With enough prayer and coaxing, you''ll occasionally get a really excellent scan out of this one.

Slow, balky, sometimes mediocre image reproduction. Really needs a USB or Firewire connection instead of the ridiculously bad SCSI interface you have to deal with for now. Nikon software is okay at best, though better on a Mac platform.

The 2000 simply can''t live up to the claims Nikon makes about it. 20 seconds for the average scan? Not if you want a decent quality image... It''s slow, it doesn''t deliver enough for the money and it''s often squirrely. To elaborate: Like I said, the 20-second scan time claimed by Nikon is just bunk. Maybe - and just maybe - if you scanned it at the minimum everything and had no other programs running at the same time, you might get something in the region of 20 seconds. If you''re like me and have a few other programs running in the background and need to edit photos as you scan - I work on deadline, and there''s no time to waste, ever - then you''re looking at 2 or 3 minutes'' wait while the 2000 grinds away. Not very impressive, considering the price of this bad boy. It''s also very tempermental, especially after you get a year or two of use out of it. Expect to have it lock up with regularity, unless you possess mystical powers to make every strip of negatives feed in perfectly. And forget about loading a strip less than four frames long - you''ll swear you''re hearing the 2000 laughing at you. The image reproduction is mediocre a lot of the time - sure, sometimes it''s perfect, but don''t bet on that happening too much. It''s especially bad with night shots or anything involving a large amount of solid colors. A few shots I took of the moon hanging in the still-blue sky came out muddled with noise and were totally useless. Color reproduction is generally good, but sometimes downright awful. I''ve seen the thumbnails come up with fairly accurate color rendition, only to get a scan that ends up skewing the colors to a random point on the palette - generally overly saturated reds from my experience.

- Great colour accuracy
- Dynamic range results in Excellent shadow detail on 16 pass scans
- Awsome sharpness
- ICE
- Controll can be taken over all operational aspects of scanner (analogue gain, focus etc.)
- Results in simply stunning 8"x12" and 11"x14" prints on Epson 1270
- Great film handling
- Good biult quality

Slow scan speeds on 16 pass scans (Quality gained makes it worth it)
Bit expensive but the results make me forget what I paid....

This is a great scanner. Output moves into Drum scan teritory at this resolution for all practical purposes. The results achieved in conjunction with the Epson 1270 and papers is simply stunning with the look and feel of an Ilfocrome on the right paper - It outshines anything done by my local pro lab.

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Beautiful images. Can't beat the quality of this scanner.

Lack of printed manuals, supplied SCSI cable is too short.

If you have the $$$ don't get anything else

Customer Service

None

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The 2000 is very configurable to get optimal results. Batch processing a plus, even though it's sometimes tricky to use.

The software is not intuitive and the Digital ICE feature does not apply to black and white negatives.

Ideal when highest quality and configurability count or when unattended scanning of multiple slides/frames is desired. If speed and ease of use are the priority, Olympus scanners may be a better choice.

Customer Service

The WWW site provides considerable help.

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Nikon LS-10, Olympus

Gets a lot out of your slides. Digital ICE to eliminate dust and scatches works fine.

Nicon Scan Software. Using Silverfast gets you much better quality. Could be faster.

If you use the Silverfast Software (extra $600 !!!!) the LS2000 let you get pretty good pictures (see sample galleries at www.photodotcom.com). Using the SF-200 slide feeder saves a lot of time. It is not trivial to get the SF-200 working.

Customer Service

did not need it

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Very well built, well functioning reliable machine with predictable results.

None

I highly recommended this scanner if you can afford it. It's as close to drum scanning as you can get at the retail level at an affordable price and this machine is very sturdy and reliable. I do a lot of scanning, and it has never let me down. I love this thing!

Customer Service

So far have not needed any. Keeping my fingers crossed. Will probably take it in and have it checked at the one year mark.

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When I was ready to purchase, I compared this with the Polaroid and Canon models which were similar. I had the same ima

excellent color management capabilities; digital ICE software removes scratches and dust; 4x and 16x sampling removes most noise from shadow areas

automatic strip feeder for neg film is a pain to use, much slower than using supplied film holder; Nikon is *very* optimistic with their published scanning times

Probably the best affordable desktop scanner for photographers. We use it to scan for publication and digital printing (both inkjet and Fuji PG), as well as web use. Get as much memory as you can afford for your computer.

Customer Service

non needed yet

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used a Nikon LS-1000 for three years; our art director inherited it when we purchased the LS-2000; have also used a Leaf

Digital Ice removes/reduces spots/scratches. Fantastic color compaired to earlier Nikon film scanners.

None. Use it with photoshop, the more ram the faster the scans.

Best scans I have seen unless drum scan

Customer Service

Online bulletin board for Nikon Scanners

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#1-Digital ICE scratch/dust removal
#2-multiple scans to derive beautiful shadows with virtually no grain visible.

Absolutely none. I have had it for 6 months-personal use, not business. Have used mounted slides and filmstrips.

The best film/slide scanner out there. Don't get fooled by high resolution claims made by some manufacturers. You only need more than the 2700 dpi provided by the LS-2000 if you blow your work up to poster size. The ICE defect removal technology is absolutely incredible, and the multi-scanning, while taking longer, produces shadow detail I have never seen in any other consumer priced scanner. Nikon also just knocked $300 off the MSRP, so it is now a good value as well.

Their NikonScan 2.5 is the best Photoshop Plugin for film scanners I have used(including VueScan)

Customer Service

I have contacted Nikon Tech support via the web on a couple of questions. They answered back within 24 hours with concise, correct info. It's the best you can hope for. Nobody provides over the phone tech. support(w/o charging) these days

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Polaroid Smartscan 4000
Canon 2710

the resolution is great, can print out on a good printer looking like a photo. Ice technology can take a badly scratched negative and save it! Colors run true without much manipulation.

At first, with negs only, I would have a dark line running thru the middle of the scans, but only in some and never in slides. It seemed to have gotten over the glitch itself because contacting Nikon support was such a hassle of post and wait, post and wait.

Great scanner, wouldn't hesitate to get it again, despite tech service. Nikon is reliable and if it were anything really big, I know they'd take care of it.

Customer Service

Customer service is webbased...post a message and they will reply there. I find when I have a problem, I want it resolved without waiting for follow up questions and answers that could run a week before figuring out what is needed.

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previous Nikon scanner at work (newspaper)a Leafscan and several flatbeds with neg/transparancy adaptors