Canon CanoScan 8800F Color Film/Negative/Photo Scanner (2168B002) Reviews

• The Canon 8800F exceeds my expectations...

  
  By A1SSAPQGN99CI3 on 2007-09-01
  Bought this scanner to replace my 8400F that I bought two years ago. The price at $199.00 is about $130.00 less han the 8400F was.
  First thing that I noticed was the lack of the 8400F's warm-up time for each scan- due to the new lamp Canon now uses. Yes the scans are sharper- significantly so.
  The 8800F now is more intuitive to operate due to the new array of seven pushbuttons that select modes. The off/on switch is now on the top
  lid rather than hidden way back on the left side at table level.
  On the minus side, there are fewer slide/negative holders to work with. Canon supplies one for 35mm film and one for 120 film only.
  Since the name of the game is sharpness and the ability to achieve
  the final results that you expect from Canon I am more than well satisfied. The 8800F outperforms the 8400F in every way and the colors
  are more true to the originals also.
  
  

• High quality - scans and hardware

  
  By A2AH4B8LF4S2FX on 2007-11-04
  I also bought this to scan slides -- however, while the slides are the standard slide size in terms of the holder, the slide film itself is square instead of rectangular like most modern slides (mine are about 1.44" x 1.44"). For some reason, the default size of the cropping the 8800F uses when you select 35mm slides is not user-changeable. I wrote the company and got a standard answer back that basically said "we're not changing the software to make you happy". I think they misunderstood me, but whatever...
  
  Fortunately, I found the answer quite by accident. It turns out that in order to make the scanner work for my situation (and maybe yours), I simply had to uncheck the "Switches On/Off the Thumbnails View Mode" button and that allowed me to manually create the right size crops. It also means I can use the 35mm strip holder instead of the 35mm slide holder and leave the old slides in their metal slide magazine holders, saving me even more time.
  
  After figuring that out, I'm happy to say this scanner exceeds my expectations and makes me a happy camper now that I can no longer use my Konica Dimage Scan Dual IV with my Vista-based PC. The hardware is very sturdy and speed is great. 1200 DPI scans take less than a minute each.
  
  If you want more information on how to manually set-up to scan older slides, leave me your email as a comment to this review.
  
  Hope that helps.
  Steve
  
  

• I was surprised!

  
  By A24LLNKVW5NX8U on 2007-10-07
  I've now had the scanner for several weeks, and I'm really impressed with how well the scanner works. It gives consistent results every time. I haven't played with the software that came with the scanner, but it imports just fine using Photoshop Elements 5. I'm running Vista and it hasn't caused Vista to hiccup once.
  I've tried several settings, and I get the best results if I scan at 4800, and each slide takes around 2-3 min.
  
  For regular scanning it is quite fast. I can do a copy from the scanner to the printer. In fact my printer is one of those all in one jobs, I can do a copy from the Canon to the printer, faster than I can do a copy with the printer alone.
  
  
  

• Review of Canon CS8800F scanner on OS X

  
  By A2TP5SRFNF4DO5 on 2007-10-27
  After reviewing several scanners - I decided to try the Canon CS8800F as a replacement for a broken Epson 1670 scanner. It was difficult to decide because none of the brick & mortar stores had one to look at, but I chose the Canon for several reasons: ability to scan 35mm film (we have a large library to begin putting on the computer), quick with the LED/no warmup tmes, and reported ease/stability with OS X (Mac).
  
  Ease of Use: I'm very pleased with it's ease of use - my 9 year old sons can (on their own) copy/print documents using just the buttons on the scanner and not having to do anything on our family computer. My mother-in-law can as well.
  
  Quick: it's quick. For intermittent use, and it's no-warmup time. My wife complained about the previous scanners warmup time, so this was a reason to look at/buy it. I haven't used it enough for regular work to determine how fast it is for higher resolution work, but so far it is seems fast on the default scans.
  
  I can easily make multipage pdf documents for emailing and/or faxing to friends/family - this feature has come in handy - although that wasn't initially a reason why i looked it it.
  
  So far, the software has been everything that it should be - doesn't slow down or crash our OS X 10.4.x like the Epson software would. Run in native Intel mode (iMac Intel).
  
