( 141 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 16 2009
I purchased the Canon CanoScan 8800F back in March 2009. My main use with this scanner has been to digitize literally thousands of family slides from the fifties on. So far I have had great success and have scanned over 750 images. I am, admittedly, a beginner in this arena but the purchase via Amazon, the setup, and relative ease of use has been a good experience. The main software that came bundled with the scanner, Adobe Photoshop Elements, is not the most intuitive but once you figure out its quirks it does a very good job of rendering. So far I have only dabbled with its more advanced features as I am mostly interested in production. For more easily understood and shared software I might lean towards Picasa especially if cost is an issue. The scanner itself is on the large side so you'll need space for it. The lid feels abit flimsy (rocks on its hinges) and tends to close on itself with a bang if not pushed way open which can be abit of a reach in tight quarters. Unit scans 4 slides with an average time of 2-4 minutes per batch. It all depends on the amount of corrections or scanning features selected. I have also used it for scanning standard photographs and it produces excellent results. Scans in this mode are pretty fast, usually a minute or less. I highly recommend this product for the home user who needs the slide scanning feature at a reasonable cost.
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 14 2009
My thoughts and experiences with this scanner. PROs: It does what it advertises, this is kinda strange & very refreshing, since I sent back 3 other scanners since they did NOT perform as advertised (this was not this site). I prefer to do my market research by reading all (within reason) reviews by folks who have purchased this product, used it and have feedback. And I rule out the OBVIOUS reviews written by the manufactures and what appears to be their staff. Overall: For my needs, this is the best scanner for me, starts up quick, scans well to very good, simple to use. One of the features I like with other software I use is that recognizes the scanner and the software does the rest. I use Adobe Acrobat Pro for documents that need to be scanned as PDF, and convert to what ever format I need after that. Cons: I recommend that the software included with this scanner be used as coasters at your local bar, for my needs it is completely a BUST, repeat BUST. Old, clunky and one of the packages states it scans to PDF, BUT Adobe does not recognize it as such. My other scanners feed paper from the front (top of document) to back, this one is just the reverse, was it built upside down. This thing is as heavy as a battleship in comparison to my other scanners (2). If you do your market research and this meets your requirements, it's a great little scanner and well worth your consideration. Oh, forgot, it does pictures as advertised.
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 8 2009
After reading a zillion reviews (most, but not all of them, positive), I bought this scanner to deal with a very large collection of photo prints, negatives, and mostly 35mm slides. In a month, I have worked through some 700 slides, and am happy with the quality. The slide mount holds only four slides, which is a lot better than earlier Canon models that did one at a time. But the four at a time operation still takes around three minutes, so you might want to have a magazine to pass the time while the scanner is working. At 1200 dpi, a slide comes out to 500-800 Kb. After cropping, cleaning, color correcting, and managing light and contrast, I store the originals on a dedicated hard drive. Then I create an optimized duplicate of each jpeg with NX PowerLite (to around 150 Kb) and store the duplicates on a backup drive. There is no visible reduction in quality (unless you magnify 10X), and the smaller format clogs email boxes less when I share photos. The scanner comes with a boatload of software, too much, really. I have no experience with MUCH more expensive scanners, but I get the feeling that this model can produce equally good captures, especially at higher dpi. Unless it breaks down sooner than expected, you will likely be glad you bought it.
