|
|
* |
High-end scan quality for
a "prosumer" price |
* |
2700 dpi resolution (28 meg
file from 35mm neg!) |
* |
30-bit color depth |
* |
High-speed SCSI interface
(card included for PC) |
* |
Amazing "Digital ICE"
dust & scratch removal |
|
|
The LS-2000's "Little Brother"
Nikon is one of the true giants of the photographic
industry, well-known for superb quality in their traditional
film cameras. Recently, they've been making waves with their
"prosumer" digital cameras as well, with their CoolPix
900 establishing a new benchmark for cost and image quality.
Long before anyone had heard of digital cameras though, Nikon
made some of the first 35mm film scanners. As such, they probably
have more experience in this area than any other manufacturer
currently active in the desktop film-scanner business. Recently,
they've pioneered a remarkable defect-elimination technology
they call "Digital ICE", that does an extraordinary
job of removing dust and scratches from scanned images.
Elsewhere on this site, we have an extensive review of Nikon's
flagship Super CoolScan LS-2000 film scanner. Here, we review
the little brother of that unit, the CoolScan III, or LS-30 model.
Overall, the CoolScan III was made to the identical specifications
as the LS-2000, but with several features dropped or scaled back,
to make a unit more affordable for those not needing the high-end
capabilities of the more-expensive device.
Actually, our review task here is made much easier by the fact
that the LS-30 is identical to the LS-2000 in almost every operating
characteristic, with the exception of a few that we'll discuss
below. Rather than repeat the long list of features and functions
here, we'll just cover the differences from the LS-2000, and
refer readers to the LS-2000 review itself for full details on
how the Nikon software works, and on the extraordinary Digital
ICE technology.
What you DO get with the CoolScan III:
Excellent image quality, even with default scan settings
- One of the things we noticed about both the LS-2000 and CoolScan
III is how good a job they do with tonal and color balance, without
and adjustment of the default scan settings. This translates
to higher scanning productivity, but is a hard factor for us
to quantify. Nonetheless, you can look at the scans captured
with the default settings, and see for yourself the good color
and tone they have.
Digital ICE defect-removal technology
After using this with a few very dirty and one REALLY badly-damaged
negative (see the LS-2000 review for some samples from the latter),
we can't overstate the significance of this feature! If (like
many of us) you're looking for a film scanner to plow through
all those boxes of old slides and negatives, you'll soon find
just how big a problem dust and scratches are. Trying to remove
the effects of these from your scans manually (with the cloning
tool in an image-manipulation program) can easily take hours!
When it comes right down to it, it doesn't matter how fast the
scanner is, if you have to spend 15-20 minutes to spot-out all
the dirt and scratches from each image, that's what will determine
your scanning throughput. We found Digital ICE to work very well,
and even when the level of damage went beyond what it could cope
with, the resulting images were much easier to retouch manually.
Very powerful scanning-control software
Nikon's scanning software is one of the few we've found that
really gave us the control we needed to properly adjust the tone
and color of our scanned images. This power doesn't come for
free, and the scanning program has a bit higher learning curve
than some. Nonetheless the (relatively modest) effort spent learning
it is more than amply repaid by the results you can obtain.
Very accurate autofocus
The Nikon scanners use variable-focus optics (as opposed to fixed-focus
ones), but have an autofocus mechanism that lets them adjust
automatically for differences in film position or thickness.
One feature we liked was the ability to choose what part of the
image the autofocus would be performed on, which let us pick
areas of high detail that would produce the most accurate result.
Speedy scanning
The Nikon CoolScan scanners are both quite fast, advertising
a 20 second minimum scan time. This needs a little qualification
though, as the only way you'll get to 20 seconds is at lower
resolution, with all the fancy features (like Digital ICE or
color management) turned off. Nonetheless, the scanners are quite
fast, for the resolution they deliver.
Excellent resolution and detail in scanned images
We say "resolution and detail," because we're finding
the two terms really apply separately. Resolution refers to the
smallest feature that can be distinguished on our resolution
targets, while detail refers to the extent to which the scanner
can pick out small features or textures in the scanned images.
Surprisingly, these two are not directly related. The Nikon CoolScans
use an LED light source that produces a very highly "collimated"
beam. Other scanners use more diffuse fluorescent light sources.
We've found that the collimated light source used in the CoolScans
reveals more fine detail in scanned images than do the diffuse
lighting of other units. Note though, that you may or may not
like this: Part of the detail that the collimated LED light will
reveal is the film grain itself, which some photographers would
rather suppress. We personally tend to prefer the results obtained
with the collimated lighting, but recognize that others may not.