  The cons i can think of at the moment is it would be nice if it had a LONG usb cable adaptor, but considering i placed the unit about 10 feet away, that's longer that probably any product has a cable for. And the most annoying issue is the noise it makes while scanning. We do a lot of scanning work after my 9 year olds are in bed and if they aren't already asleep they can easily hear the scanning down the hall. It tends to be a high pitched whine. If this unit could be improved, that is what could be improved and why i'm giving it only 4 stars out of 5.
  
  I haven't had a chance to evaluate the film scanning just yet, i may add that to a later review and there may be some minor issues with OS X 10.5 and the software. The scans work, but the software crashes after the scan. It worked fine with 10.4.10 that i'm looking into right now, so i suspect an update soon should be forthcoming from either Apple or Canon about that.
  
  John Q.
  
  

• Grandpa loves his new scanner!

  
  By A2C76CB8ZPT9SE on 2007-12-02
  After enjoying my now old Epson Perfection 1650, I was assigned the family's task of scanning our old family slides. I first tried the dedicated slide scanner available at Hammacher Schlemmer. What a piece of c***! After researching dedicated slide scanners for a while, I came upon a review of the Canon 8800F. After further research (I think I reached the end of the Internet during this effort) I ordered one. Now, after having scanned about 500 old slides, and getting used to the new software interface, I'm in love with this scanner. It does a GREAT job scanning the old slides in super-high resolution (4800 dpi) and is also an excellent general purpose scanner. Just a footnote, it takes about 20 minutes to scan four slides at 4800 dpi.
  
  
• Fast, but creates artifact (noise) on pictures
  By A2QJHZXZACKEB0 on 2007-10-16
  I've had this scanner for 2 days now. I scanned in regular glossy and matted photos and found that the quality looked bad due to artifacts being scanned in. I thought it might have been dust on the photo or on the scanner, so I proceeded to clean it. Rescan and the photo looked better, but it generated noise where there shouldn't have been any.. Note I did recalibrate the scanner, and it occurred on both the glossy and matted photos. I would understand why it would occur on matted photos.. but on glossy? I played with all the settings and made it look a tad better, but it would still create artifacts. I cleaned up the artifacts by treating them like scratches.. but that is a bad way of fixing it due to lose of resolution quality. Maybe I just had bad luck picking a bad one. I'll try exchanging it..
  
  Note that I scanned in about 20 different types of photos over the ages and all of them had this problem...
  
  Addon: I tried scanning in "Magazine (Color)" mode instead of the Photo mode and got better results.. very strange. Any case I would increase the stars to *** if it would let me. Still going to exchange it to see if it was just bad luck on the lot build.
  
  
• Impressed
  By A3T0C8SMG7HLFY on 2007-10-12
  My CanoScan 8800F arrived from Amazon earlier than anticipated which is usual for Amazon and great for me. Setup was very easy. This scanner and its software is definitely made for VISTA. It comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements ver 5. (Yesterday I saw a copy of ver 6 on the store shelf). The included software is easy to install and performs well. However, there are no printed manuals other than the Quick Start Guide. In addition to Photoshop Elements, it comes with ArcSoft PhotoStudio ver 5.5 and ScanGear which must be installed and used if you want to scan 35mm film, slides or 126/620 film.
  
  I was impressed by the fact that it would automatically crop different size images being scanned. However, I soon discovered that it did not always do the autocrop and when I manually cropped, it did not save the cropped image. Hopefully the help screen will tell me what I did wrong.
  
  I scanned some 35mm negatives and it will do up to 12 images in one session and take about 8 minutes. I also tested the scanning of some 35mm color slides and it will do 4 in one session and take about 2 minutes. The slides just drop into the holder. I figure that if I sat at the computer and paid attention, I could scan about 60 color slides an hour, giving time for placing them in the holder and then saving the images. This does not include time for the auto retouch software to work. My saved unretouched color slides are about 1.5 MB in size when saved as a JPEG.
  
  Overall I am very pleased with my 8800F purchase. One note of displeasrue was the fact that the Canon website would not allow me to register my purchase as part of the setup/install process. It took all of the information, but then rejected it.
  
  
• Canon CanoScan 8800F
  By A27LSXZ5QMEFEG on 2008-01-28
  Good News, Bad News. I purchased this scanner based on numerous positive reviews. I was looking primarily for a negative/slide scanner, but I did not want to lay out the bucks for a dedicated slide scanner. I actually would have considered one of the higher-end Epsons, like the V500, but I was sold on the LED illumination and quickstart capabilities of the 8800F. For the record I have owned an Epson 1650 and an Epson 1240U, upgrading each time to take advantage of some new capability. None of my scanners, ranging all the way back to my first PlusTek has died on me.
  
