In common with many other film scanners, the 4000 ED offers Digital ICE 3 technology. Most of this information is lifted from the user manual but a short-ish article on the web should be quicker to read than a 150 page PDF.
This post is a quick summary of how to get the best from a (Nikon) film scanner with Nikon’s NikonScan 4 software. me) didn’t really know what he was doing!Īfter Nikon had set me in the right direction, I googled a bit, read the NikonScan user manual, and learned lots. Even though 4000PPI is a lot to ask of any device, I couldn’t believe that a Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED (which cost me just short of £1000 at the time of purchase) would offer poor quality scans and after contacting the Nikon European Customer Support desk I found that it the scanner is actually excellent – it’s just that the user (i.e. I’d still like to scan those slides (especially as many of them are from my honeymoon) but it’s a time-consuming process and, up until now, the odd frame that I have scanned has left me unimpressed with the quality. A year or so later, 6 megapixel digital SLRs had become affordable and I switched to digital capture, keeping my film body as a backup although it’s hardly seen the light of day because the digital format provides me with so much freedom. I did exactly that, but it took me some time to save up for the scanner, by which time I had a mountain of film to scan.
Anyway, here goes, my long-overdue guide to creating digital scans from 35mm film.Ī few years ago, I was advised that, rather than switch to digital photography, I should switch to transparency film and buy a decent scanner. In the meantime I’ve considered outsourcing the job of scanning my old negatives and slides but just can’t bring myself to use an overseas service for something so precious (anyhow, the service I’ve heard good things about – Scan Café – is not available in the UK).
When you start Nikon Scan 4.03 after doing this it will detect your scanner and you should be good to go.I started writing this post in March 2006, so why did it take more than three years to complete? Well, it was partly a lack of time – scanning is a time-consuming process and it’s only in the last few weeks that I think I’ve finally cracked the image-scanning process. Afterwards your scanner should be listed under its correct name like "Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 8000 ED". A warning message will be displayed which you will need to disregard, telling the system to go on with the installation. Next select "Browse My Computer" and specify the folder you created before.
Right click this entry and select "Update Driver Software". The corresponding entry will be named "Firewire Scanner" or something like that. On Device Manager's device list your scanner is located in the imaging devices category. On Windows 8 first follow the instructions at the end of this page which eventually take you to the Device Manager, too. Go to Window's Control Panel and select System > Device Manager. Turn on your scanner and connect it to your computer. = Begin of scanners.inf = scanners.inf - Windows Still Image Setup File Signature="$CHICAGO$" Class=Image ClassGUID=\InProcServer32,ThreadingModel,"Both" 1=%DiskName%, NKSCNUSD.dll=1 NK1394SCN.CopyUSDFiles=11 NKSCNUSD.dll,32 - Mfg="DIY Software" DiskName="Nikon Scan 4 CD-ROM" = End of scanners.inf = Next enter your text editor and press Ctrl+A followed by Ctrl+V to paste the code into the *.inf file. To do so click into the text box below and press Ctrl+A followed by Ctrl+C to copy the code. Open "Nks1394.inf" or respectively "NksUSB.inf" in a text editor of your choice to replace its contents. Depending on the scanner model you own copy the two files "NKScnUSD.dll" and "Nks1394.inf" or respectively "NksUSB.inf" which are to be found under "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Nikon\Driver\Scan1394" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Nikon\Driver\ScanUSB" into that folder. To do so create a new folder anywhere on your system you feel comfortable with.
Next we need to create a driver for your scanner that is 64 bit compatible.
Install the software on your 64 bit Windows 7 or Windows 8.
To get started download Nikon Scan 4.03 for Windows Vista 32 bit. **I used these instructions to get my Coolscan V ED working on Windows 10 and it seems to working well - maybe it will also work on W7 - Had to follow the instructions very carefully - Good Luck, Lucy**