Comparing Film Scanners

What's Here

I wanted to buy a "medium quality" film scanner (i.e. a high-end consumer unit, but not a zillion-dollar professional machine. So here's a comparison of the leading alternatives, with links to various info sources.

Additional Resources

Additional information about these products can be found here:

ZDNet Canoscan FS2710 review (10/99).
Imaging Resource Nikon LS-30 Review (2/99)
ZDNet Nikon LS-30 Review (2/99)
Imaging Resource HP Photosmart S20 Review (date unknown)

Other Resources for Digital Imaging and Scanning

Imaging Resource. Note especially their page of Scanner Reviews.
Newsgroup comp.periphs.scanners
"SledEd"'s technical articles.
Ed Hamrick's VueScan software (includes a handy comparison table of Nikon LS-30 and the Minolta scanners).
Roger Clark's Scanner Detail analysis. Includes nice explanation of why digital cameras really have only about 1/3 the nominal pixel width.
Lars Eckdahl's Digital Imaging and Scanning page.

Personal Criteria

I want to connect to my NT 4.0 system. That basically rules out USB, though HP claims to have some hack that allows their S20 to work with NT. SCSI should be noticeably faster for these huge data files anyway.
I don't care about APS.

Product	MSRP	Street Price	Base res.	35mm res.	dyn range	scan speed	NT 4.0?	inter- face	A/D	Software	Notes
Nikon Coolscan III (LS-30)	$799	$699	2700	2592 x 3894	3.0	20 sec (neg / pos)	yes	SCSI-2	10-bit	Digital ICE, Altamira Gen. Fractals	Incl. IR channel. Lacks multi-sample averaging. Output 8-bit only. Handles 6 negs at a time. Incl strip & slide adapters. APS adapter add $200.
Nikon Super Coolscan 2000 (LS-2000)	$1599	$1378	2700	2592 x 3894	3.6	20 sec	yes	SCSI-2	12-bit	Digital ICE, Altamira Gen. Fractals	Incl strip & slide adapters. Auto slide feeder +$500.
Minolta Dimage Scan Dual	$595	$422	2438	2336 x 3504		60 sec (pos)	yes	SCSI-2	10-bit	"Adobe Imaging Software"	Says 200 sec for APS neg!? Scans 4 slides. Manual handling of film strip. Optional APS +$200.
Minolta Dimage Scan Dual II	$595	$422	2820	2688 x 4032	3.2	60 sec (pos), 3-4 min w/color s/w.	NO	USB	12-bit	Minolta Easy Scan, Adobe Photoshop LE	Optional APS +$200.
Minolta Dimage Scan Speed	$1195	$877	2820	2688 x 4032	3.6	40 sec	yes	SCSI-2	12-bit	Adobe PhotoShop LE	Optional APS adapter +$200.
Canoscan FS2710	$1100	$700	2720	2570 x 3855	3.2	25 sec	yes	SCSI-2	12-bit	Adope Photoshop LE	Incl. SCSI adaptor card. Incl APS adapter.
HP Photosmart S20 / S20xi	$500		2400	2468 x 3402			yes	USB	12-bit	differs btw S20 and S20xi	Also scans prints up to 5x7 at 300dpi. No APS. Handles 4 negs at a time.