Customer Reviews

Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED Film Scanner

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I think I was really awed when I scanned some black and white negatives, and got a positive for it and then adjusted the contrast and brightness, bringing out details that were not evident when I originally took the photo. I have also scanned color negatives, and made prints. I got it primarily to archive my extensive slide collection. I found that one of my slides had a scratch across a person's face. Using the sophisticated tools available with the program, I used multiple scans and the finished copy is scratch free. When using the 4000 dpi scanning setting, be prepared for some really large files. If one plans to get this, and one has a lot of material to scan, getting the largest available hard drive would be recommended. I plan to archive my slides to hard disk drive, then transfer copies as lower sized jpg files to a CD ROM. My only wish was that the program would have a way to put annotations on the copied slides; I am using a separate program to do that. I have found that my scans capture even the tiniest detail of the original slide, and one cannot ask for more than that. Some might think it a bit pricey for a scanner, but it does a fabulous job as a dedicated scanner.
I wished they had provided a complete written manual; the detailed manual is on their provided CD-ROM, in Adobe acrobat format. The Abode program is provided, but it is 153 pages long and takes a bit of time to print. A shortened manual is provided, and covers most of the essentials so a complete manual printed out is not essential.
The software with the scanner is very easy to use and the tools for adjusting the scans are interactive.
If one is using XP on their computer, an updated progam for XP is available..., and is about 15MB as a zip file. I recently scanned a 32 year old Ektachrome slide taken under the worst possible conditions (indoors, incandescent lighting, with the outdoor film). It always had a yellow cast to it, which it normally would under those conditions. Upon recent scanning (to preserve it before it lost everything) it showed embeded dirt and scratches. I used the digital ICE, and it came out sparkling clear, and the drapes which looked like yellowed newspaper became a crystal clear cream white, as it was in the room where I first took the slide. I have also scanned old slides that were badly faded, and restored the color and luster.

After using a Nikon LS-1000 for two years and constantly being frustrated with the scanner's poor performance on slides, I was blown away by the first scan I did with my Coolscan 4000. The colors were right on, the density nearly perfect and best of all, no more processing artifacts thanks to the Digital ICE. I used to have to spend 15 minutes carefully cloning out those little dust spots and other defects on every high-res scan. Now I can concentrate on scanning rather than retouching.

The sharpness of the images are noticeably improved, which I attribute to the ED lens. The color saturation is wonderful and shadow detail is excellent, even on a constrasty slide.

I use a Coolscan 2000 at work and the 4000 is definitely a huge improvement over that scanner. For the [price] difference, the 4000 is the one to own.

The Digital GEM and ROC are worth that price alone if you have slides or negatives in which the color has shifted. It is absolutely amazing this software restores these old images. I had some very red chromes from the 70s that it restored to full color.

While some reviewers have complained about the sharpness of negative scans, I have not found this to be a problem. And Nikon includes the option of using a film holder rather than the negative adapter for scanning.

In short, this scanner is the one to beat. I can't imagine 35mm film scanning getting any better. This one is a keeper, a real workhorse for the photographer who wants to bridge film and digital with a high-quality scanner.

Very easy to use. Beautiful scans. I was extremely tired of labs developing my print film. They would hardly ever get the correct exposure. Now I've gone solely to 35mm slide film. I get perfect scans, and the only time the exposure is bad is if I mess up. The Digital ICE totally gets rid of dust spots and scratches. Then I can just print the good pics on my little Sony dye-sublimation printer.

I have had only one problem. Nikon tech was very helpful, and it turned out that it was just that my computer had too many applications running in the background. Nikon also has a great website with software updates and other useful info.

I recommend the Nikon Coolscan 4000 as the only way to scan.