  First the bad news. Negative scanning is NSG (not so good). That is not to say that the Canon is not good compared to other scanners, but it takes about 1 minute to scan a single negative panel at 1200dpi, and it takes about 4 minutes to scan at 2400dpi, the math works. 2X linear equals 4X area. After doing a couple of test scans, I came to the conclusion that the incremental quality of 2400dpi was not worth 3 minutes per slide for a family photo archive project. I was also coming to the conclusion that 1 minute per negative panel would not really work for me.
  
  On to the good news. I decided to scan 4 prints. I took them out of one of our family photo albums, and started the scan. WHOA! The machine scanned the photos in the amount of time it took my Epson 1650 to do a preview scan. The wonders of modern technology! I checked the default resolution, and it turns out to be 300dpi. I had experimented in the past with resolutions up to 4800dpi for family photos, and finally realized that 300dpi is sufficient for all normal (4x6 etc) size prints. I only use higher resolutions for smaller prints.
  
  The Canon guys have fixed every problem I have ever had with a scanner. The negative holder does a GOOD job of flattening out curved negatives. The lid is HEAVY, which is good, so I don't have to dig out a fat book to help flatten curved photo prints. The LED illuminators come on instantly, so no waiting for the fluorescent lights to warm up. And finally, it's FAST.
  
  Last but not least, if you use their scanning utility (with the zippy name of MP Navigator EX) it puts EXIF information if you store your images in JPEG. I have always thought that would be an excellent improvement to scanners.
  
  I have been scanning family type photos for about 10 years now, and I have to say that the Canon CanoScan 8800F addresses every improvement I have dreamed up on my own for flatbed scanners. Now if they can make a scanner that will scan 4 negatives in 7 seconds, I will deem them perfect. In the meantime, I have to rate them as 'almost perfect'.
  
  The only reason I give them 4 stars is that I technically purchased the unit to scan negatives and found 1 minute per negative panel to be a slight disappointment. For normal print photo scanning I would give them a 5 easily. The control panel for Amazon does not let me select 4.5
  
  addendum:
  2008-02-02 I have used this scanner to scan some more slides. They still take a while, but I have the slides, what am I going to do? The only way to get the EXIF information is if you use the MP Navigator program. I have tried using the TWAIN facility with both Irfanview and Picasa. The scans are fine, but no EXIF information. I was concerned after scanning some Whale Watching slides, as the 2nd-4th panels would not have the edges of the slides detected well. The water was deep blue. After scanning slides with landlubber type backgrounds, grass, dirt, etc., all of those had slide edges detected properly. All I had to do with the Whale Watching photos was crop to edit out some black borders.
  
  My Epson 1650 would sometimes screw up the orientation of the slide. It would decide that a landscape slide should be portrait, cutting off the sides, or a portrait slide was landscape, cutting off the top and bottom. It was a major nuisance when that happened, and even if I attempted to preview the slide multiple times, rotating it, for some slides it would never get the image right. So far I have not had that problem with the 8800F.
  
  
• very happy
  By A1HZB0B20PTS3R on 2007-10-02
  Set up was very quick and easy (running XP). I bought this scanner primarily to scan 35 MM slides, and the scans are good, and at 1200 dpi, take about 2 minutes for 4 slides. Each slide is saved into its own jpeg file, so there is no cropping pictures. The slides just drop into the adaptor, so reloading is quick and easy. Haven't tried the HP for slides (I have an HP with a document feeder for scanning documents), but the new Canon is great for what I wanted.
  
  
• Beautiful...
  By A31TT5GZM82PME on 2008-03-15
  This scanner is fantastic. I just got it as an early birthday present from my wondeful wife and parents and it's been a spectacular gift - as another reviewer has noted, "far exceeding my expectations."
  
  I had planned on getting this scanner initially, but ended up getting an HP G4050 because it could scan 4x5 negatives (this one does not). I regretted the G4050 decision as soon as I tried it out: because it does NOT truly work with Windows Vista (the 8800F does). I took the G4050 back the day after I got it and immediatly ordered the 8800F.
  
  As so many people have noted, the software and interface for this scanner is amazingly easy to use and very intuitive. You can choose between "simple" and more advanced modes of scanning which makes it all a snap. The scanner is also very fast: previews of images only take a few seconds and the actual scans are quick as well - yet the quality remains beautiful.
  
