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.	High Resolution Film Scanner Canon FS4000US Peter Kun Frary Although print or monitor images are nice, nothing beats the magic of viewing a chrome on a light table with a quality loupe. Plus, film is still improving and I enjoy using the huge variety of emulsions available. Nevertheless, I need digital images for web and home printing, so a film scanner allows me to enjoy the benefits of 35mm photography and digital imaging at the same time. Even if I sold my soul to the darkside--digital--I still have shoe boxes and filing cabinets of negs and chromes to scan, so a film scanner will be essential for years to come. Canon Canoscan FS4000US (2001). 4000 DPI 42-bit 35 mm film scanner. Many scans need little tweaking. Hey, it's a looker too. After the death of my LS-1000, I purchased a Canoscan FS4000US. The higher resolution (4000 x 5888 pixels at 4000 DPI and 42-bits), greater dynamic range, auto scratch removal (FARE) and accurate exposure and color adjustments really set the FS4000US apart from the LS-1000. Get Connected The FS4000US sports both USB 1.1 and SCSI II connections. Thus, you can connect it to two computers simultaneously. Unfortunately, you can't use it with two computers in tandem because the FS4000US lacks auto port sensing. You must flip a switch on the underside to change between between SCSI and USB. You'll want to use the SCSI connection. Scan and upload speed, especially with 125MB image files (4000dpi/42 bits), is much faster. However, there isn't much speed difference with low rez scans. Incidentally, the FS4000US doesn't need to be on when you boot Mac OS 8.6, 9.1 and 9.2.2. (don't know about Windows). Turn it on anytime and the driver recognizes it in both SCSI and USB modes. The scanner must be on under Mac OS 10.x for the device to be recognized. The manual states that "add-in" USB cards and hubs aren't acceptable and may not work. This disclaimer is standard fare on USB devices. However, the FS4000US works perfectly with my el cheapo CompUSA USB card, Sonnet Tempo Trio ATA133/Firewire/USB 2.0 card, Belkin hub, Beige G3 and 9600. In fact, every scanner, printer, keyboard and mouse I've ever tried worked fine with my add-in" USB cards and hubs. Moreover, the SCSI connection worked fine with both the built in SCSI of the 9600 and my Adaptec 2930U Ultra SCSI card (no speed difference as the scanner is the limiting factor). Canon recommends use of the Adaptec 2930U Ultra SCSI card and does not guarantee compatibility with other SCSI solutions. However, I suspect the FS4000US will work with a variety of SCSI cards, and Canon is merely adding their standard "don't blame me" disclaimer. The FS4000US uses 50-pin high density SCSI connections (Ultra SCSI type). Of course, the recommended Adaptec 2930 Ultra SCSI card (not included) has the needed 50-pin high density SCSI connectors. A 50-pin high density cable isn't included, is expensive ($30) and isn't as easy to find as 50-pin Centronics cables. My FS4000US works perfectly with a 50-pin high density to 25-pin Centronics cable while connected to the built-in SCSI of a Mac 9600. Aloha Tower Market Place • Elan 7E, EF 50 1.4 USM, 420EX Speedlite, Fuji NPH 400 & FS4000US Scanning Film The FS4000US scans at 4000 dpi/42 bit. This resolution yields a 125 MB image file, i.e., over 23 million pixels! There's a lot more information in a 4000 dpi/42 bit scan compared to a 2700 dpi/24 bit scan, so the size is worth it. You can always rez down later if needed. If you need to do extensive editing in Photoshop 6x or 7x, you must reduce 16 bit color channels to 8 bits, resulting in a 50% smaller file (60MB). Incidentally, I couldn't see any difference between 16 and 8 bit modes on monitor or prints. I've heard some photographers say 4000 dpi is overkill as there's no additional detail to resolve in 35mm film after 2700 dpi. Obviously, they haven't scanned sharply focused, fine grained emulsions and don't print big enlargements. I rescanned many of my old images and was shocked at the increased detail and dynamic range compared to the LS-1000. Scans of ISO 50, 100 and 200 emulsions are amazingly vivid and detailed. ISO 400 and faster emulsions show more grain than I like, something not obvious with 2700 dpi scans. In fairness, the graininess of 400 ISO film is partially due to the automatic unsharp mask algorithms in the FilmGet FS 1.0 plugin. I prefer to selectively add unsharp mask only after resizing for printing or web display. I never use unsharp mask on skies and shadows as it accentuates grain. Silverfast SE The grain of modern ISO 400 film, e.g., Royal Gold or NPH, is much less evident with Silverfast or VueScan plugins than FilmGet. Why? Because auto unsharp