Canon CanoScan 4200F Flatbed Scanner

Rating:
Summary: Useful and economical
Review: Although I love my Canon LiDE80 scanner, it will not scan 35mm slides, so I ordered a CanonScan 4200f. For documents, this scanner seems just as fast as the LiDE80--which is high praise. For film (35mm negatives or mounted slides), the scanning process is m---u---c---h slower, but effective nevertheless. The integrated film holder will take a 4-frame 35mm film strip or 2 mounted 35mm slides (even glass mounts!) and it's possible to scan all of the frames or slides in a single operation, though not in a single scanning pass.
The 4200f is driven by one of Canon's typically excellent interface programs and this one offers PDF image scanning in addition to the typical options.
Some reviewers have complained about the 4200f's "paper" or "paper-like" film scanner cover. These folks need some material recognition training: the cover in question is made of light, strong plastic, not paper. It seems very sturdy to me.
I've docked this unit one star only because of its slow film scanning speed.

Rating:
Summary: Great scanner!
Review: I bought this scanner as a gift for my Mom who has boxes full of slides from her Dad, but didn't know what to do with them. I helped her set up the scanner and start scanning them, and the results are impressive. (We installed this on her AMD Duron 900 system with USB 1.1 ports. One day later, I installed a USB 2.0 card for her, and the scans are significantly faster.) We scanned negatives and slides and the results were excellent. The software works quite well, and the media autodetection works great. Mom pops two slides in, hits the scan button, and comes back a few moments later and pops two more in. The software crops the scan, drops it on the hard drive under My Pictures, and doesn't require any user intervention. I will probably buy one of these for myself once my old Canon CanoScan FB620U dies!

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic scans, especially for the $$
Review: I love the image quality on the scans. Scans of negatives are excellent (although I can't compare to a true film scanner). Scans of photos are great, too. Compared to the Epson 4180 I returned, image quality of negatives is MUCH better on the Canon.

The software was easy to install on my Windows XP computer.

However, I've had some annoyances with this scanner. I still give it 5 stars because image quality is my priority, and I don't do a high volume of scanning.

* I had to return 2 scanners because of particles under the glass. If you look closely, you can see some "ferning" patterns and white dots near the top of the glass where the light rests (in the EXACT same place on both scanners!). Canon says they apply an anti-glare coating to the underside of the glass which may look foggy or hazy. I'm not sure what happened with my first 2 scanners, but the 3rd has no artifacts under the glass.

* The cover for the film scanning light is a flimsy paper thing. As well, you cannot scan many negatives at once. If you scan a good quantity of film, this would be bad. For me, it's not much of an issue.

* No driver for Macs.

* So-so photo-editing software. Again not an issue for me since I already have great software.


Rating:
Summary: Best scanner for under $500
Review: I simply love the Canon CanoScan 4200F flat scanner for prints and films. It's fast (both in scanning and transfering to the PC), quiet, and has superb scan quality, esp. on 35mm negatives. (I haven't tried scanning 35mm slide films.)

Setting the 4200F up is pretty much a breeze, assuming you have Windows XP. (Windows 98 users will need to follow the instructions very carefully.) You first install the software -- the scanner driver and the scan toolbar (called "toolbox") are the only programs necessary for using the scanner; the other applications (photo editing, OCR and Adobe Acrobat) are optional. After restarting your machine (so the scanner driver loads and runs as a service), just connect the USB 2.0 hi-speed cable, and you are set to go.

Using the scanner is also quite simple. You can scan in three ways: directly from your photo organizing or editing program (assuming it supports the universal TWAIN interface, which most imaging programs worth their pennies do); using the Canon Scan Toolbox; or pressing one of the four buttons on the scanner itself, which calls up the toolbox and automatically initiates a scan.

The four buttons are:

- Copy. Your PC must be connected to a powered-on printer for this to work. When you press copy, the Canon scans and sends the file directly to your printer.

- Scan. This is the button for scanning. When you press it, the Canon scans and sends the scanned image to your designated photo editing program, which you specify once via the toolbox. (This button corresponds to the "Scan 1" icon on the toolbox.)

- PDF. This turns the scanned image into a PDF file.

- E-mail. This button scans and then calls up Outlook Express or Outlook with the image embedded as a JPEG attachment.

The toolbox (toolbar) has more options for scanning. All are pretty straightforward. Each option can be configured in detail, or you can specify that all the settings be done in the driver itself. (The toolbox is simply an interface to the driver.) If you configure things in the driver, you'll even be able to adjust how the scanned image should look, in terms of color, contrast, sharpness, etc., etc. The options are endless, but in the beginning, using the toolbox makes scanning a breeze and less intimidating.

