Canon LPT-99735987 CanoScan 5000F Scanner

Being an amatuer photographer, I wanted a scanner that could scan slides and negatives. The 5000F is a flatbed scanner so it can also scan documents which makes a very versitile and useful scanner. Usually flatbed scanners do NOT make good film and slide scanners; the 5000F is an exception. Its actually based on a rather decent CCD technology rather than the cheaper CIS chip (most flatbeds), which is the reason for the very good film/slide scanning performance. It has a special back-lit slot in the cover for slides and negatives. You can scan up to 3 negs or 2 slides at once. It also has an IR dust and scratch removal sensor that works fairly well (but not on scratches). The quality is very very good but the scans are quite slow, even with a USB-2 connection. You must remove a white backing board, insert the negs or slides in provided carriers, and position the carriers in the scanner. The graphics software, Archsoft PhotoStudio, is quite adequate but not nearly on the same level as Adobe Photoshop. Theres MUCH additional software for creating photo albums, photo databases, OCR, etc.. Installation is very easy. It took me 20 minutes to install and start scanning after a bad day at work! The quality of the scans is excellent, the scanning software is very easy to use, the software package is quite comprehensive, scanning negs and slides requires some fumbling, and the scans are slow (but Ive seen slower). The quality of the slide/negative scans is the MOST important feature to me and the 5000F delivers. **For the money**, I am VERY happy with the package overall.

Picked up the Canon ScanoJet 5500F from a local store and started scanning medical school applications. I hoped to fill out these converted applications later using Microsoft Word. So this review is focused primarily on the OCR and text scanning capability of this scanner. Image Quality - 5/5 stars: The 5000F scans are very detailed and clear. If the document is to be a copy for archving in JPEG or BMP format, the scan quality is more than sufficient. Speed - 3/5 stars: Scanning a typical letter size document took about 90 seconds at 300 DPI. This is acceptable but not as fast as the comparably priced HP Scanjet 5400. Software 2/5 stars: The OCR wizard is overtly complex, with at least 6-10 menu steps to scan, recognize, translate, and save one page of document. While the scan took about 90 seconds, the whole process took approximately 5 minutes - the output result was not nearly as clean as an automatic graphic scan, then manual OCR conversion. OCR 1.5/5 stars: The bundled character recognition software Omnipage SE performs poorly on both text pages and forms. The software has a tendency to add non-existent punctuations, misform letters, and misalign paragraphs and texts. When scanning an inkjet document, the error grows exponentially since the characters lack the sharpness of laser prints; sample text printed using HP Photosmart 7350 lead to about 5% spelling/typo error. This makes editing Canon 5000F scanned documents a very tedious task; for comparison, the HP Scanjet 5400 & HP software completed the scans on the same documents with no errors. When working with forms, the OCR converted approximately 20% of the form accurately into Microsoft Word. Check boxes are often converted as big block letter O, sometimes as a graphic, rarely as a check box. Overall very poor performance. Recommendation: If your scanner will primarily serve as a photo/graphic scanner, then this is a great value. If the document management feature in a scanner is important, I recommend looking into an HP scanner; there is a trade off - HP Scanners tend to trail Canon in graphic/film reproduction quality.

You can still get this scanner new at eBay or at some camera places. I got it solely because I wanted a film scanner, but could not afford a real one. Flatbed scanners are considered inferior for such things. Well, if this scanner is making inferior scans of negatives or slides, I cant tell! I think they are wonderful. It even has the FARE system, which is usually found on more expensive models. The software bundle has loads of photo software, as well as an OCR program. I have used the OCR program once...there were too many words it couldnt read...and I could have typed up the article faster than proofreading the mistakes.But I have not read up on everything yet, mainly because there is no printed manual, only a Quick Start Guide. But at least the QSG tells you more than most. Its still confusing at times, though. Even things Ive done before can be confusing to repeat. Its just not the easiest software on the face of the Earth.But as I said, it scans negatives and slides beautifully, as well as photos. It does far better with photos than my HP All-In-One. It should, however, since it is a photo/film scanner.And its a nice priced one at that!

