Canon CanoScan 8800F Color Image Scanner (2168B002)
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon CanoScan 8800F Color Image Scanner (2168B002)
Customer Review: EXTRAORDINARY!
Summary: 5 Stars
OUT OF THE BOX: The complete machine is much smaller and lighter than my previous scanner, with the same scan field dimensions. It comes with a USB connection and a separate power "brick" between wall socket and scanner. Three scan guides are included; a combo of 2 side-by-side 35 mm film strips (for 5 frames each) with latches that flatten curved strips, a guide for 4 standard size slides and a 120mm film strip holder. These guides fit into a specific place on the scan surface, so that they line up under the lid-mounted light source, which is covered by a removable shield. The lid is quite light, but it needs opening to almost straight up for it stay open without support. The thin latches on the 35mm film strip guide are very flimsy, and I already snapped one when trying to load curved negative strips. Software with scanner drivers etc., an advanced image editing program, as well as versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements (5.0 for windows, 4.0 for mac) are included.
SOFTWARE: I haven't tried all the included software yet, as I prefer to work in other programs for archiving and retouching images. Having said that, using one of the programs to drive the scanner (MP Navigator) I think that there are some unnecessary steps and windows between scanning and saving. Working from a mac, setup was easy and scanning using the scanner interface is very intuitive. Everything runs relatively smooth, but there are occasional software crashes, and I cannot queue a lot of images before the program's buffer is full (even with an excess of RAM). Automatic detection of the images within slide frames or negative strips is very accurate, but this can be switched off, as another reviewer noted, and you can select your own area of interest or a whole film-strip.
SETTINGS: There are numerous choices to make before you scan, such as Unsharp Mask and Remove Dirt & Scratches, which has different levels to choose from, as do "Grain Correction" and "Backlight Correction". While I generally see a beneficial effect of the Unsharp Mask (again; I work at high dpi settings), I notice that turning the dirt and scratch removal on only makes a mess of the affected areas, while leaving some specs or smudges completely untouched. I tend to turn the choices for removal of dirt & scratches and grain correction completely off. I am running the scanner completely from the scanner software and am not using the panel of buttons on the scanner lid, but it appears that these can be user-configured. Hidden in the preferences is also a setting to enable 48/16 bit output, but I haven't played with that yet.
RESOLUTION: As noted by other reviewers, at higher resolution settings scanning can take quite some time, but I actually like this when it gets to a point of 30 minutes (for example for 8 negatives at 3200 dpi), so that I can work on something else instead of tending to the scanner every few minutes. For a preview scan and scanning prints at lower dpi settings this scanner is reasonably fast.
FILE FORMAT & COMPRESSION: When I was running my initial tests to figure out optimal settings (optimal between image resolution needed and memory demand desired) I ran into some unexpected findings. For instance, I see a dramatic improvement in retention of details when I save scanned images as JPEG format rather than in full size TIFF. The compression actually seems to greatly improve contrast and sharpness, while taking up a lot less space! There are 3 levels of JPEG quality; High, Standard and Low (with inverse amounts of compression), but so far I have not noticed any (!) difference in final details when I choose "standard" over "high" quality, and again; the files take up less space in standard setting. A clear difference may be seen at lower dpi settings.
RESULTS: The proof of any scanner is in the final scanned image and judging by that standard this CanoScan performs really well. Scanned prints are easy, because their physical dimensions don't require a high dpi setting. For color or negative film, some colors come out perfect, while others need a little tweaking afterwards, but overall this scanner performs great. I have posted a few images of color slides scanned with the CanoScan 8800F where I compare certain scan or save settings.
IN SHORT:
Pros: High quality scanner with lots of professional options for a low price. Abundant choices in resolution and other settings. Produces amazingly detailed images from prints, negatives and slides.
Cons: Mostly related to software (only tested on a mac); small buffer for scanned images, occasional software crashes, some needles clutter in amount of windows and pop-ups (some, but not all can be turned off). Flimsy latches for 35mm filmstrip guide.
In spite of some software shortcomings the end results are fantastic for a scanner at this price, and I rate this scanner around four-and-a-half stars.
This is a review of the Canon CanoScan 8800F.
Customer Review: Do you want to scan slides and film negatives? Read this review!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you need a general all around scanner, this baby is for you. Great features, very versatile and a super price. Hey, an *incredible* price for the features! (the instant warmup of the LED scanning lights alone is worth the price of admission if you've been scanning for years). And there are plenty of other reviews from people smarter than me that will give you loads of technical info about those areas.
But are you looking to scan film?
Did you just have the great idea..."Hey! I'm going to take all my old film and digitize it so I can burn a DVD/post it on my blog/etc.!"
Well buckle up, my friend, it's going to be a bumpy ride. If you want to digitize the giant pile of 35mm negatives you have in your drawer let me ask YOU a few questions...
Do you work at home?
Do you have a *lot* of free time on your hands?
Do you run 2 computers at the same time?
Do you have ADD?
If you answered yes, then your analogue past life is about to go digital. See...here's the thing...scanning negatives is And tedious. And low quality.
