Scan quality (when used with VueScan software) Does a good job of handling color negative film (when used with VueScan) Speed SCSI PCI card included with scanner Price

Supplied software (MiraPhoto is pretty bad, at least for Mac) Current version of VueScan does not manage ICE very well.

When operated with capable software, this is an absolutely awesome scanner. I''m using it with a G4 Mac and found the MiraPhoto software that ships with the scanner to be totally inferior to Ed Hamrick''s $40 VueScan software (http://www.hamrick.com). Unfortunately, the latest non-beta version of VueScan (v. 7.4.2) doesn''t do a very good job of managing the digital ICE feature of the 2740S (at least in my hands). So for now, I''m using the scanner without ICE. Hopefully, the next version of VueScan will resolve this problem. Personally, I found scans done at maximum settings (2700 DPI, 64 bit RGBI scan saved as 48 bit uncompressed RGB TIFF file) with the proper color, brightness, and saturation adjustments (this is VERY important!) to be more pleasing than 4000 DPI scans made using a Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED scanner (perhaps VueScan would improve the performance of the Nikon scanner as well?). A word of caution—you won''t get maximum performance out of this scanner unless you spend some time tweaking the VueScan settings. Once you get the settings that work for you and the specific emulsions you are scanning, you can save individual settings (as many as you like) as uploadable files. In I haven''t made it clear enough yet, if you have bought or are considering buying the Scanwit 2740S, DO NOT judge it based on its performance using the supplied MiraPhoto operating software—you may be bitterly disappointed (perhaps it''s a different story for PC users, but for Mac users, this is absolutely true). The VueScan operating software is worth every penny of its modest $40 cost.

Customer Service

Couldn''t answer some basic pre-purchase questions about SCSI issues

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Polaroid Sprintscan 35 Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED

Early days. Very popular on ebay they are getting snapped up very quickly.

Early days. Software is my bet.

First let me say I''m not a practising professional, but I have been how''s that. Tonight I fired up the 2740s with great anticipiation, software compatibility was an issue. Currently I''m downloading MiraPhoto 2.0.

Customer Service

Not Contact

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Only flat bed

Price, Speed

Software, Slide-Holders

No problems installing drivers and software on Win98. Color calibration is not that good with provided Software MiraPhoto. Therefore I use Ed Hamricks VueScan software and it works fine. The slide-holders do not appear very robust to me, but actually I don''t have any problems with them, yet. The scanning speed is very good (45sec./Img at 2700dpi). When using infrared image correction ICE scanning time is actually doubled.

Customer Service

Not used, yet

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None

Price, quality, capability.

Supplied software.

Had a few fits and starts getting the thing to work. In spite of much help from the folks at tech support, I have not been able to install the supplied scanning software, Miraphoto, on my machine. I think the problem is on my end. This, however turned out to work in my favor as I downloaded and purchased Ed Hamrick's excellent software called Vuescan from www.hamrick.com. He just recently included support for the IR channel that makes digital ice work in the 2740, and the results are very noticeable. His software makes the scanner easy to use for a rookie like me, with no need to tinker with color curves. Thanks Ed! All in all, I think this is a pretty good setup for the price

Customer Service

Very good. Although they were unable to solve my problem, they were prompt, courteous, and concerned with my success. No fault of theirs for my system problems.

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This is a first for me, so take my advice at your own risk!

Good Resolution
Good Color from negatives
Inexpensive

Slow scan speed
Mira Photo Software is not intuitive
Flimsy trays for negatives

Overall it's a pretty good product, but expect to spend a LOT of time tweaking and configuring to get it to work correctly. The first 50 scans I made were unusable. Finally, I found a web site created by a guy in the UK that described how to make the software work for you. The site is http://www.photoscientia.co.uk/Usingmira.htm

I wouldn't even recommend opening the box until you've checked out this site.

The scanner ultimately is just part of your system. I use it with Adobe Photoshop 6.0 and an Olympus P400 photo printer. You will need to configure all three components as one.

The "ICE" image correction doesn't seem to do much.

Last, your negatives must be very clean to scan well. I recommend getting lint-free gloves for handling the negatives before you scan.

Overall, this is a good scanner once you understand how to use it. I print a lot of 8x10 prints and the detail is as good as anything I get from the lab. After all, the unit only costs $600, so the value is definitely there.

Customer Service

Documentation and support are inadequate

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