Nikon LS-2000 Super CoolScan Film Scanner (PC/Mac)

I have used an LS-2000 for about 3 years and am familiar with just about every complaint I see in reviews. My unit also quit and I had it rebuilt by Nikon (new stepper motor sound familiar). I must say that my experience with their customer service was ok. After the repair I still see the 'locking screw error', 'can not detect scanner' error, 'out of focus' scans, and blank SCANs. I discovered that on my unit, if I simply stand it up so the 'Nikon' logo is on top (normal orientation) and unit not lying on its side - clears up almost all problems. [Not very convenient for using the slidefeeder, but at least I can get it working again, and then lay it back down.]

When I start getting blank files after a SCAN, reloading the Nikon defaults clears it up every time (can then reset my custom settings). Unit and software are buggy and unforgiving, but here are my secrets to compelling the unit into action when it gets cranky. Don't bother asking Nikon, the problem is yours to solve. LS-2000 gives nice scans as long as you are persistant and compell it into action.

I am surprised to find none of this info in any other help file or review on the web. Hope this helps someone, I had to figure it out myself.

First off: this is my FIRST film scanner, so I dont know how crappy or good they range from.

But, I do know a good picture, and that even a 5 Megapixel picture is not impressive to me. That resolution is fine for 5x7, but blow them up to 8x10 and print them.

Like alot of other people, I have fine 35mm film equipment, and it is a fact that the resolution of film with a good camera ranges from 25-100 megapixel resolution. The argument of "oh, 5 megapixel is waaay good enough: are you gonna blow it up to 3 foot by 4 foot?" Not true. If you are used to deep saturated colors and resolution of film, its real hard to sing and dance for even 10 megapixel. And how bout that color shift that defies the linearity of predictability of the film zone system with digital (of today).

Well, the D200 and D300 are close, but no cigar (I'm a Nikon ONLY user, and it does not matter to me what anyone else is doing). And it is a fact for a pro, these are the real choices (even though I'm not a pro).

Enter the LS-2000: this was the alternative for me to keep my nice Nikon film camera gear and quality of pictures and try to have the 25-100 megapixel resolution Im used to seeing. I had a choice: spend the money on a 10-12 MP resolution camera, or but a scanner. I picked the scanner option (for now).

Why a scanner? I am tired of getting 300 DPI pictures from the local 1-hour shop, or their 1MB image CDs of my pictures taken with thousands of dollars of Nikon optics.

Enough background on the WHY: I am getting about 14 Megapixel resolution (16x scan, 24 bit, and many minutes of scan time...) from my color negatives. The results are pretty good: better than the scans I can make with my consumer grade scanners from 300 DPI prints, and better than the WalMart CD picture quality. But, the 2700 DPI scans I get from this scanner are not perfect: lots and lots of 'knobs to turn' to get the picture you want (color interpretation algorithms, post production tweaking, even software differences). I am using the Nikon Scan software, and it seems to work well.

The scanner is not going to revolutionize my photo taking process: I still have to pick and choose individual photos and spend time on each. I cant bulk scan and have quick turn around. This scanner is not gonna totally replace the convienince of a good digital camera (as I hoped it would).

I paid 50 bucks (yes, 50!) for mine used. They go for more than 10 to 15 times that used, and were 1800.00 new. I even had to fix mine: the machinery has many failure modes because of its complexity. Beware buying a used one: its likely someone is dumping it for a reason other than getting a better one. If you have Win XP and dont have a 2906 SCSI adapter, you better be a better enineer than me: I spent 40 hours to determine that the classic AHA-2940 wont work with the scanner and Win XP.

So, 50 bucks for 2700 DPI beats the 1400.00 for a Nikon D200 at this time. Make no mistake: this scanner produces great images. I treat every scan as the potential LAST scan the scanner will make before it dies.

If you can get one of these cheap (under 500 bucks), its worth it. If you can afford the 4000 DPI LS-4000 with easy to use USB: DO IT. the 1800 bucks of this and your film camer smokes a 1800.00 Nikon D300, and unlike the D300, will still have the 25-100 Megapixel resolution.

This scanner is good for those of us waiting for 50 Megapixel cameras. When digital gets 100 MP and works like film, we will look back on film like we do with vinyl albums (and my 1972 Deep Purple ablum sounds almost as good as it did in '72: lets see a CD last that long!).

I see where others seem to have problems with this scanner and Nikon's support. My experience has been excellent. The folks who have had "fogging" experiences probably had dust on the lens... left the door open without an attachment in the access slot. The other problems were probably from not following the user guide and moving the machine without the transport screws in place. (very explicit instructions) The automatic functions work if one sets it in software. Nikon has improved their software to be very intuitive and there is a variety of ways to make adjustments now. When they put out the new LS-4000 and 8000 scanners with new software, they made the software compatible with the LS-2000 scanner too. It's compatable with all the new computer operating systems which the other manufacturers (so I've heard from users) haven't done. I have never had any problems with this scanner but when I needed service with a different Nikon product, I did a search for service and found it right away. When I have called customer service (24/7) toll-free number and went through "voice maze" to get to the right department, was on hold for about a half minute before I got to talk to a real person. I asked my question and she asked me to hold while she found an answer. She was back on the phone with my answer in a few seconds. Other calls to their customer service had the same sort of results. I can't speak for the experiences of others but mine was excellent. When I upgraded from the LS-2000 I bought an LS-4000.

I have had the same problems with my scanner as others have had. Starts off by making wonderful scans. Then after a while scans become a little foggy. Try calling Nikon to have a tech assist me or info to send the scanner to be checked out was drawn out and frustrating. I cant believe that Nikon, a world leader, has such...poor customer service. I bought Nikon becasue of all the wonderful things I had heard about the company, but when it comes to support, forget it. I hate to use such harsh words, but they simply [is bad]. Here I sit with a scanner that makes foggy scans and NO ONE to assist me. $2000 for this? I've been taken, but I only get taken once. I will spread the word and hope others who are in a similar situation will do the same. It's simply not fair.

I work for a doctor that lectures around the nation. Two years ago, he decided to go digital. That meant scanning all his 35mm slides and preparing them for PowerPoint. I checked out all the flat-bed scanners with the attachments for slide scanning, and finally decided that purchasing two scanners (one flatbed and one for slides) was the best way to go. I never regret that decision. We have scanned over 6,000 slides and still plan to be doing more. Here's a hint for those needing to do a large amount of scanning - buy the automatic slide feeder and then write your own batch commands in PhotoShop to save yourself repetitive work (like rotating the slides 90 degrees, saving them etc). I have also found that the scan quality is better than some of those scanners promoted to be the top of the class.