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Electronics : Canon CanoScan 8800F Color Film/Negative/Photo Scanner (2168B002)
Rating: 
- An excellent (though big) all-around scanner
Though Epson scanners continually get good reviews for their image quality, I have found Epson software to be balky, and image quality to be inferior to the equivalent Canon unit. I haven't tested every model out there, but I have both an Epson and a Canon scanner at my office, and the Canon always produces better results even though it is a cheaper model than the Epson. The headaches caused by the Epson's software gives the Canon an even bigger advantage. When it came time to purchase a scanner for my home, going with the Canon was a no-brainer. The first thing to consider about the 8800 is its size. Obviously, all scanner sizes are determined by the size of the plate, but the 8800 is also a fairly tall unit. Opening the door requires a fair amount of room, and you'll want to measure first if you're considering a shelf mount. My 8800 shipped with Canon's version of Photoshop, which includes most of the basic features the amateur will need. It also came with Photoshop Elements 5.0, which contains a few more advanced features, but is not designed to run natively on Intel-based Mac computers. Put simply, if your Mac is about two years old or newer, the supplied copy of Photoshop will run slowly. Otherwise, the supplied software works well--one of the most convenient features is when you are scanning slides, the software automatically recognizes and separates the individual frames in preview mode, allowing you to pick and choose which ones to scan. The scanning quality is the best I've ever experienced (though I only have tried cheaper scanners than this one), and it does well with film negatives, slides, and prints. The only odd results I've gotten are with semi-gloss finishes such as prom pictures--white "sparkles" appear possibly as a result of some kind of reflection. There are a million settings to play with, and hopefully one will sort out that issue. Scanning speed seems fairly slow, but I suppose this is the price to pay when using the extremely high resolution settings the 8800 is capable of. For less than $200, it's hard to imagine wanting much more.
Rating: - CanoScan 8800F
I bought this scanner to scan 35mm slides, and while I have been pleased with the scanned results, I get quite frustrated during the scanning process because the unit shuts itself off after scanning, so when I get to the part where I should have the option of continuing to scan or to exit, I am forced to exit, save the scans and then turn the unit back on. This slows down the whole process tremendously, primarily because the unit doesn't usually want to turn back on for awhile. Sometimes it takes me 20-30 minutes to get the unit to turn back on. I've got an email into Canon support and hopefully its an easy fix.
Rating:
- Exellent and versatile scanner
I purchased this scanner about 6 months ago. My primary reason for the purchase was to prepare for my parents 50th wedding anniversary in June. Our family had thousands of photos, mostly slides, that had never been organized. All told, I scanned approximately 800 photos, slides and film strips to gather my material for this event.
My sister and I put together a slide show for the event and the photos, even really old ones, looked fantastic. Once you learn the optimal settings, this scanner does an incredible job. I found that most photos required only minimal correction and enhancement in Photoshop Elements after scanning.
I would highly recommend for anyone who wishes to archive precious pictures in various formats.
Rating: - Canon 8800F Slide Scanning Stray Light
I have scanned approximately 150 slides with the Canon 8800F. The results are satisfactory, but I am not as enthusiastic about this scanner as some of the reviewers. My slide collection spans from 1967 forward, so many of the slides have been in and out of trays many times. The exposures range in quality, some of the slides have deteriorated some, and there is dust on many of the older slides.
The setup took about 30 minutes - following the sketchy instructions. The software included Photoshop elements 5.0, and that is nice. I already owned that software, so it was no additional value to me. Without going into details about the packaged scanner software, it has not been difficult to use. However, trial and error has been the means to determine the effects of the various settings. It would be good to explore the setting for a while to determine what works best before setting out to scan dozens of slides.
The quality of the scans is better than I expected with one exception. This is a major issue. The slide adapter has nice large reliefs cut on each side of the slide holder to permit easy removal of slides. Big fingers can easily get to the slides, but so can a whole lot of light. I posted two photos. One shows the stray light spilling across one of the upper corners of the image. It is a large area and not something to touch up with Photoshop. I did find a solution. I placed a sheet of paper under the slide holder in a position that would block light from passing through the finger reliefs. I posted a photo that shows the improvement. This is a little bit of a hassle, but it works.
One other quality issue. The scanner came with a small piece of plastic stuck to the inside of the glass. It isn't in the area of the slides, so I have not tried to find a way inside to remove it. Also, the glass was pretty dirty and needed cleaned.
Scanning at 4800 dpi has been slow. Four slides take about 10 to 15 minutes. The additional time to remove dust and scratched using Photoshop can add a lot of time. The simple dust and scratch filter reduces sharpness, so I have avoided using it. A higher end scanner uses different techniques to minimize dust effects, so for those people where money is not an issue or time is critical, something like the Nikon scanners might be considered.
I am not a professional photographer, so this will meet my needs.
The stray light problem is shown in the image titled:
Canon 8800F Scanner Stray Light
The improvement achieved with a piece of paper used to block the stray light is seen in the image titled:
Canon 8800F Scanner Stray Light Solution
Rating: - Terrific tool!
I purchased this scanner for my husband as an anniversary gift, hoping to get rid of some of the stored paper in the house. I broke open the box myself, to scan a pile of photos documenting the career of a colleague due to retire. It took no time to set up on my Mac and I was able to begin scanning immediately with no glitches. The scanning itself was fast. Others have commented on the noise during scanning. I didn't find this to be a problem. I finished my task with ease and the images came out wonderfully without requiring any fiddling. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in archiving without hassles.