NOTE: I have been taken to task for this last comment...apparently some folks think scans from their 35mm images are better than what they get in this digital age. Hundreds of slides and negatives later, I disagree.
My experience (x 1,000) is that my 35mm negatives from the 70's and 80's are pretty sad compared to what you shot yesterday on your digital pocket camera. Sure, I shot plenty of grainy pix in poor light with ASA 200-400 film, but I also shot plenty of 100 speed. I use a Pentax K20D 14.6MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction and DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II Lens saving images at 7-9 megs. I've found nothing from a 35mm slide or negative that holds a candle to that.
Once I realized that my antique film medium itself is deficient, I stopped indulging myself in the fantasy that scanning at 9600dpi (extrapolated) is going to make a bit of difference. Slides and film just won't stand up to that. Hey...that's my experience anyhow.
I ended up scanning at 1200 dpi. It takes 2 minutes per frame.
If you're lucky, you'll have 6 frame strips and you can scan two strips at a time. That's 24 blissful minutes of peace. If you're not lucky (i.e. most of the time) the film strips are cut to 4 images. Two of those means 16 uninterrupted minutes.
You cannot use your computer for ANYTHING else while scanning. NOTHING. Then you will have to change film strips every 16 minutes...or every 24 minutes. Take your pick. And get ready to be interrupted every 16-24 minutes until you've relived your life. (-:
Got a 36 exposure roll to digitize? Have over an hour to kill with 3-5 interruptions? Don't need your computer for anything else while you're hovering (or you have a spare computer humming as you wait)?
Then you're ready for the adventure of negative film or slide scanning.
I'm not complaining, just reporting the facts. The alternative is to use a commercial service and pay around 50 cents per image. And if you think $18 is steep for the one *decent* frame off that roll of your trip to Thailand in 1991...I agree.
Conclusion - This scanner is as good as it gets...in this price range. Buy one and have fun!(-:
Customer Review: A Great Scanner for OCR
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the CanoScan 8800F as an upgrade from my trusty CanoScan 4400F which I used for several years as part of a system that converts text to speech, as a reading aid for my low vision. I often scan a hundred or more pages at a time, and the procedure is highly repetitive; I hoped the 8800F would make the process go faster. As soon as I connected the scanner and made the first few scans, I knew I had made a good choice.
The 8800F has two advantages over the 4400F that I noticed immediately. First, there is no warm-up time for the light source in the 8800F. The 4400F has a cold fluorescent bulb that takes about 30 seconds to warm up when it is cold, and if it sits for a few minutes it does another short warm up before it will scan. The 8800F, on the other hand, has an LED light source that requires no warm up at all. The 4400F leaves its light source on for 12 minutes after a scan (this time is adjustable) to shorten the warm up time, whereas the 8800F shuts its light source off after each scan. Second, the 8800F scans faster than the 4400F. It seems to be about twice as fast, though I have not measured the scan times. These two advantages enable me to be about 50% more productive with the 8800F than with the 4400F, which makes the 8800F worth the higher price.
The two scanners have the same size platen (scanning surface) that takes document sizes up to A4. Most of my scanning is of books, and most of the time I can lay the book flat and scan two pages at once, though for larger books I am only able to scan a single page at a time. It would be nice to find a scanner that can accommodate larger formats, but I did not find one among the consumer scanners that I examined.
The 8800F has a power button, which the 4400F does not. Both scanners have the same buttons that you can use to initiate various scan operations. I never use these, as I always control scans through the software. On the 8800F the buttons are on the top rather than on the front, as for the 4400F, where I would often bump them with my arm, causing a flurry of dialogs to open on the screen.
The basic software user interface is the same for both scanners and consists of two applications that work together: ArcSoft PhotoStudio 5.5 and Canon Scan Gear. PhotoStudio is a combination image editing and scanner control program. It calls Scan Gear to do each scan and accumulates scanned images which you can edit and save. The 8800F comes with several utilities which I haven't used, and also comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 and 5.0.
If you do a lot of OCRing, as I do, avoid the ScanSoft OmniPage SE application that comes with the scanner. It is old and extremely buggy. I used it after I bought the 4400F and was in OCR hell for a year until I wised up and bought the latest version of OmniPage Professional, which seemed like magic after that. OmniPage can integrate with Scan Gear, which improves scanning efficiency for OCR operations. I also tried ReadIris 11, but it had a peculiar bug that duplicated letters in OCR'd text. ReadIris technical support never responded to my query about that.
The 8800F has lots of other capabilities that I have not tried yet. I understand that it shines as a photo, slide and negative scanner. I don't know if there is a better scanner out there, but the 8800F suits me very well.
Customer Review: Great Product!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have done some semi-professional photography and have hundreds of 35mm negatives and numerous color positive slides, and was in need of a film/negative/slide scanner for a marketing venture. I did countless hours of research on the 'net and at manufacturer's websites. Funds were limited, and I was torn between the Canon CanoScan 8800F and an Espon 500 or 700. What sold me on the Canon is that there was a lesser percentage of negative reviews than there is with the Espons. So, I bought it, and have given it a try. And I must say that it was money well spent!
