I've been using Nikon scanners for a couple of years now - the high end 4000 and the 8000, for a total of four different scanners, and I bought a 5000 recently. Because I was not very knowledgeable, I thought these were good scanners, and in many respects they are. Still, they have their faults, and one MAJOR fault is that they focus poorly if the film is not absolutely flat. They do not put any tension on the film. What they do is "average" the focus across the film and give you the best result possible, which often means that nothing is as sharp as it can be.
If you choose to selectively focus, say on a central point in the image, the edges tend to go soft. If the edge is where you choose to focus, the middle and other edges go soft. And so on. So, for best results, make sure the film is FLAT! Place the negs between the pages of a heavy book for a few days, located in the same environment as the scanner (so that temp and humidity stabilize). Then scan. For 35mm scanners there's the FH-3 Film Strip Holder, which helps somewhat, but it is not a cure for the problem. The scanners are good enough for the web and some small prints, but not up to standards for high quality large prints. Shel > From: Nick Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > I'd avoid the Minolta Scan Dual II. Mine was a real dog, > failing to line up consistently, twain driver never worked, etc. > Nikon scanners are a far better bet, I've had the Coolscan II > and now the LS4000. Friends have the Coolscan III and V > and have had no problems.