One thing cool about the Canon is how it makes it easy to understand what resolution you should scan in. First, the 4200F is capable of 3200x6400 dpi (dots per inch). The 3200 dpi is its true optical resolution; that's how much fine details it can detect. The second number, 6400 dpi, refers to its "stepping" levels, which basically means the sensor can sample each inch 6400 times, but only detects up to 3200 dots. When you scan, the Canon asks you what *output* resolution and size you want, and then calculates the necessary input resolution for you. Say you are scanning a 4x6" photo but want to be able to print it 4 times as large (or twice the width and length, i.e., 8x12") and print at 300 dpi. The Canon will then automatically set the correct scan resolution of 600 dpi -- which is twice as much as printing 4x6 at 300 dpi. So you'll get a 2400x3600 file in pixels, which can then be printed at 8x12" at 300 dpi (2400/8=3600/12=300dpi). This concept of specifying output resolution rather than worrying about input resolution works esp. well for scanning negatives. Say you are scanning a 35mm negative. It'd be a pain to figure out which scanning resolution is best. But if you know you'd eventually want to print a 4x6" photo in 200 dpi, just tell the driver so, and the driver will do all the work for you and scan properly.

Another feature I love is multi-scan, which lets you scan in several pictures at once and the driver automatically separates them. Here's how I use my 4200F:

I set up the scan button so it's linked to Adobe Photoshop Elements 3's organizer. (You can link the button to any TWAIN-compatible program.) When I press the button, the scanner automatically scans multiple pictures I place on the glass, and separates them (and straightens them if necessary) into individual pictures. I have a checkbox called "confirmation of EXIF" checked, which allows me an opportunity to scan in more pictures before sending them all at once to Photoshop Elements 3. This really saves me a lot of time, without having to switch between the scanner driver and Photoshop Elements after each scan. Finally, when I'm done with scanning all the photos, I click the Forward button, and the driver automatically launches Adobe Photoshop Elements (if it's not already open) or switches to it, and sends over the newly scanned pictures. This process works equally well for photo prints and negatives. It sounds longer than it actually is. As with any scanning, it's replacing the photos on the glass or in the negative holder that is the most time-consuming part.

Compared to my previous scanners and even many more expensive scannesr on the market today, the CanoScan 4200F is lightyears ahead in scan quality, speed and quietness. The driver software has both a "simple mode" for easy scanning and an "advanced mode" for more fine-tuned scanning. The driver has been totally stable. I simply love this scanner. Finally, I will be able to scan in all my old photos.

The only downside I can think of is the lack of a printed user's manual. The 4200F comes with a quick-start guide that covers installing the software and doing a test scan. The HTML user's guide has lots of details, but because it's not PDF, it's almost impossible to print out.

Rating:
Summary: Junk
Review: I was rather unimpressed with the cheap cardboard-like slip cover that you have to remove to scan in 35mm film strips. After 20 scans, the scanner stopped working. I emailed cannon support and after a few emails, they informed me that the scanner was defective. Wonderful. Next time, I'm getting an Epson.

Rating:
Summary: Good value with great performance
Review: I've used a Microtek scanner for four years but the linear sensor started streaking when warm. I tried another Microtek unit, which was broken when I received it. Microtek quality has cetainly reduced from my first unit. I then tried an Epson which worked all right (loudly) for about two weeks. It then refused to do multiple scans, as it did when I first got it. Undaunted, I then tried this Canon unit.
It does everything right! Great, but cumbersome, slide scanning and super multiple photo scans. No tedious alignment of pictures that are to be scanned. It corrects it for you!
I am certainly pleased with the unit, the included software, and the overall quality of the unit.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad for the price
Review: If you're a professional looking for a high quality scanner, then go and buy a high quality expensive scanner. However, if you're an average home user, that only wants to scan photos every now and then, you can't beat the quality for the price. After going through the reviews on scanners in the $100-$150 range, this one seemed to fit the bill for what I wanted it for.

Rating:
Summary: Great Scanner!
Review: Just bought this scanner and tested it with text, photo, film, and slide. It did an amazingly good job on all. The bundled software worked great. OCR handled text great. Installation was super easy on XP pro machine (install software and hook up scanner -- ready to go!). No hassles. Looks great too. It's a low cost scanner (had been looking at a more expensive one but decided to save money). This scanner performs beyond my expectations.

Rating:
Summary: Great if it works wih your computer
Review: Recently upgraded desktop from PIII to AMD64, and Canon 1250U2F no longer worked. Purchasing the Canon 4200F was cheaper than repair cost. Never worked after spending a day with multiple install attempts and spending several hours with Canon's tech dept. While they were great, it ultimately boiled down to an ongoing problem the technician related that Canon has with VIA drivers on a K8T800 based motherboards. Even after updating to the most recent drivers on the VIA web site, the inability to scan continued. This one is going back, an will get an Epson, probably the 2480.

On a related note, loaded the drivers into my Centrino based notebook with Intel drivers and the 4200F ran fine on first attempt, and the old 1250U2F was still dead. Quality of scans was excellent and much quicker than the old scanner. Also, Canon improved the ScanGear Toolbox to allow enlarge/reduction on copy function where previously limited to 100%. Still going back as can't justify not working on primary computer, even if I could transfer the scanned file from the notebook over a home network. Canon need to resolve their issue with VIA drivers.

On a related issue, as I was reviewing scanners, some may have confused the above problem as a Windows XP problem. More important were several lamenting the lack of telephone support. Here is the secret. Send an e-mail, like I did when having a problem with the 1250U2F. The email reply included a toll free number "good for 30 days" with the case#. Dial straight in, no problem. Kudos to Canon.