what I am getting with the i900. It saves me a considerable amount of time inside Photoshop and on the three photos I've tried they required little to no cleanup work beyond Digital ICE.

All in all I'm very pleased with my purchase. This will compliment my Artixscan 4000 quite nicely. I couldn't have asked for more and it delivers on everything it promises!