Compare the sample images from the various scanners on this site,
to see which suits you best.
What you DON'T get with the CoolScan
III:
As we mentioned at the outset, the CoolScan III is a scaled-back
version of the Super CoolScan LS-2000. Here are the features
that were dropped to make the CoolScan III more affordable.
Digitization is only 10 bits per channel, vs. the LS-2000's
12 bits
This is probably the biggest difference, in that the number of
bits of digitization accuracy directly affects how far into the
shadows the scanner can "see". Secondarily, it may
affect color accuracy, particularly in highly-saturated colors,
where the "contaminant colors" are at very low levels.
Even if you only get to see 8 bits of data in the final image
files (see below), having more bits available for the scanner
to work with is important for maximum shadow detail. This will
thus be a factor when scanning either underexposed slides or
overexposed negative film, with slides presenting the biggest
challenge. Despite its reduced digitization depth, we were surprised
by how well the CoolScan III did with the very difficult "Train"
image.
No multi-sample averaging to reduce noise in shadows
Another technique for improving shadow detail is to perform multiple
scans and average the results together. This reduces the random
"noise" in the shadow areas, because the noise varies
from scan to scan, while the picture information doesn't. The
Super CoolScan allows you to average up to 16 scans together,
producing a fourfold reduction in shadow noise, while the CoolScan
III has no such option.
No option for output files with more than 8 bits per channel
in them
This is a feature that is probably only of interest to imaging
professionals, and as such is quite appropriately absent from
a scanner intended to be more of a "prosumer" device:
Most imaging programs, and virtually all consumer-level output
devices can only handle 8 bits of data in each of the red, green,
and blue color channels. Normally, scanners with greater bit
depth process the data to result in the "best" 8 bits
of data ending up in the final file. Some advanced units allow
you to retain all the raw scan information in files stored on
disk, allowing greater post-scan manipulation of the images.
The Super CoolScan permits this, while the CoolScan III does
not.
No option for bulk slide feeder
If you have a LOT of slides to scan, this is probably the single
feature that would tip you over into the higher-priced Super
CoolScan: Nikon makes a bulk slide feeder as an accessory for
the LS-2000 that can accept up to 50 slides at a time for automatic
scanning. This bulk feeder option is not offered for the lower-end
CoolScan III.
Want to know more? Visit the LS-2000
scanner review!
As noted, other than the differences we've listed above, the
operation of the CoolScan III is identical to that of the Super
CoolScan LS-2000. We therefore refer you to our review
of the LS-2000 for more-detailed information.
Sample scans and test results from the CoolScan
III
We exercised the CoolScan III pretty thoroughly with our standard
suite of test images. See the CoolScan
III Pictures Page for a full analysis of the results.
Conclusion
Like its big-brother the LS-2000, the Nikon CoolScan III LS-30
is a world-class scanning instrument. Its excellent "default"
performance minimizes the amount of tweaking needed to produce
superb scans from common subjects. Yet, when the occasion demands
it, there's a powerful set of hardware and software capabilities
to let you handle images that would simply be impossible with
a lesser machine. While not quite up to the performance of the
LS-2000, it will likely be more than adequate for the needs of
most photo enthusiasts, and even some professionals. At a street
price of between $900-$1,000, it still isn't an "impulse
buy", but packs a lot of capability at a price a good $800
less than the LS-2000 model. It would be an excellent choice
for any serious 35mm or APS photographer.
Reader Comments!
See
what other Imaging Resource readers have had to say about the
CoolScan III, or add comments of your own. (Do you have
a Super CoolScan? Share your experience!)
Read what's here, then add your
own!
View the Test
Images from the CoolScan III (LS-30)
View the Full
review of the Super CoolScan 2000
Visit the Nikon Web page for the LS-30
View the Nikon specifications page for the LS-30
Visit the Nikon
Dealer Locator page to find a dealer near you!
Up to Imaging Resource
Scanners Page
Or, Return to the Imaging Resource
home page.
This document copyright (c) 1999, The Imaging
Resource, all rights reserved. Visitors
to this site may download this document for local, private,
non-commercial use. Individuals who have themselves
downloaded this page may print a copy on their personal printers
for convenience of reading and reference. Other than this explicit
usage, it may not be published, reproduced, or distributed in
print or electronic and/or digital media without the express
written consent of The
Imaging Resource.
|
|