p.1 #1 · Nikon Coolscan or Plustek slide/neg.scanner?
My SCSI Nikon Coolscan LS-30 (Coolscan 111) has given up the ghost. I am looking at the Nikon Coolscan LS 4000 at £460, or the Plustek 7500 A1, the Nikon is around £150 more expensive, is it worth the extra? The Plustek comes with Silverfast, how does it compare with the Nikon Digital Ice on the LS 4000?.
I have also been advised to stick with SCSI and another option would be to pick up a used good condition LS-30, which I have seen on Ebay for under £100.
I am scanning for archival purposes. Any advice would be appreciated as I can't find review/comparisons online.
p.1 #2 · Nikon Coolscan or Plustek slide/neg.scanner?
I have a 4000 and find it to be a quality machine capable of excellent scans using Nikon Scan or View Scan professional. It thankfully is firewire, NOT SCSI. Digital ICE removes scratches and small dirt and works well if used in moderation. I do not understand comparing it with Silverfast since Silverfast is a scanning program (which offers great control at the price of considerable complexity).
I have never used a Plustek and have never heard anyone whose judgement I respect speak for it in any way. Stick to Nikon. In photography Plustech is an off brand.
As far as I can tell, SCSI is obsolescent at best, and to be avoided.
Depending on what you are scanning and what use you anticipate for it, I'd scan at maximum resolution in 16 bits---but that does take room. I figure that someday 16 bits, not eight, will be standard, thus giving your archives a longer potential life......
If top quality is a concern, the 4000 will do multiple scans of each image for smoother tonality and grain/noise---but at at some cost in time.....
p.1 #3 · Nikon Coolscan or Plustek slide/neg.scanner?
Hi papageno
This is SO helpful! I will now go for the 4000 for sure. I put a fireward card in my PC a while back, so that'll be no problem.
My camera shop told me Silverfast was the Plustek equivalent of Digital ICE, shows how much they know about scanning! I have used Digital ICE, albeit an earlier firmware version, with my LS-30 for six years now, it is astounding.
I will be scanning at 16 bits, as I am archiving some several thousand historically significant negs and slides, some of which are showing significant signs of deterioration and corruption in the film layer, especially in some of the negs that were, by the look of it, badly processed in a 1 hour booth.
How is the 4000 with Kodachrome? The LS30 doesn't like it all.
Do you scan from within Photoshop? That is what I have been doing but I have heard that its better to use Nikon Scan on its own and then open the scanned and saved file in Photoshop. What do you think?
I had never heard of multiple scans of each item. Will the 4000 do that automatically for every new slide if you ask it? I don't mind the time, anything is fast after my much-loved but very slow LS 30. The project is running over two years anyway.
p.1 #4 · Nikon Coolscan or Plustek slide/neg.scanner?
I do it from Photoshop and it works fine for me. Vuescan I use by itself. Mostly NikonScan: VS is inconsistent for me.
You have to tell the scanner you want multiple scans--up to 16. Supposedly each additional scan adds one bit of true depth......
I've never scanned a Kodachrome on the 4000, but there are issues with it. Doesn't do well with ICE so I am told.
I did a lot of work on high speed negative, which in my experience needs a bit more tweaking than most slides. Of course the negs were available light; the chromes were usually filtered......
p.1 #5 · Nikon Coolscan or Plustek slide/neg.scanner?
Thanks for your time, papageno.
Can I bother you with just a couple more questions.
How much does the latest Digital ICE affect sharpness? I ask that because using ICE on the LS30 there is a softening of the image, but its worth the trade off as the cloning and post-processing needed to remove the dust/scratches without ICE would affect the image even more.
Reconsidering the overall workload over the next couple of years, is the difference between an 8 bit and 16 bit scan actually visible, or at what enlargement level would it become visible? How long does a 16 bit multipass take, compared to an 8 bit.
Finally, are there any manual over-rides you would recommend in the scanning process, or is the scan fine on all auto?
Thanks once again for your time. I have the scanner lined-up, and have found a shop that will do a good price and trade in some other equipment, so I am a week or two away from buying it.