Just so you know, my computer setup is an eMachines W6409. I'm running Windows XP Media Center Addition, SP3, and have all of the required updates. It's a Pentium 4 CPU running at 3.00GHz and I added more memory (total 1.37 GB of RAM). I've also installed a Pioneer DVR-113NP DVD burner with LightScribe, and use it as my master with the stock DVD burner set up as the slave.
There is a learning curve with this Canon, as there is with any new piece of equipment or software. And yes, scanning can take awhile, and is dependent on the chosen scanning resolution. I got *fantastic* results when scanning my sunset color positive slides in 4800 dpi with Autotone OFF, Unsharp Mask ON, Remove Dust And Scratches HIGH, Fading Correction NONE, Grain Correction LOW, and Backlight Correction NONE. These settings are in the ScanGear's software "Advanced Mode". I'm currently scanning color negatives in 2400 dpi with equally good results. I have a scan running as I write this review actually. I'll try to include some photos that I've scanned if it's possible to do so.
The software that came with the scanner is ok, and it does the job. However I 'did' have to delete and reinstall the scanner and drivers once because the ScanGear and/or the DriverScanner was freezing up on me. As for software, I'm not a big Microsoft fan, but I very much like the Microsoft Digital Image 2006 Editor, which I have as a trial. It does what I want and need. So right now, when I scan a set of slides or negatives, I have the ScanGear software open up the included Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.00 for a quick visual review and to save the photos in the appropriate (chosen) directory. I'll later edit in the MS Digital Image 2006 Editor program.
In agreement with other reviews regarding the film holders, yes, they are a bit flimsy. Just use the gentleness and care that you'd use for your priceless film, slides, and photos, and you'll be fine.
Tip...
When I first used the scanner, I got the following error:
Cannot scan for these reasons:
The original may not be set correctly
The protective sheet may be put in place
The lock switch may not be released
Scanner driver will be closed.
Code: 2,178,0
Well... the original WAS set correctly, and the scanner was NOT locked. I scratched my head... I KNEW that I had removed all of the protective plastic, too! Upon searching Canon's website for this error, I found that there's a solid plastic backing on the inside of the lid that needed to be removed. Perhaps this is in the manual. But hey... I'm a guy <grin> :).
I'm very happy with this scanner. I think you will be too.
Customer Review: Great Scanner
Summary: 5 Stars
Updated 12 Aug 08 - I used this scanner for 14 hours one day and it didn't flinch; I was more tired than my scanner. But a few tips since beginning to use this particular scanner:
1. Invest in flatbed scanner cleaning supplies. This is crucial to keeping excessive noise from being added to your scanned image. Use a dust remover air bulb or compressed air. Plus clean the bed frequently. Another tip; if you are scanning a large number of photographs, or in my case old (1900's type) wash hands frequently. Keep finger tips clean or as I state below, invest in nylon gloves to handle photos.
2. I'm scanning film negatives and color positives that are very fragile and one broke (brittle) while moving it to the scanner. My only suggestion is to use archive quality gloves for old negatives and glass mounted photos
3. Buy and use a film cleaning solution and handle each one carefully. I know that goes without saying, but I've found a lot of BW shots have fingerprints on their face and they add more noise to end item.
4. I'm not promoting anything but I'm using a Photoshop plug-in Noise Ninja to control excessive noise gained through scanning and Kodak ROC for color restoration processes. This saves me hours of color matching and testing swatches. I still need to adjust for some, but this saves me hours of computer time.
5. I've surpassed 2K scanned photos so far and it's still working like a charm. I have another 1/2 million to go.
5. 120 film negatives have become a problem; perhaps it's due to age but I'm running into difficulty getting the scanner to recognize them. It's been hit and miss. I suspect the top side scanning lamp may not be wide enough or bright enough to sense the negative.
After 919 scans of various kinds of media, I have a mixed bag of reviews. Beginning with 35mm slides and negatives - works great. Black and white 120 size came out great. It took me a while to make 120 work work though. The carrier was too small for large format, 4x6, so I had to improvise and that took a lot of time. Once I learned to use large format, then I tested it with 110 negatives. No luck with those. These are too small for the scanner to sense and I pushed the capabilities of this scanner. Overall it worked as designed, quick and fast.
I also used the advanced, simple and multiscan settings and they worked perfect.
Scanned documents looked like the originals after scanning and printing.
In summary I used each setting and they worked flawlessly. My request to Canon is to add a carrier for larger format film, it would make it easier to scan.
I used this with a Mac, new version, and it works really great. If I really get technical and want professional grade reproductions, that's when I go to photo labs, but those visits are rare. This is a great scanner for the price and it did everything I asked without failing or crashing.
For mid range scanning, and non-professional photo work, this is a great scanner. But if you are a professional and demand lab perfect photos, this may not be what you want. But for my use, semi-pro and commercial work, this is perfect for my use.