Slide scanner reviews

Scanners are bringing old slides out of the cupboard. But perfect pictures require patience.
 
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  • Updated:29 Nov 2004
 

03.Results

We expected the flat-beds to have problems with sharpness because there's a piece of glass between the scanners' lens and the slide. Although we found this is the case, both flat-bed scanners use sharpening tools by default to reduce this problem to a negligible level for some users. Time, the Achilles heel of all slide scanners, is the factor that really sorts the products out (see Slow, slower, slowest).

What to buy

Brand Price

  • Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV - $699
  • Nikon Coolscan V ED (LS-50 ED) - $1295

The Konica Minolta Dual IV is relatively inexpensive, quick and easy to use. It has no cleaning function and its image quality is only OK in comparison with the others, but it's a good choice if price is your major consideration.

Although it's not as easy to use, the Nikon V ED's performance is very good and it comes with a cleaning system - Digital Ice. If you need to scan large batches of slides at once, rather than one at a time, you'll need to purchase the 50-slide attachment for an extra $879.

 

 

Results tables

Performance table

Performance Features
Brand/model (in rank order) Price ($)1 Overall (%) Perform
-ance2 (%)		 Ease of use3 (%) Max slides Scan button Focus Cleaner
Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV
www.konicaminolta.com.au		 699 79 79 78 4S/6N • auto/man
Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400
www.konicaminolta.com.au		 1549 77 75 80 4S/6N • auto/man Digital ICE
Nikon Coolscan V ED (LS-50 ED)
www.maxwell.com.au		 1295 77 83 69 1S/6N auto/man Digital ICE
Canon CanoScan 9900F
(a)
www.canon.com.au		 699 71 68 76 8S/24N • auto/man FARE
Microtek ArtixScan 4000tf
www.proscan.com.au		 1759 71 75 64 4S/6N auto
Epson Perfection 4870 Photo
(a)
www.epson.com.au		 899 70 65 77 8S/24N • auto Digital ICE
Canon CanoScan FS 4000 US
www.canon.com.au		 1299 68 64 74 4S/6N auto/man FARE

Table notes

1 Price is the recommended retail price as supplied by the manufacturer in August 2004.

2 Performance (60% of Overall) time to scan a slide at both default and maximum optical resolution, quality of the scanner's output at maximum optical resolution. All times are using USB connection.

3 Ease of use (40%) software and hardware installation and setup, instructions and help files, default settings, hardware and software use.

4 Features
Max slides the maximum number of slides (S), or images on a film strip (N), that can be loaded in the carriage or placed on the glass plate to be previewed; Scan button whether it has a single button on the scanner that launches the scanner software; Focus whether it has an automatic focus, a manual focus or both; Cleaner whether it has a cleaner to remove dust and scratches from the image (see Cleaning up).

Specifications table

Specifications
Brand/model (in rank order) Connections Dimensions (WxHxD, mm) Max optical resolution (dpi) Max bit depth Min system requirements (PC, Mac)
Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV
www.konicaminolta.com.au		 U2 145x100x326 3200 48 Windows 98+
Mac OS 8.6+
Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400
www.konicaminolta.com.au		 F, U2 65x165x360 5400 48 Windows 98+
Mac OS 8.6+
Nikon Coolscan V ED (LS-50 ED)
www.maxwell.com.au		 U2 96x172x315 4000 42 Windows 98+
Mac OS 9.0+
Canon CanoScan 9900F
(a)
www.canon.com.au		 F, U2 (b) 290x509x127 3200 48 Windows 98+
Mac OS 9.0+
Microtek ArtixScan 4000tf
www.proscan.com.au		 F, U2 170x305x130 4000 42 Windows 98+
Mac OS 9.0+
Epson Perfection 4870 Photo
(a)
www.epson.com.au		 F, U2 (b) 130x460x300 4800 48 Windows 98+
Mac OS 8.6+
Canon CanoScan FS 4000 US
www.canon.com.au		 U1, SCSI (c) 82x144x368 4000 42 Windows 98+
Mac OS 8.6+

Table notes

5 Specifications

Connections whether it uses USB 1.1 (U1), USB 2.0 (U2), or FireWire (F) or SCSI to connect to the computer. FireWire connections may reduce times to scan;

Dimensions the size of the product in mm, not including protrusions;

Max optical resolution the maximum optical resolution;

Maximum Bit depth the maximum bit depth as claimed by the manufacturer (see Dictionary).

Minimum system requirements

***= Windows 98+
***= Mac OS 8.6
***= Mac OS 9.0+

(a) Flat-bed scanner.
(b) Firewire capable, but no cable supplied.
(c) SCSI capable but no cable supplied

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