Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED Film Scanner

I have had a long-time interest in photography.  I currently own both film and digital cameras and almost exclusively use the digital camera to save developing costs.

I also have boxes and boxes of developed film and pictures that I would love to digitize and scan into my computer.  I have tried those inexpensive document scanners and have successfully scanned some photographs, but the hassle of taking the scanner apart to wipe the dust from the underside of the glass is a pain and invariably I get specks and other anomalies with pictures that have black or dark backgrounds.

I have found a great scanner that can scan my thousands of negatives with ease. The Super Coolscan 5000 ED is, as the name implies, cool.

At 4,000 DPI (dots per inch to those neophytes out there) there is more than enough resolution for just about any purpose.  The color reproduction is fantastic at least to my calibrated eyeballs.

It comes with image correction and enhancement that can save your pics if they have a scratch or fingerprint.  Just keep your negatives protected and use gloves when handling them and you will not have a problem.  It also has the capability to restore faded colors.

If you have slides and not negatives, there is an optional slide feeder for 50 slides (SF-210).  If you develop your own film and have complete uncut rolls, there is an optional roll film adapter (SA-30) that will handle up to 40 frames.  I let the photography shop develop the film, cut it and then I scan the images.

Despite the speed of this unit (a fast 20 seconds per negative) , it will take a lot of time if you have thousands or tens of thousands of images on film or slides.  Buy a couple of pair of lint-free gloves before you start; 6-pair for $14 is not bad.

The Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED Film Scanner should cost close to $1200, but if you use a lot of different size films, than there’s the Super COOLSCAN 9000ED which goes for $2200.

[via Nikon]

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