Best scanner for mac?

balibaliba

Some newbie questions...



- What scanner is the best for mac-platform?



- Does one need some special scanning programs in panther (10.3)?



- Is firewire a must or is USB 1.1 adequate?



I am planning on scanning my old photo archive (pictures AND negatives). I have a iMac G4 800 (10.3) with firewire but not USB 2.0. The price of the scanner should be around ~600 US dollars (~500 euros).



Any answer/advice will help.



thanks!

haddock.

Yes, I second that question. What's top of the line right now? I still got that ole Umax Astra 4000U that works only in Classic... is the Canon software any good?

gargoyle

I have an old Epson Perfection 1200U. Although epson (last time i looked) dont do a driver, the 1240U Twain driver works fine using photoshop. Image Capture does not work tho.



If you are planning on doin negatives, then you will wanna try and get "them" (whoever they might be) to throw a transparency lid into the deal.

dmband0026

USB 1.1 is just fine and dandy. I don't know how many FW scanners are out there now, but mine is USB and it's plenty fast enough. The bandwidth of USB is large enough to handle photo scanning.

future-ex-pc-user

I'm also looking for a scanner that works with Windows AND Mac. I've been looking into these modells: (they cost less than 200?)

- Canon Canoscan lide 80

- Canon Canoscan 8000F

- Canon Canoscan 5000F

- Epson Perfection 2400 Photo

- HP ScanJet 3970C

- HP ScanJet 5500C

- HP ScanJet 4500C

They all have USB 2.0 and 2400 x 2400 or 2400 x 4800 dpi. Does anyone know any of these scanners, which would you recomend, does epson have good drivers for the 2400?



As for your needs (scanner for about 500?), I would certainly buy a firewire one. I've seen these scanners in your range:

- Epson Perfection 3200 Photo

- Canon CanoScan 9900F

They have resolutions of 3200 x 6400 and firewire and cost about 350?.

There's also a new high-end epson with firewire and lots of dpi for less than 500?.

balibaliba

Thanks for the info!



Canon and epson were the ones I was already looking. Somebody in some other forum said that although HP is a good scanner, the bundled scanning software is crappy.



EPSON perfection 2400 photo and Canon 8000F looked good but the lack of firewire (I really don´t know if it matters or not...) made me choose EPSON perfection 3200. I just got it today.



I will try it tomorrow and comment the scanning software and usage.

quagmire

Quote:

Originally posted by future-ex-pc-user

I'm also looking for a scanner that works with Windows AND Mac. I've been looking into these modells: (they cost less than 200?)

- Canon Canoscan lide 80

- Canon Canoscan 8000F

- Canon Canoscan 5000F

- Epson Perfection 2400 Photo

- HP ScanJet 3970C

- HP ScanJet 5500C

- HP ScanJet 4500C

They all have USB 2.0 and 2400 x 2400 or 2400 x 4800 dpi. Does anyone know any of these scanners, which would you recomend, does epson have good drivers for the 2400?



As for your needs (scanner for about 500?), I would certainly buy a firewire one. I've seen these scanners in your range:

- Epson Perfection 3200 Photo

- Canon CanoScan 9900F

They have resolutions of 3200 x 6400 and firewire and cost about 350?.

There's also a new high-end epson with firewire and lots of dpi for less than 500?.

I would reccemend a Hp scanner. I have a HP office jet 5510 aio. It can work on mac an windows. I have it running on the first generation of the powermac G4. If not I would also reccemend a epson scanner.

rok

re: firewire scanners, is it just me, or does it seem like firewire scanners were here one day then gone the next? my last company bought the umax astra 6400 (or was that 4600?). they were dirt cheap, came WITH a firewire card, and if you immediately destroyed their vistascan software for the garbage it was an bought silverfast's ai scanning software, it was a fantastic firewire scanner, for US$200.



but now, i look around, and any scanner are either usb 2.0 compliant or if they are firewire, they are stupid-expensive for the consumer or prosumer market.



plus, just like printers, drivers can make a mediocre device into something outstanding. whatever you get, i suggest looking into lasersoft's silverfast scanner drivers. i mean, it's usually $99 for a driver which you should be getting for free, but the quality and of the scans is really the gold standard these days, from what i can tell.



that all being said, when i finally plunk down for a scanner, it will likely be an epson perfection variant, with a usb 2.0 card for my g4 and lasersoft's silverfast to go with it. it'll probably run me about $300, but i think it'll be worth it.

outsider

We have a Microtek 9800XL and it's great. Has all the right ports and is compatible with Jaguar (SCSI, USB, Firewire) and Panther (no SCSI in Panther).