Nikon Coolscan V ED

My review deals with all Nikon scanners based on my experiences with the Nikon LS-4000 ED scanner and Nikon's lack of commitment in the very area that once made them the first choice for professional and… serious amateur photographers. We spent several thousand dollars on a scanner that, although being a recent product, will not work on Mac OS X Leopard or Windows Vista, even though Nikon claims to support both. The Nikon Scan app that supposedly works with our systems will not recognize the scanner and the 4.0.2 updater for that software falsely reports a successful installation when in fact it leaves the former version untouched. We've practically begged Nikon for help and have been told that, in effect, they can't continue to support "older" products and they're sorry they can't help us. They're not the only ones who are sorry -- I deeply regret the huge amount of money I've invested in Nikon gear. If you are considering the purchase of any Nikon scanner, I suggest taking a very careful look at competitors and their reputation for supporting what they sell. If this was a 20 year old product I could be more understanding.

expand

collapse

I bought this unit about 3 years ago and spent the first winter scanning Kodachromes and Fujichromes. I've been shooting since about 1974. You may view the results of my passion at… photographersdirect.com. Type in robertleeking or go to U.S. photographers and then Maine photographers. In that first winter, not knowing much about digital files and nothing about scanners........I saved all scans as JPEG's. Within the last year I went back to the original transparencies and decided I wanted to rescan and save them as RAW's (actually NEF as far as Nikon is concerned). NEF is Nikon's name for RAW. I believe the two are identical. But with this Nikon scanner you will not see an option to save in RAW. You will see an option to save in NEF. Again.......NEF is RAW! If you want to save your files that you scanned with a Nikon scanner as RAW's.......save them as NEF's There is no conversion to RAW afterwards. All other (non-Nikon) manufacturers will recognize the NEF as a RAW. It is that simple. I know.......you guys who have been around quite awhile are already aware of that.....but the beginner is not. Scanning is not something anybody learns in a few days or a few weeks or probably even a few months........and it matters not how smart you may think you are. If you have not yet put in your time (a lot of time) to learn scanning.....you are going to have to do it in order to get to the point where you are happy with your results. After you get your unit you will need help learning. Don't click onto the help icon inside the scanner program. It is a waste of time.........a piece of....crap! Instead.......go to NIKONUSA, DOWNLOAD CENTER; choose SCANNERS and then choose the Adobe Reader download THAT YOU LIKE BEST. This manual is outstanding! Coupled with your own trials and errors, this manual will get you where you want to go....it is just going to take awhile. Within this last year I developed a scanning routine that I now follow for almost all my scans...and of course I initially save them as RAW's .....ahhh, I mean, NEF's. After that the NEF file gets worked over a little in NIKON CAPTURE NX 2. Here's the deal.......I still thoroughly enjoy scanning slides and I also like routine (or low level) post processing. Some folks hate it. I have a pro friend who does not do a single thing to any of her images. She even refuses to use a polarizer. That's her choice. It is my choice to go the other way. I am a Nature Photographer and a Wildlife Biologist. If anybody knows what nature looks like....I do! I have been adhoring it all my life. Hey - face it........film and digital are both artificial realms! So who is to say that that image right out of the camera accurately depicts nature?. Possibly only the one who has a very experienced eye for nature....and then there is a significant margin of error. CONS: There is only one that I can think of right now that I do not like about this scanner.......and it is a significant problem.......time per scan. Depending on what options you choose, each scan can take seemingly forever to complete!! But there is a way around all of that: Don't use all the options. I am not going to get into it here. You figure out (if you have not already) what options you don't need to use. In other words, I do not allow the scanner to complete all elements of digitizing a transparency. I save some of the stuff to be done in post processing........primarily with CAPTURE NX 2. And now, I have it down to about 2 minutes and 15 seconds to complete a scan. That is quite liveable! At 4000dpi through very high quality ED glass, this scanner produces scans the equal of those from machines that cost in the thousands. At about $600....this is probably the best buy of any scanner on the market....bar none at all.....by a long shot! GET IT! Oh...HEY NIKON! You need to give us a scanner that goes way above 4000dpi...say 5000 or even 6000...at a reasonable price. We know you can do it. If anybody already has a unit in mind please e-mail me at bobbyleeking@yahoo.com. Thanks for the time and keep shooting what's in your heart! You'll evolve into your niche!

expand

collapse

I borrowed this from a co-worker and decided to turn all of my parent's 35mm slides into digital pictures. This works great. Easy set up and surprisingly clear pictures. The only complaint is that the… "38 seconds" to scan the slide doesn't include the saving of the picture which will vary with your PC. Also, Make sure you dust your slides before scanning. With this kind of clarity even the smallest dust particles are visible.

expand

collapse