Slide scanner reviews

02.What to look for

• Mounts and carriages - all in this test were plastic, but functional. The slides lie on the flat-bed scanners' glass plate, which could lead to fingerprints and dirt on the glass. The Microtek 4000tf uses small plastic springs to clamp the slides, which could be a bit fiddly and the slide carriage extends out both ends of the scanner needing 60 cm in total to avoid obstructing it. The Nikon V ED can only scan one slide at a time.
• Knobs and dials - it's handy to be able to start a scan by pushing a button on the scanner itself. All but the Canon FS 4000 US, Nikon V ED and Microtek 4000tf had one. The Konica Minolta Elite 5400 also has a manual focus control knob.
• Software - being able to find what you need easily and go from one function to another with as little effort as possible are important functions for software. All in this test scored OK or better, but the Nikon V ED and Microtek 4000tf software was more difficult to use than the others.
• Dust - is a real problem when scanning. You can clean your slides, but dust in the scanner can be harder to remove. All the slide scanners except the Nikon V ED and Artixscan 4000tf have a gate to help keep out dust. The former has only a narrow opening and the latter comes with a dust cover and cleaning kit.
• Connections - all have a USB connection and the Canon 9900F, Epson 4870 Photo, Konica Minolta Elite 5400 and Microtek 4000tf also come with FireWire, which could reduce the time to scan if you're using high resolutions. USB 2.0 is faster than USB1.1, but its transfer speed can be affected by the amount of processing the computer is doing.
• Focus - all products have auto-focus, but this isn't always effective. Manual focus is available via a software control for all products except the Perfection 4870 Photo and Artixscan 4000tf. The Konica Minolta Elite 5400 has a manual focus knob.