Nikon Super CoolScan 5000 ED Film Scanner

As everyone says, the scanner is fairly small, nice. It makes the typical noises that scanners make and produces nice results--the problem is the software. It's horribly unorganized, crashes and lacks support for systems made after 2003.

Windows XP x64 bit's Beta release was September 2003, and if my research is correct this Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED was put on the market nine months later (June 2004) yet as old as that is-- I'm forced to run it on a 32bit XP box as there is no support for ANY x64 bit Microsoft Operating system! In October 2008, Microsoft reported of all the hits to Microsoft Update, 20% of those were x64 bit platform.

The only PC I'm running with 32bit software is my Dell E1705 w/2Gig Ram. It has a clean install only a few months old with updates in place.

Nikon Scan uses Nikon Super Coolscan in a separate 'always on top' window to do the actual scanning. To select what negative to scan, you must click a unmarked vertical bar to open a small box showing numbers (from 1 to 6 by default). If any "Post Processing" options were previously used, the "Tool Palette 1" window must be open in order to avoid time consuming calculations (faster if ran on a x64 machine breaking the 2G barrier). All "Post Processing" options must be unchecked for each negative (group selection only grays out the selection boxes). There is the ability to disable "Digital ICE" from the preview in the Preferences window but not for the other Post Processing tools. Now you can initiate the Preview by clicking the said marked button. You may notice you are up to four windows open after the "Progress Window" pops up. Next close the small unmarked negative selector box as it is blocking the preview area. Adjust your crop area. Now restart this paragraph for each and every subsequent negative you wish to scan from this strip. Now re-check any "Post Processing" options you desire and re-select "Enable Digital ICE" as it seems to disable itself if you dis select Post Processing items. Now scan your first image . Repeat as necessary for subsequent images prepared.

Periodically after a strip of 4 negatives is inserted, the software doesn't acknowledge it's existence. The only way to get the film out is to cycle the scanners power switch-- but don't do that if you have unsaved images or they will be lost. After cycling the power on the scanner the PC responds with an error saying it cannot find the scanner with the only option being "OK", when you click it, all Nikon software closes dumping your work into lost bit land. This is in addition to the multiple crashes daily, at random-- sometimes after a set of scans, causing me to have to do the work over again.

Saving can be tricky too: Saving images is conditional on one of two things: 1. Your scanner finishes all scans; or, 2. You left an image open from a previous scan you just did (after opening the program of course). Why does the save option gray out if you close all your previous scans?

The Preferences window is accessed by pressing the "Perfs" bullet but you save them by clicking "Settings" drop down menu. Why are they split?

The Digital ROC ability works but at the lowest setting is way too strong.

Some people complain of bubblegum software that is too pretty to be efficient, while others complain of an overly complicated control screen. This software is both. When you spend over eleven hundred dollars on a piece of equipment that is so specialized, one would expect more professional, structured software.

This is not to say it's all bad, after the unorthodox controls are mastered the scans are quite nice. This is a piece of hardware aimed at computer savvy people, the software should reflect this. Four windows per scan is absurd. Even with dual monitors there is way to many clicks to get an image saved. Give me the ability to disable all image processing to see a preview. Don't block my preview. How about a maximum of two windows. Look at Sound Forge for an example: Integrate the Progress window-- anywhere. Consolidate the ability to set preferences and save them in the same applet. "Tool Palette 1" seems like an after thought. Let's put it with the other pre-scan options-- as part of the Super Coolscan window itself. As these changes will not drastically change the appearance as much as make it more fluid. Oh and don't forget the x64 bit thing.

My review deals with all Nikon scanners based on my experiences with the Nikon LS-4000 ED scanner and Nikon's lack of commitment in the very area that once made them the first choice for professional and serious amateur photographers. We spent several thousand dollars on a scanner that, although being a recent product, will not work on Mac OS X Leopard or Windows Vista, even though Nikon claims to support both. The Nikon Scan app that supposedly works with our systems will not recognize the scanner and the 4.0.2 updater for that software falsely reports a successful installation when in fact it leaves the former version untouched. We've practically begged Nikon for help and have been told that, in effect, they can't continue to support "older" products and they're sorry they can't help us. They're not the only ones who are sorry -- I deeply regret the huge amount of money I've invested in Nikon gear. If you are considering the purchase of any Nikon scanner, I suggest taking a very careful look at competitors and their reputation for supporting what they sell. If this was a 20 year old product I could be more understanding.

To all the 5000 ED owners who have written favorable reviews I would only say that I once felt the same way about the 4000 ED and I sincerely hope you don't run into this same support nightmare in the future.

I've used both the CoolScan III and the Coolscan 5000ED, unless you're selling pictures the III does just fine. I found Hamrick Software Nikon didn't update the software for the LS-30 to work with Vista. It makes a good scanner great, so would highly suggest the additional expense and not even waste your time using the OEM software.

I can't add much to the many positive reviews for this scanner. I can say that old slides and negatives that I shot in the seventies never looked so good. Back in the day I worked in a professional photo lab. One of my jobs was making 4x5 inter negatives from slides for large blow ups. It was state of the art at the time and allowed very good 16" x 20" and acceptable 30" x 40" prints. I stil have some of those inter-negs and prints and I can tell you that a digital scan from the Nikon 5000 processed thru Photoshop and printed on a large format ink jet printer are better than any wet process I have seen. Even my B&W TriX negatives have improved with age (and digital scanning). I can place a quality 8x10 from 1972 side by side with an ink jet print from the same negative scanned with the 5000 and the new print reveals more detail and tonal range than I could ever achieve in the darkroom.

I originally purchased the Coolscan V. Once I realized how long each scan was going to take, it was clear that the bulk loader (SF-210) was mandatory. I returned the V and ordered this version. I really have no complaints. My collection of almost 3,500 slide is now almost scanned. Some of the images created (especially if you give individual attention to the slide) are simply breath taking. I did a great deal of research and I believe this is the best option for digitalizing your old slide collection. Like others, I was dissappointed in the included software; otherwise this would have been a five star review. Once I got used to it (on Vista), I really didn't have that many problems though.