Nikon Super CoolScan 5000 ED Film Scanner

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 slides is now 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.

received on time. scanning like a marmot. I wish apple designed their software, but it does the job. matter of getting the right combination of setup for each type of film.