as the Coolscan 5000 ED). This is generally acknowledged to be the gold standard for scanners. Unfortunately, Nikon stopped producing these scanners several years ago. Fortunately, Nikon still services them (and will continue to do so as long as parts are available). Unfortunately, these scanners now cost more than twice as much used as they did when they were new. If you can find one on the secondary market (like eBay), you’ll be spending upwards of $1,000 to get one. One other scanner deserves mention — the


chief rival to the LS-5000 was the Minolta Dimage 5400, which had the highest resolution of any consumer scanner on the market at 5,400 d.p.i. (dots per inch). You can still find these on the used market, and like the Nikon scanner they are quite expensive. Sony was servicing these scanners a couple of years ago, but I was unable to confirm if these services are still available today. Remember, though, that when it comes


to film scanners you get what you pay for. If you buy a film scanner advertised for $200 (and they are out there), you will be getting a scanner that is barely adequate for doing anything else other than making low- resolution files for posting to the internet. It will not yield anything remotely resembling a scan you can use for publication or making large prints. In my opinion, if you’re taking the time to digitize your collection, you might as well make your images “press ready.”


Scanning Software Almost every scanner ships (or shipped)


with some proprietary software that can be clunky to use. No matter what you get, it is probably best to go with third-party software. The two that get the most attention are VueScan (www.hamrick.com) and Silverfast (www.silverfast.com). Going with one of these has several advantages. First, in cases like the Nikon and Minolta scanners, the native software hasn’t been updated since Windows XP or the pre-Intel Mac operating systems, and thus won’t work on most of


today’s computers. Second, if (like me) you use multiple scanners (I have a Nikon LS- 5000, a Minolta Dimage 5400, and an old Epson flatbed), you have to learn how to use only one program. I use VueScan to run all my scanners because it is so versatile. If you look at reviews for new scanners


(such as the Epson flatbeds or, especially, the Pacific Image Power Slide 5000) you’ll likely see that most people are unhappy with the native software and purchase either VueScan or Silverfast to run the machines. Some new scanners ship with Silverfast automatically. Using reliable third-party software will not void your warranty, and in many cases will provide you with finer controls.


Batch Scanning Slides So let’s say you want to scan your entire


slide collection upwards of 10,000 slides (or, in my case, 140,000 slides). You have a couple of options. Most scanners will let you scan four or six slides at a time (this is the case for all the flatbeds). Of course, this requires you to sit at your scanner for three or four years and change out slides every ten minutes or so. You didn’t have any plans tonight, did you? The other option is batch scanning, and


for this there are really only two options — the Pacific Image Power Slide 5000 and the Nikon LS-5000. The Pacific Image scanner comes with a tray that sort of looks like an old Kodak Carousel tray, and you can load this up with 50 slides at a time. Get it running, walk away, and come back in an hour or two and reload the scanner. The Nikon LS-5000 can only do one slide


at a time if you have only the scanner. You can purchase the Nikon SF-210 batch loader, however, which will let you scan up to 60 slides at a time. This accessory doesn’t come cheap. Like the scanner itself, the cost of the batch loader has about doubled from what it cost new; if you go with the LS-5000 and SF-210 combination, you’ll be looking at an investment somewhere in the $2,000 area. But you’ll also be getting the best scans


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OPPOSITE: The input page of VueScan scanning software. While software inputs can vary, notice the scanning d.p.i. is set for 3,000. The crop marks around the photo are set by the scanner automatically. ABOVE: The author’s scanning setup includes a Nikon LS-5000 scanner with an SF-210 batch feeder, connected to a MacBook Pro laptop. The fi les are saved directly to the attached external drive to save space on the laptop’s hard drive. The batch feeder can handle up to 60 slides at a time. STEVE BARRY PHOTOS


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