  The scanner comes with 3 CD-Roms. One contains the scanner software, and then there's two CD-Roms with Photoshop Elements: one for Vista and one for Mac OS - that alone is a roughly $80 dollar value (what I paid for my copy of Elements). Also included are the power cords (of course) the USB cable, and holders for 35mm, Slides, and Medium Format film.
  
  Although Canon doesn't advertise that the 8800F can be set to scan black and white negatives, it does have setting to do so: and I must say that the scans of my black and white negatives look suprisingly good, all things considered. If you get a professional scanner for b/w negatives you'll have to actually put the negatives in a mineral oil which helps with scratches, etc., but for simple b/w scans that will certainly work well enough for snapshots and memories, the 8800F produces excellent results.
  
  As much as I'm enjoying this scanner, I'm curious about some of the decisions that Canon made with it (hence the 4 star rating instead of the 5). I wish that they would have given this scanner 4x5 capability as well as 35mm and medium format. Not only would being able to do 4x5 be a great feature, but it would allow more than two rows of 35mm negatives and one row of medium format or slides - it'd be nice to be able to scan larger batches.
  
  Overall this is a great scanner and I'd recommend it to anyone...thanks for another great product, Canon!
  
  
• The dust problem on the 8800F
  By A3S1EH1MMW45OS on 2008-03-21
  I, too, had the appearance of dust on the scanned images. It occurred no matter where I placed the photo. I tried every possible setting then began the "e-mail customer service" ordeal. Each reply was pleasant but useless boilerplate. After ten or so email "tips", I called "telephone customer service". More useful information but still no solution. I returned the unit for a "refurb" replacement ("We are only authorized to supply you with a factory refurbished unit" to replace the brand-new one I just purchased!) Similar problem! I tried using a different computer -- no better. I finally looked at the scanner glass with a medical high intensity lamp and saw ... DUST. It appeared to be held by static on rectangular areas in each quandrant (like tape had be applied at some point, leaving a static residue ). I used ammonia-based cleaner (having already tried compressed air and "scanner" cleaner) and the problem went away. Sometimes dust is just dust.
  
  
• EXTRAORDINARY!
  By AK8F0EAWVLD66 on 2008-04-13
  OUT OF THE BOX: The complete machine is much smaller and lighter than my previous scanner, with the same scan field dimensions. It comes with a USB connection and a separate power "brick" between wall socket and scanner. Three scan guides are included; a combo of 2 side-by-side 35 mm film strips (for 5 frames each) with latches that flatten curved strips, a guide for 4 standard size slides and a 120mm film strip holder. These guides fit into a specific place on the scan surface, so that they line up under the lid-mounted light source, which is covered by a removable shield. The lid is quite light, but it needs opening to almost straight up for it stay open without support. The thin latches on the 35mm film strip guide are very flimsy, and I already snapped one when trying to load curved negative strips. Software with scanner drivers etc., an advanced image editing program, as well as versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements (5.0 for windows, 4.0 for mac) are included.
  
  SOFTWARE: I haven't tried all the included software yet, as I prefer to work in other programs for archiving and retouching images. Having said that, using one of the programs to drive the scanner (MP Navigator) I think that there are some unnecessary steps and windows between scanning and saving. Working from a mac, setup was easy and scanning using the scanner interface is very intuitive. Everything runs relatively smooth, but there are occasional software crashes, and I cannot queue a lot of images before the program's buffer is full (even with an excess of RAM). Automatic detection of the images within slide frames or negative strips is very accurate, but this can be switched off, as another reviewer noted, and you can select your own area of interest or a whole film-strip.
  
  SETTINGS: There are numerous choices to make before you scan, such as Unsharp Mask and Remove Dirt & Scratches, which has different levels to choose from, as do "Grain Correction" and "Backlight Correction". While I generally see a beneficial effect of the Unsharp Mask (again; I work at high dpi settings), I notice that turning the dirt and scratch removal on only makes a mess of the affected areas, while leaving some specs or smudges completely untouched. I tend to turn the choices for removal of dirt & scratches and grain correction completely off. I am running the scanner completely from the scanner software and am not using the panel of buttons on the scanner lid, but it appears that these can be user-configured. Hidden in the preferences is also a setting to enable 48/16 bit output, but I haven't played with that yet.
  