mask (USM) may be defeated. Canon made a serious mistake by not allowing USM to be defeated in FilmGet. A FS4000US scan of a well executed negative or slide is very sharp and needs no additional sharpening at this stage. My preferred scanner plugin is Silverfast SE (LaserSoft). It sports basic image controls (more than FilmGet), has 5 levels of sharpening (including no sharpening), unsharp mask, dust/scratch removal (Gane) and profiles for popular emulsions. Plus, SilverFast scans and transmits faster than FilmGet (e.g., 2 minutes vs. 3 minutes for a 4000 dpi, 24 bit scan), auto exposure is more accurate and shadow details are less noisy. The downside of SilverFast SE is costs $49, doesn't work with APS (it tries but fails) and lacks batch scanning. The omission of batch scanning kills SilverFast SE for high volume users or APS lovers. However, I setup and scan each image individually, so no big deal for me. SilverFast (full version) is more capable--a tweaker's dream-- but I can't see spending $250 for it. You may download SilverFast and test it before buying. I also tried VueScan but couldn't get consistently good results. Amtrak Sunrise, California • Elan 7E, EF 28-135 3.5-5.6 IS USM, Sensia 100, FS4000US, Silverfast SE 6.2. The extreme dynamic range of this slide befuddled FilmGet and I couldn't get a viable scan. Silverfast SE and a little Photoshop tweaking yielded a stunning image of this iron horse. Accessories & Installation Canon includes a film strip holder, slide holder and an APS cartridge holder. No connection cables or PCI cards are included. The hardest part was crawling under my desk to connect the SCSI cable. Those dust balls are nasty! A click and go installer CD installs the FilmGet plugin, Photoshop LE, Arcsoft PhotoBase and Canon Image Browser on your hard drive. After installing, I restarted my Mac 9600 and everything worked perfectly. Scanning & Scan Speed I was pleasantly surprised at the batch scan features of the FS4000US: up to 4 slides, 6 negs or 40 APS images may be scanned automatically (an APS adapter is included with the FS4000US). The 40-image batch scan ability of the APS adapter is truly amazing. I don't shoot much APS, but it's nice to have this ability out of the box. For negatives, you simply open the holder, lay the negative in the slot, close the holder and push it into the FS4000US. Slides are inserted under retaining clips. Both the negative and slide holders keep the film flat and thus in the same plane of focus. The APS cartridge holder looks like an APS camera. Like a camera, you open a small door and drop in the cartridge. Insert the cartridge holder into the FS4000US and the film is wound onto the take-up spool for scanning. Scans are initiated from within Photoshop or Elements with the Filmget or other plugin. If you elect to manually adjust settings, a prescan (about 20 seconds) allows you to visually tweak color, contrast, cropping, white and black points, etc., before the scan. Scanning at 4000 dpi/42 bits is a little slow. Reducing the bit size to 24 shaves is faster and yields a 50% smaller file with no noticeable loss of quality. However, scan times are strongly influenced by available RAM, processor speed and software optimization. Below are sample scans times under Mac OS 9.2.2 with an Ultra SCSI connection (Adaptec 2930 PCI card). Notice that the SilverFast SE 6.2 plugin scans much faster than Filmget. Mac 9600 (1.25GB RAM/800MHz G4) Mac Dual G4 MMD (1 GB RAM/Dual 1.25GHz G4) 35mm, Filmget, 4000dpi, 42 bit: 3:35 35mm, Filmget, 4000dpi, 24 bit: 3:00 35mm, Filmget, 4000dpi, 24 bit, Fare (standard): 5:05 APS, Filmget, 4000dpi, 24 bit: 2:20 35mm, Silverfast SE, 4000dpi, 24 bit: 2:00 35mm, Silverfast SE, 4000dpi, 24 bit: 1:25 (OS 10.33: 1:15) Under OS 10.33, scans are a little faster, e.g., 5 to 10 seconds faster with my Mac Dual G4 MMD. A USB 1.1 connection adds about a minute more for 35mm scans. I expected longer scans after reading several reviews. Apparently, these reviewers used RAM starved Windows PCs. One guy claimed a 4000dpi/42 bit scan with FARE took 17 minutes! My Mac Dual G4 MMD can crank out a 4000dpi/24 bit scan in 1 minute and 15 seconds! Of course, lower rez and bit size scans scan faster. One gotcha: the FS4000US takes 15 or 20 seconds to calibrate each time you load Filmget. At least it automatically recognizes positive and negative film and sets appropriate plug-in defaults. Oddly, the SilverFast SE plugin is not only faster at scanning, but much faster at calibration and transmission as well (opening in Photoshop). Dust and scratch removal adds to processing time considerably. With FARE enabled (Standard Setting), a 4000 dpi/24 bit scan takes 5 minutes and 5 seconds. The scan time is actually the same (3 