The Nikon Coolscan V is a single-purpose scanner, so it’s not as versatile as some other scanners. But what it does, it does extremely well. The Coolscan V is designed for those people who have a lot of important photographs that they want to convert to digital format.

Unlike other photo scanners, instead of scanning prints, the Coolscan V scans 35mm negatives or slides. The result is somewhat astonishing quality equivalent to a 21-megapixel digital camera. Almost everyone has photographs that they don’t want to lose to the ravages of time. With the Coolscan V, you can take those priceless photos, scan them, and place them in a digital archive for posterity.

The scanner has an optical resolution of 4,000 dpi, which is impressive. Of course, if you actually scan at that resolution, enormous files are the result of all that quality. Just one negative scanned at 4,000 dpi can result in a 60MB file. But film photographers will love the ability to preserve all the nuances and details of their work in digital form, not to mention all the color and scanning options in the software. The unit also operates quietly and surprisingly quickly.

The scanner looks like a large block with a slot in the front. It has two adapters that slide in, so you can scan either slides or film. To scan film, you insert the negatives in the slot and the scanner sucks the film inside. You then go into the software and select the frames you want to scan. You can preview your scan to set cropping areas and set other options. Once you’re happy, you click the Scan button. When the scan is done, you save the file to your hard disk and eject the film.

Although this scanner is geared toward consumers, it’s definitely for people who have more than a passing interest in photography. If you want to archive your photographs and really care about the quality, the price of this scanner might be money well spent.

Pro: Fantastic quality and intuitive software with many options. Con: Not for novice or casual users.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Nikon 1300 Walt Whitman Road Melville, NY 11747 800-645-6687 http://www.nikonusa.com

Warranty
1 years