  RESOLUTION: As noted by other reviewers, at higher resolution settings scanning can take quite some time, but I actually like this when it gets to a point of 30 minutes (for example for 8 negatives at 3200 dpi), so that I can work on something else instead of tending to the scanner every few minutes. For a preview scan and scanning prints at lower dpi settings this scanner is reasonably fast.
  
  FILE FORMAT & COMPRESSION: When I was running my initial tests to figure out optimal settings (optimal between image resolution needed and memory demand desired) I ran into some unexpected findings. For instance, I see a dramatic improvement in retention of details when I save scanned images as JPEG format rather than in full size TIFF. The compression actually seems to greatly improve contrast and sharpness, while taking up a lot less space! There are 3 levels of JPEG quality; High, Standard and Low (with inverse amounts of compression), but so far I have not noticed any (!) difference in final details when I choose "standard" over "high" quality, and again; the files take up less space in standard setting. A clear difference may be seen at lower dpi settings.
  
  RESULTS: The proof of any scanner is in the final scanned image and judging by that standard this CanoScan performs really well. Scanned prints are easy, because their physical dimensions don't require a high dpi setting. For color or negative film, some colors come out perfect, while others need a little tweaking afterwards, but overall this scanner performs great. I have posted a few images of color slides scanned with the CanoScan 8800F where I compare certain scan or save settings.
  
  IN SHORT:
  Pros: High quality scanner with lots of professional options for a low price. Abundant choices in resolution and other settings. Produces amazingly detailed images from prints, negatives and slides.
  Cons: Mostly related to software (only tested on a mac); small buffer for scanned images, occasional software crashes, some needles clutter in amount of windows and pop-ups (some, but not all can be turned off). Flimsy latches for 35mm filmstrip guide.
  
  In spite of some software shortcomings the end results are fantastic for a scanner at this price, and I rate this scanner around four-and-a-half stars.
  
  This is a review of the Canon CanoScan 8800F.
  
  
• Canon CS8800 Color image Scanner
  By A2GOAL5WUYZOOD on 2007-12-14
  Reason for purchase was to scan old 35mm slide pictures that were over 40 years old. Commercial scanning is very expensive. Scanner does a great job bringing old slide pictures back to life and digitizing them. I've stored thousand of old family pics on DVD for posterity. Great product..only wish the scan could work faster. It takes 4 to 6 minutes to scan (four each scan) to accomplish. Definitely caught up on my reading during the scanning process. Scanner also does a great job on prints and nagative. Glad I found a purchased from [...]
  
  
• A GREAT Scanner
  By A2GAYKA0W8658D on 2008-01-25
  I've owned many scanners. I recently purchased this item to replace a Canon 8400F that I wore out ( scanned 15,000 photos)over a period of 15 months.
  I've used the 8800 for a week now ( about 300 scanned items), and I am
  so impressed with the quality of the scans, that I am planning to RESCAN
  most of the photos again. Yes, the sharpness and color fidelity imparted with this scanner are so good I consider it worthwhile to REDO about a years work of archiving.
  I started by rescanning some of the photos to see how the new scans compared with those from the 8400 I had used for my archives. Most comparisons showed the raw scan of the 8800 to be superior, and never less than equal to the 8400. I really liked the 8400. I LOVE the 8800.
  
  The scanner is very fast. The final scan of a 4x6" photo takes about 3-4 seconds.I do about 100 pictures in an hour, even with the need to tweak some using the Canon Navigator software. You can do multiple pictures in one pass, but I like to look at each picture individually and crop it as I scan.
  One useful tip is to use the Advanced mode and set the "Paper Size" to fit
  the most common size of your photos. My typical photos are 4x6 or smaller so I use the "2 L Landscape" that creates a 7"x5" scan template (i.e. the scanner only travels about 1/2 way down the platen each scan both saving
  time and potential wear , and also eliminates the need to "zoom" to get
  a good size picture displayed for tweaking and cropping.
  
  Did I mention that I LOVE THIS SCANNER?
  
  
  
  
  
• I'm in love . . .
  By A235V1HEQNRD5Q on 2008-02-20
  I recently got this scanner after desperately trying to get support, to no avail, for my previous scanner to work with Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard). So that was of primary importance to me. I called Canon first, and they assured me that proper drivers were on the installation disk, and that was correct. No extra downloads, etc.
  
  I'm not very technically oriented but I had the scanner up and running in no time. It's easy to figure out, and the scans are beautiful. I'm sure that once I have more time I will read the on-screen manual provided to learn more about what I can do with it.
  