minutes), but FARE processing adds 2 minutes to the ordeal. Of course, a faster computer, e.g., duo 1.25GHz G4, will significantly increase scan times, especially FARE processing. SilverFast SE uses its own dust and scratch algorithm, Gane. My slides are so clean I haven't had a chance to try Gane yet. The export thumbnails feature in FilmGet FS is a great time saver. Heck, I used to manually format thumbnails in Photoshop! A thumbnail scan of 4 slides takes about 10 seconds. Honolulu Harbor • Canon EOS A2, EF 28-135 3.5-5.6 IS USM, Fujichrome Sensia 100 & Canon FS4000US Film Scanner Scan Quality The superior image quality of the Canon FS4000US compared to my Nikon LS-1000 was immediately apparent. In other words, the FS4000US produced surprisingly sharp and vivid scans of both slides and negatives. Plus, most scans need only minor tweaking, at least with NPH, Portra, Advantix, Nexia, Royal and Provia. Portra 160 VC scans especially well, i.e., little tweaking needed. Plus, its fine grain, saturated colors and moderately low contrast produce amazingly detailed and vivid images. In fact, I find 4000 dpi scans of Portra 160 VC sharper and more detailed than full rez files from my EOS 10D (however, the 10D whips Portra 400 UC). Portra 400 UC is the easiest emulsion I have scanned. It needs even less tweaking than Portra 160 VC, is excellent in mixed light but, unfortunately, is grainy compared to 160 VC. Strangely, Portra negatives have little curling problems, unlike most other films. Elite Chrome and Sensia require more adjustments than the Provia or Portra family. I often must use a contrast mask or adjust shadows, mids and highs in separate layers and blend to get a good image. In fairness, I'm extremely particular and sometimes have to do this with digital camera files, files which normally need less tweaking than scans. Kodachrome doesn't scan well--muddy, blocked up and extremely blue--but, in fairness, Kodachrome scans poorly in every scanner I've tried. However, you can get a useable scan with lots of Photoshop tweaking. Old Kodak Gold 400 is extremely grainy, is terrible in mixed light and requires buku Photoshop adjustments. I'm glad I didn't use it much! Too bad my wife did... Automatic Scratch & Dust Removal (FARE) FARE works amazingly well at removing scratches from images. There are two settings for FARE in the FilmGet FS plugin: Standard and Strong. I found the standard setting worked well for minor scratches and particles. Of course, one should use compressed air to remove loose particles before scanning. A large piece of dust will cover image detail. In other words, FARE can't reconstruct a missing eyeball obscured by a large piece of dust! Unlike other scratch removal products, there is little or no image degradation. Yes, FARE leaves occasional artifacts that must be spotted in Photoshop, but about 95% of defects are cleanly removed. FARE has spared me from endless "spotting" of old negs in Photoshop. Although 5 minutes seems like a long time for a scan, FARE saves 30 minutes or more of spotting in Photoshop. Of course, if the film is clean, leave FARE off to avoid an extra 2 minutes of processing. A 3 minute scan is a long enough wait! Fortunately, most of my slides and negs are clean and rarely require dust or scratch filters. FilmGet FS 1.0 works great with Mac OS 8.6 and 9.x (I used 8.6, 9.1 and 9.2.2). Canon claims it works in Classic Mode in OS 10.x, but I haven't tested that claim. Finally--after many delays--Canon released a native OS 10 driver during late 2003 (available on the Canon USA website if not on the installer CD). Canon will only "support" use of the FS4000US with OS 10.2, Photoshop 7 and the Adaptec 2930U Ultra SCSI card. I used it with OS 10.33 (Panther), Photoshop 7 and the 2930U without any problems. Unfortunately, Filmget doesn't work with OS 10.34 or higher. However, Sliverfast works fine and is a much better plugin to boot. I don't have Photoshop CS, but I've haven't heard any complaints about it no working. Final Words The Canon FS4000US is an excellent blend of quality, convenience and economy and is worth every penny of the $600 street price. Third party solutions--VueScan or Silverfast SE --are available if you crave native OS 9 and 10x support but don't want auto sharpening to kick in on every scan. SilverFast SE scans are so much better and faster than Canon's plugin I rarely use FilmGet. However, don't trash FilmGet as occasionally it handles certain situations better than SilverFast, e.g., Portra 160VC, and supports batch scanning and APS. Canon FS4000US Gallery (click to enlarge): 2/28/2003 • Revised 6/23/2005 ©Copyright 2003-05 by Peter Kun Frary • All Rights Reserved	.
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