- An excellent (though big) all-around scannerThough Epson scanners continually get good reviews for their image quality, I have found Epson software to be balky, and image quality to be inferior to the equivalent Canon unit. I haven't tested every model out there, but I have both an Epson and a Canon scanner at my office, and the Canon always produces better results even though it is a cheaper model than the Epson. The headaches caused by the Epson's software gives the Canon an even bigger advantage. When it came time to purchase a scanner for my home, going with the Canon was a no-brainer. The first thing to consider about the 8800 is its size. Obviously, all scanner sizes are determined by the size of the plate, but the 8800 is also a fairly tall unit. Opening the door requires a fair amount of room, and you'll want to measure first if you're considering a shelf mount. My 8800 shipped with Canon's version of Photoshop, which includes most of the basic features the amateur will need. It also came with Photoshop Elements 5.0, which contains a few more advanced features, but is not designed to run natively on Intel-based Mac computers. Put simply, if your Mac is about two years old or newer, the supplied copy of Photoshop will run slowly. Otherwise, the supplied software works well--one of the most convenient features is when you are scanning slides, the software automatically recognizes and separates the individual frames in preview mode, allowing you to pick and choose which ones to scan. The scanning quality is the best I've ever experienced (though I only have tried cheaper scanners than this one), and it does well with film negatives, slides, and prints. The only odd results I've gotten are with semi-gloss finishes such as prom pictures--white "sparkles" appear possibly as a result of some kind of reflection. There are a million settings to play with, and hopefully one will sort out that issue. Scanning speed seems fairly slow, but I suppose this is the price to pay when using the extremely high resolution settings the 8800 is capable of. For less than $200, it's hard to imagine wanting much more.
Rating:
- CanoScan 8800FI bought this scanner to scan 35mm slides, and while I have been pleased with the scanned results, I get quite frustrated during the scanning process because the unit shuts itself off after scanning, so when I get to the part where I should have the option of continuing to scan or to exit, I am forced to exit, save the scans and then turn the unit back on. This slows down the whole process tremendously, primarily because the unit doesn't usually want to turn back on for awhile. Sometimes it takes me 20-30 minutes to get the unit to turn back on. I've got an email into Canon support and hopefully its an easy fix.
Rating:
- Exellent and versatile scannerI purchased this scanner about 6 months ago. My primary reason for the purchase was to prepare for my parents 50th wedding anniversary in June. Our family had thousands of photos, mostly slides, that had never been organized. All told, I scanned approximately 800 photos, slides and film strips to gather my material for this event.
My sister and I put together a slide show for the event and the photos, even really old ones, looked fantastic. Once you learn the optimal settings, this scanner does an incredible job. I found that most photos required only minimal correction and enhancement in Photoshop Elements after scanning.
I would highly recommend for anyone who wishes to archive precious pictures in various formats.
Rating:
- Canon 8800F Slide Scanning Stray LightI have scanned approximately 150 slides with the Canon 8800F. The results are satisfactory, but I am not as enthusiastic about this scanner as some of the reviewers. My slide collection spans from 1967 forward, so many of the slides have been in and out of trays many times. The exposures range in quality, some of the slides have deteriorated some, and there is dust on many of the older slides.
The setup took about 30 minutes - following the sketchy instructions. The software included Photoshop elements 5.0, and that is nice. I already owned that software, so it was no additional value to me. Without going into details about the packaged scanner software, it has not been difficult to use. However, trial and error has been the means to determine the effects of the various settings. It would be good to explore the setting for a while to determine what works best before setting out to scan dozens of slides.
The quality of the scans is better than I expected with one exception. This is a major issue. The slide adapter has nice large reliefs cut on each side of the slide holder to permit easy removal of slides. Big fingers can easily get to the slides, but so can a whole lot of light. I posted two photos. One shows the stray light spilling across one of the upper corners of the image. It is a large area and not something to touch up with Photoshop. I did find a solution. I placed a sheet of paper under the slide holder in a position that would block light from passing through the finger reliefs. I posted a photo that shows the improvement. This is a little bit of a hassle, but it works.
One other quality issue. The scanner came with a small piece of plastic stuck to the inside of the glass. It isn't in the area of the slides, so I have not tried to find a way inside to remove it. Also, the glass was pretty dirty and needed cleaned.
Scanning at 4800 dpi has been slow. Four slides take about 10 to 15 minutes. The additional time to remove dust and scratched using Photoshop can add a lot of time. The simple dust and scratch filter reduces sharpness, so I have avoided using it. A higher end scanner uses different techniques to minimize dust effects, so for those people where money is not an issue or time is critical, something like the Nikon scanners might be considered.
I am not a professional photographer, so this will meet my needs.
The stray light problem is shown in the image titled:
Canon 8800F Scanner Stray Light
The improvement achieved with a piece of paper used to block the stray light is seen in the image titled:
Canon 8800F Scanner Stray Light Solution
Rating:
- Terrific tool!I purchased this scanner for my husband as an anniversary gift, hoping to get rid of some of the stored paper in the house. I broke open the box myself, to scan a pile of photos documenting the career of a colleague due to retire. It took no time to set up on my Mac and I was able to begin scanning immediately with no glitches. The scanning itself was fast. Others have commented on the noise during scanning. I didn't find this to be a problem. I finished my task with ease and the images came out wonderfully without requiring any fiddling. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in archiving without hassles.
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