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| Nikon Coolscan III (LS-30) |
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Hardware Reviews December 1999 • Vol.2 Issue 12 |
 Nikon Coolscan III (LS-30) | ||
 If you've been searching for a great film scanner for under $1,000, look no further. The Nikon Coolscan III (LS-30) provides you with all you need for fast scanning, great resolution, and superior image manipulation capabilities. The scanner arrives with a 35mm slide and filmstrip scanning adapters that easily slide in and out of the Coolscan. These adapters are "hot swappable," letting you change film types without having to reset the scanner or adjust software settings. In addition, the unit comes with an Adaptec SCSI AVA-2903 adapter, cable and Adaptec EZ-SCSI software, and a powerful bundled software package that includes Photoshop 5.0 Limited Edition, Nikon Scan 2.5, and Slides & Sound software. Moreover, Nikon's Digital Ice technology automatically removes defects on scanned images from dust, scratches, and fingerprints. The Coolscan weighs 5 pounds and has a small footprint of 5.6 inches high x 3.4 inches wide x 10.8 inches deep, so it is great for small desktops. It can also be set securely on its side to save even more space. The unit features 2,700dpi (dots per inch) optical resolution; processes positive, negative, color, and monochrome film and slides; and offers compatibility with Windows 95, 98, and NT, as well as Mac OS version 7.6 or better. With the aide of the reference CD, User's Guide, Fast Track Guide for setup, and the Slides & Sound Plus Quickstart Guide, installation of this powerful, compact machine and accompanying software couldn't be easier. The included plug-and-play drivers made the SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) adapter installation a snap, and the software setup was quick and easy. Adapting to the unit's software is not hard, especially if you've ever worked with scanners before. The Photoshop 5.0 Limited Edition offered some basic photo editing features, while the Slide & Sound application was a decent program for easily importing images into presentation software. But what really impressed us with this software bundle was the Nikon Scan 2.5 application. The program was loaded with features and a user-friendly, point-and-click interface that made manipulating images quick and simple. The menus were all conveniently located along the side of the application window for easy access and included options for adjusting picture size, shape, viewing angle, color, shading and resolution. In addition, the application let us save files with the .JPG, .BMP, or .TIF extension and offered five separate compression ratios when saving in the JPEG format. Using the highest compression ratio, we were able to compress a full-color image at maximum resolution to less than 200KB (kilobytes). We also liked the high resolution and quick scanning times available on the Coolscan, which scanned full-color images at 2,700dpi resolution in as little as 10 to 15 seconds. Although our computer took a bit longer to show our image on the screen, once the picture showed up, the full impact of such a high resolution was immediately noticeable on the computer as well as the printed hardcopies. Overall, we were very impressed with the Coolscan III (LS-30). At $999, this powerful, easy-to-use film and slide scanner isn't as expensive as some models, yet it offers the top-notch software, speed, and resolution you'd expect from costlier scanners. This is a unit that's definitely worth a look. by Lori Robison
MSRP $999 (800) 526-4566 (631) 547-4200 http://www.nikonusa.com
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