After downloading the Nikon Scan 3.1.2 updated version [the CD version with the purchase comes with the 3.1.0 version] from the Nikon Tech website the communication between my XP OS and my scanner have been flawless. Using Photoshop Elements to manage my images after the scan is effortless since after the 4000 completes its scan there is not much enhancing left to do in Elements. The files can be large [64MB] if you so choose, but the image quality, especially slides, are excellent. My 5x7 and 8 x 11 prints on my HP 990 printer are wonderful. The 4000 is expensive, but the quality behind the Nikon name is there. The ICE and the resolutions make scanning and editing your own prints a great digital color lab.

I recently upgraded to the Coolscan 4000 from the Polaroid SprintScan 35+, and what a difference. The scans are little short of superb; incredible density and tonal range. Manipulating the scanned images in Photo Shop 6, and printing them on the Epson 2000p Printer, I finally have the electronic studio I've always dreamed of--incredible output. However, it takes a long time (~10-15 minutes) for the scanner to make the scan, and I get a fair number of error messages (or scanner not hooked up messages). The software is a little tricky, and because of this, the scanner isn't as reliable as the Polaroid. But there is no comparison in the quality of the scans. The Nikon blows the Polaroid out of the water!!

Watched this product for over a year before finally pulling the trigger on the purchase. Primarily bought this to archive my favorite photos for printing/reproduction, but recently did a batch of slides from 1955-1962 that showed the full range of typical problems, color shift, scratches, emulsion deterioration.... By and large the CoolScan handled them with aplomb and brought some marginal slides back to life (emulsion deterioration notwithstanding on broad areas of same color, e.g., sky). Digital ICE and ROC worked wonders. Scans are enormous and pull a lot of details -- including from the shadows. I was surprised how much detail remained in some silhouettes. In several instances I was shocked at the shortcoming of a couple lenses (compared photos from several different lenses, and you absolutely notice a difference in optical quality).

I use this to scan 35mm slides for digital prints up to 13x19" so I use the full 4000 ppi capability. I've found it to be easy to use and the final scanned quality to be excellent. Compared to the HP PhotoSmart scanner I was previously using, it's outstanding. The dust removal feature is awesome. The automatic color adjustment works well for some of my older, faded slides, but I wouldn't recommend it for general use. I use 2X averaging to improve noise, although it's probably not necessary. The scanner has other advanced image correction capability but I prefer to do this in PhotoShop where I have better control. Scanning speed at 4000 ppi is less than 1 minute. The final scans are definitely of publishable quality. This scanner has actually allowed me to delay my conversion to a digital SLR, although I'm sure I will eventually succumb.

Contrary to some of the reviews....

It is compatible with XP.

The slide scanning speed is dependent on your computer speed.

You can change the resolution (set to 1800x1200, scans were much smaller than default and took just over 1min each on a P4 2ghz.

The optional slide feeder does jam. usually due to thick slides or plastic frames that get stuck to the next slide. Although it is a problem with the design it is also a problem with the design of the plastic slide frames.

I usually put 50 slides into the feeder and come back in an hour and they are done.

Don't use your computer for anything else when scanning for fastest results.

More RAM is a good thing.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist.

It is much more reliable than the SC-2000.

It comes with a firewire card... and is compatible with most firewire ports (except I heard about an adapter needed from Sony to fix a problem with Sony's firewire port on one of their laptops... but since I don't have a Sony....)

There are older comments listed here that say this scanner does not work on XP. There are new files on the Nikon site that will allow it to work just fine - mine does! I had mine out of the box and scanning in less than 10 minutes. The ICE features are worth the scanners weight in gold. Anyone who has ever "cleaned" scans digitally before will appreciate having scratches and dust removed for you, as well as fading and color correction - all in just a few short minutes. I am using this with Ed Hamrick's Vuescan software and just LOVE it!

I have been using the 4000 ED to capture/scan all of my old 35mm negatives (going all the way back the early 1970's). The pictures I am able to print from these scanned negatives are better that the prints made from the negatives!
My only complaint is that the unit only supports 35mm, and doesn't support medium format film.