  It's a nice-looking, sturdy piece of equipment, not a flimsy piece of junk. I'm so happy with this purchase, that if I were not already married, I'd marry this scanner. It's smarter, handsomer, and less trouble than most men.
  
  
• So easy a 10 year old can run it.
  By A2ZFJJJKDS74WW on 2007-11-21
  These days you wouldn't expect a 10 year old to have difficulty with a computer but with careful setup even the technologically challenged can use this scanner.
  
  I have been using the scanner for 35mm slides on a computer running XP.
  
  Software installation was simple but since multiple software products are installed, it takes a while. It is not clear what is required vs what Canon thinks you might like to have. Hookup to the computer is also simple. One power cord and one USB cable. The power block has a standard power cable instead of the brick that takes up two outlets worth of space on a power strip.
  
  I configured one of the front panel buttons, so the procedure for scanning 35mm slides is: load slides, push button, wait for preview scan (15 sec), select image(s) for detailed scan, click scan button, wait for scan to complete. A 1200 dpi scan takes about 2 minutes for 4 slides, a 2400 dpi scan takes about 4 minutes.
  
  It is probably possible to configure the system to eliminate some of the steps but as is usually the case, the documentation is not the greatest. I would rate it as fair.
  
  Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this scanner.
  
  
• Exceeds my expectations on 35mm slides
  By A301NC1HEYF436 on 2007-11-18
  I have a large collection of 35mm slides dating back to the mid 1960's. I now take only digital pictures and view them on a 65" HDTV with an Xbox 360 hooked up to my computer. I've been looking at ways to get my precious slides on my computer. This 8800F scanner exceeds my expectations for ease of use and superb quality scanning my Kodachrome slides. The scanner also included Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and after scanning in the slides, performing an unsharp mask in Photoshop they look great. Highly recommended.
  
  
• Fabulous Scanner!
  By A23SO1TIJS1SJN on 2007-12-11
  When I got my new pc with Vista installed, the result was that it disabled my printer, scanner & all-in-one, with no driver downloads available! So the search was on for new peripherals. I read oodles of reviews for scanners & there seemed to be quite a few unhappy users: speed, flimsy construction etc. I really got discouraged until I found the 8800f. My son got it for my birthday in October. I have a 'gazillion' slides & photos that I need to get onto CDs etc...so definitely need the slide-scan capability. I have done a few slides & quite a few photos for my genealogy website etc. and am very pleased with the scanner's performance. There really is no 'warm-up time'...and the scans have been quick & good quality. Even though I had Photoshop Elements 5 (which also came with the scanner)-I find I use the ArcSoft Photo Studio edit default program a lot for basic edits.
  I highly recommend the CanoScan 8800f-so glad I found it!
  
  
• From one Canon to another
  By A2LNR55TM67AU4 on 2008-03-22
  When my 5-year-old Canon LiDE scanner bit the big one a few months back, I decided to take the opportunity to "upgrade" my scanning equipment. The LiDE was fine and produced decent scans, but there were occasional color issues and it was always so very, very slow. I've had the 8800F for about a month now, and it's done wonders with everything I've thrown at it. Old 78 rpm record labels, black and white documents, color photographs--they all look great. (I don't have any slides to scan, so I can't comment on the slide-scanning ability.) Although the scanner is quite a bit larger than my LiDE, it feels much sturdier (the weighted lid is a big help) and the speed is incredible! A 4x6 photo that used to take me 3+ minutes to scan at 300 dpi on my old scanner now scans in less than five seconds! While the scanner is great, I'm not crazy about the bundled Canon scanner software for my Mac (running 10.4). One of the most irritating aspects is that after scanning an image, I have to manually select the output format (TIFF, JPG, etc.) and quality setting before saving. When batch scanning a bunch of photos, it can get very tiresome doing this over and over again. Why can't I save my scan settings? I used a third-party scanner software with my previous scanner and I could specify a default output format and quality setting, then scan away uninterrupted. (Sadly, that software doesn't work with the new Canon.) Despite this little setback, I'm very pleased with the Canon 8800F.
  
  
• Good stuff for the money
  By A2G59IRGQ8BYV on 2007-11-11
  Bought one a month ago mainly to scan 35mm film. No problems, works great so far! Takes it's sweet time with the film though: each film shot can take up to several minutes.
  Also, this is the first thing I got to actually work without a hitch with my Mac! Always ran into problems with HPs and Epsons.
  Transparency holders are kind of flimsy and fragile, but so is the film. I guess it's common practise.
  