I didnt buy the Canon Canoscan 5000F from Amazon.com, but this was the place I checked for all the specs, and where I read the reviews. I have been very pleased with the 5000F. I bought it yesterday, and in three hours last night, I was able to scan in nearly 200 photos. (200 photos singly; I havent tried the multiple scan feature yet, but I cant wait to go home and try.) Its very simple to use, and the quality is fantastic. It works as well or better than Id hoped it would. I especially recommend this to other serious amateurs like me!

My father always told me I would never go wrong with a Canon. Canon has proven my fathers point time and time again, and they dont fail to do so with the 5000c. I made the mistake of purchasing a lesser-name scanner to save myself [money]. When the quality and reliability were found lacking, I packed the lesser-name up and left the store with the 5000f. Im so thrilled by the quality i dont know if I can write a detailed, fact-based review on the scanner! All I really need to say is ITS INCREDIBLE! DONT EVER BUY ANY OTHER BRAND! However, I know you want details. Here they are: The film/slide scans are AMAZING! Theyre crisp and clear --honestly unparalleled by any scanner (even professional models) I have ever used. Many scanners will blur your slides or provide unacceptable resolution for any serious utility. Not the case here. Standard scans are great. I MUST mention the FARE (Film Automatic Retouching and Enhancement) technology employed by the 5000F. How many times have you been digging through your storage to find a great old photo that has been marred by the hands of time? Using FARE, you wont spend hours retouching the photo in your photo-editing software --its all done AUTOMATICALLY! No example picture could ever explain how well it works. Go to a store and try it yourself. You WILL be blown away. All of these features are tied together with a USB 2.0 interface. Gone are the days where you listen to your scanner scan, stop, send, scan, stop, send. With the increased bandwidth of this new technology scanning is quick and easy. Ill say it to you this time: You cant go wrong with a Canon!

I bought this scanner because of the Canon name. My last scanner was a Canon, as is my printer. Both have performed flawlessly. I chose this particular model because of the USB interface so I could use it with both my Mac and my Hewlett Packard IBM Clone, and because it has an attachment to scan negatives. As a basic scanner, its great. Good color. Good sharpness. Though, its a somewhat larger than you might expect based on the pictures. But dont be misteken -- this is not a professional film scanner. Its an OK mid-range consumer product. Colors tend to be off slightly when scanning negatives using the dust and scratch mode. Also, the dust and scratch mode is not available in resolutions over 600 dpi. I get the sense that otherwise, this is a powerful piece of hardware. The problem is that the software for it is horrible. The Mac and Windows versions are identical, and neither is really up to the task at hand. They are poorly laid out with no clear-cut way to perform simple tasks. If youre scanning into something like Photoshop, it can control the scanner through the TWAIN driver. But if you just want to make a quickie black-and-white scan of a piece paper to fax to someone, its too much of a hassle. Again, hardware quality is great. But the software leaves a lot to be desired.

the scanner is very easy to use but the quality come up short from my exspectations

Hello, I purchased this for christmas 2003. Right out of the box I had the same problem as wshiii from Philadelphia, PA The glass was dirty on both sides and all the images (no matter what the resolution) had white spots all over them. I will call canon tonight to see what they can do. If they cannot fix it, I will look elsewhere for a replacement

Good stuff at reasonable price.

I have been extremely disappointed by this scanner. I bought it new a few months ago, but found that little spots appear on scanned photos for 600dpi and higher. Ive cleaned the scan bed and photos. The problem appears to be on the other side of the glass. To get half-way decent scans, you have to hunt for the area of the scan bed with the fewest marks. Cannon sent me a replacement (referb.) which has the same problem but to a lesser degree. A third scanner is supposedly on its way. The whole experience has been less than positive and makes me question Cannons quality control process. Its highly unlikely Ill be purchasing another Canon scanner in the future.