  
• Fast scanner but image quality not as good as I had hoped
  By A31KVQ657J6X63 on 2007-12-18
  This is the first Canon scanner I have owned. I bought it based on the technical specs and because other Canon scanners had fairly positive reviews.
  
  I have have had 3 Epson scanners over the last 10 years and have been very pleased with the image quality, but somewhat disappointed with the software and heat up time for the lamp (which is typical for most scanners). The CanoScan 8800F appeared to have a better software package according to the literature and would be faster with no heat up time required for the lamp.
  
  I still have my last Epson scanner which is a Perfection 3170. I use it on another computer so I was able to do some comparison scans with both scanners.
  
  Results:
  For standard pdf scans, copies and faxes, the image quality of the Epson was quite noticeably better using standard mode scans. The Canon was much faster but I was disappointed that the image quality at 150 and 300 dpi was not better or at least as good.
  
  For picture scans, both scanners did a very good job. Again, I liked the image quality and color of the Epson, but was not displeased with the Canon.
  
  Conclusion: I bought this scanner as an update to the Epson which is 2 years old and because I was hoping for an improvement in speed and overall image quality. My thoughts are that the Canon is a good scanner but I was disappointed that it didn't blow the Epson away. It has more buttons on the front but you still have to use the software to set up each. I am not impressed with the MP Navigator software that came with the Canon. It has no advantage over Epson as some have inferred in their reviews. However, I like the Presto Pagemanager and Photoshop Elements. I use the scanner for a variety of applications, like making copies, digitizing to PDF files, digitizing prints and slides (which can later be touched up using Adobe) and for faxing. I have not scanned any slides or color negatives yet. There may be some adjustments I can make to improve the quality of B&W and grayscale images. I will do some investigating into that. I mainly wanted to share my initial impressions of the Canon as compared to my experience with older Epson scanners.
  
  
• Works well with my mac
  By A16ZU3YJ4X4SGK on 2008-02-09
  I have taken on a large project to digitize several thousand family slides. This scanner has been easy to use and works well with the slides I have scanned. It takes about five minutes of scan time to process a batch of four slides at 2400dpi. Add a little time to catalog and save and I can scan and store about thirty to forty slides an hour. Higher resolution scans can take much longer. The quality at 2400dpi has been satisfactory for any 4x6. I have also used the scanner for prints and have had good results. I believe this machine represents a bargain. I have not yet used the machine to scan film strips.
  
  Added Comment: When scanning slides, if the slide is marked "This Side Towards Screen", place this side down on the scanning bed. I have had chromatic aberrations (things that look like rainbows) appear on my scanned images. If I turn the slide over and scan again, this aberration always disappears. Also, when placing this side down, the scanned image is often reversed. Things that you know are on the left appear on the right side of the scanned image. The provided software (called PhotoStudio) allows you to change orientation by mirroring the image. At this point I transfer the JPEG for storage to my regular photo software. This is because if you mirror the image it will be upside-down. Rotating the image with the provided software sometimes cuts off the edges of the picture. It isn't difficult, but it does add an extra step.
  
  
• VERY HANDY SCANNER
  By A263VF2FWJ52H1 on 2007-11-09
  I got this scanner from Amazon for $183.99. The scanned photos, magazine pictures, and important documents looked sharp. Depending on the scanning resolution (up to 4800 dpi), the images from 35 mm slides looked even better than the originals. The software that came in the package was easy to install and use. (I use Windows XP). I should have bought this sooner.
  
  
• Good for slides, negatives and paper
  By A2Q916UR3I0BX4 on 2007-11-02
  I've been scanning color slides, color negatives and b&w negatives and have been very happy with the results. The film guide mounts are very easy to load and place in scanner. The software is flexible and allows for odd film sizes. In 35-mm mode it will find each shot on the strip and scan as an individual picture.
  
  I find that the LED light source makes for faster scanning with no warmup time needed. Having a uniform white light seems to provide for great color duplication.
  
  Installation on my VISTA Ultimate laptop went without a hitch. It works seamlessly with Adobe Elements 5.
  
  
  
  
• Faster than the Canon 8400F
  By A3UO7TPKCH3D4 on 2007-11-06
  I have used a Canon 8400F for several years and it has done an excellent job. I purchased this as a replacement and because the scanner was supposed to be much faster. It is faster and the quality is good. I have tried it with photo scanning and document scanning but have yet to try it with negatives and slides. The new LED technology seems to work as advertised.
  
  
• Canoscan8800F
  By A3TXCN5DJMO1XY on 2007-11-29
  This Cannon scanner is wonderful to work with. We are scanning thousands of old slides,photos... and are very pleased with the quality. This product is well priced at the approx $180 we paid.
  
  
• i like it
  By A1T7EHCMZ92TKC on 2008-01-21
  I have had this scanner about 1 month now and I like it so far. I got this model because I needed a flatbed scanner, and I also wanted to scan some slides and 35mm film. I have read dedicated film scanners are much better than flatbeds that can scan film, but I didn't have so much film and slides to justify buying one. It scans film better than I expected, but I haven't scanned that much yet.
  
  So far my only complaint is the amount of software that the CD wants to install. There's a lot of stuff. I installed all of it cause I am not sure which software is needed and which isn't, with the intention of removing the stuff I don't need later. I'll get around to doing that someday. Till then I have about 6 new programs on my computer.
  
  
• Canon 8800 scanner is great!
  By A1KRL3TT2WC585 on 2008-01-07
  Over 30 years I had taken 100s of color and black and white positive slides, prints and negatives and had taken many to Ritz for conversion to jpg files. This worked in most cases ok for the for the slides but I needed something better. I read the 8800 reviews and took a chance. I love it. It does a fantastic job on every media I have scanned. I expected a good job on the slides but my 20 year old color and black and white prints have come out as good as new. I would definitely recommend this scanner to anyone. It is easy to set up and easy to use. The photo enhancing software that comes with it is also excellent.
  
  
• cannon slide scanner
  By A39B7K90LX8872 on 2007-12-01
  I was trying to select a good scanner so I could put a bunch of old family slides onto a CD for my mother-in-law for a surprise xmas gift. I read some of the reviews and decided to give the 8800F a shot. I found it to be an excellent product for the money. It takes about 3 minutes to scan 4 slides, but I really liked the auto adjustment setting that "fixes" your picture for you. It also has a scratch removal setting which works pretty neat. I am happy with my purchase.
  
  
• Scanning medium format mounted positives
  By A376AVCLSNIQF6 on 2008-05-01
  I own a Nikon Coolscan V ED that I use for 35mm mouted slide scans. I needed something for medium format (2 1/4 x 2 1/4) mounted slides - slides that were in cardboard mounts for projection. I could find nothing that included carriers for this format, but saw that the 8800F would handle 120 film. I figured I would take a chance and see if I could make this scanner work for me.
  
  It arrived this afternoon. After unpacking, installation and trying a couple of test scans using the included scangear software, I set about trying to scan my medium format slides. I first treid using the 120 film holder, but with so-so results. The film was held too far away from the scanner glass and the side pressure form the locator pins warped the film slightly. I then took a closer look at the 35mm slide holder and decided that I could make one along the same lines for my larger slides. I used a piece of illustration board the same size as the scanner glass and cut two rectangular holes in it using the 120 film holder as a guide for the placement of the calibration window and the actual slide scanning window. I made the slide windw large enough to take the slides in their plastic holders so that I could remove them form the projection magazines and scan them in the holders without removing them from the support frames.
  
  It worked like a charm! The backlight in the cover is wide enough to illuminate the entire slide and the Scangear software allows you to save color correction settings speeding up the process of scanning these very old slides, most of which have very faded cyan dyes making the slides extremely "red". I figure it will take a couple of days to scan the 600 or so slides and create DVDs for delivery to my customer - a job that would have been torturous in the extreme using single slide scanners.
  
  I'm very happy with this scanner.
  
  

• Monster MP PC800 RP Computer PowerCenter¿ with Surge Protection
• Max 2 2outlet Wall Mount
• Monster Cable MP-HTS200 2-OUTLET Home Theater Power Center with Coax and Phone Line Protection

• Kinetronics StaticWisk - hand held anti-static brushes for film, glass & acrylics SW-020 (3/4")
• Print File Archival 35mm Size Negative Pages Holds Seven Strips of Five Frames, Pack of 100
• Canon Pixma iP4500 Photo Inkjet Printer (2171B002)
• Photographic Solutions Pec*Pad Photowipes for Photographic Emulsions, 100 Sheets 4"x4"
• The Photoshop Elements 5 Restoration and Retouching Book