Nikon CoolScan LS-2000 Film & Slide Scanner Digital Ice Disassembled Cleaned Lubed Updated Tested, Guaranteed Start Price USD 325.00 Current Price USD 325.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, November 19, 2008 End Time Sunday, November 23, 2008 Location North Canton, Ohio See more about 'Nikon CoolScan LS-2000 Film & Slide Scanner Digital Ice' Description Nikon Super CoolScan LS-2000 Film & Slide Scanner Disassembled, lubricated, cleaned, updated & tested Guaranteed working on arrival Do you have some old 35mm slides or negatives that you would like to have in digital format?  This may be the solution you are looking for ... converting your old film media to ten megapixel digital images with superb quality. About the LS-2000 The Nikon Super CoolScan LS-2000 is a Nikon special-purpose dedicated scanner for slides and negatives ... it’s primarily for 35mm film, but can also scan APS film with an optional adapter (not included). The LS-2000 is widely regarded as having been the first truly high-quality slide/film scanner.  Although two generations older than the latest models, it is still, even by today’s standards, a high-end product.  The LS-2000 scans a 35mm negative to about ten megapixels which, if saved in TIFF format at maximum color depth without compression takes up 30 to 55 megabytes per image (if, like most people, you save your files as high quality JPEGs, you will typically get a 3 to 5 megabyte JPEG file).  It’s as if your decades-old film photos had originally been shot with a ten megapixel digital camera.  It’s just the thing for converting your beloved film photos into digital images. If you have ever tried to scan slides or negatives with a flatbed scanner that has some kind of "transparency adapter", be assured that there is no comparison between any of those and a dedicated slide/film scanner.  Quality, speed and ease-of-use are not even in the same league as a flatbed scanner with a transparency adapter. But resolution specifications are only part of the story.  The quality of a good LS-2000’s scanning is stunning.  The LS-2000 was almost $2,000 when it was new.  It is a better scanner than many current moderate-priced models.  Nikon is, of course, a premier camera company, and the Nikon products have Nikon precision glass optics of unparalleled quality.  Further, the Nikon products are unique in the entire industry in that they use an LED light source rather than a lamp to illuminate the slide.  This is why the Nikon film scanner line is called “Super CoolScan” ... there is no projection lamp in the scanner.  But not only does the LED solid state light source last virtually forever with no degradation in quality over the product life, but it has another unique advantage:  While many lamp-based scanners make multiple passes of the film (as many as 4), the Nikon scanner makes one single pass and “flashes” the red, blue and green (and IR) LED at each line position ... something you can’t do with a lamp, which is always producing every color.  This not only makes scanning faster, but it has the unique advantage of zero registration error between passes ... because there is only one pass, even for the infrared scan required by “Digital Ice”.  These are unique advantages of the LED light source, a feature which, as far as I know, is absolutely exclusive to Nikon scanners. And, finally, the LS-2000 has “Digital ICE”, which is nothing short of “magic” in terms of what it means to the quality of your scans.  Digital ICE makes scratched and dirty negatives look virtually “perfect”.  You have to see this to believe how well it works.  You can find a review of the LS-2000 and “Digital ICE” here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/LS2K/LS2KA.HTM [The link is correct but does not work directly; you have to copy the URL and paste it into a browser window instead of just clicking on it.] Also, for reference, the Nikon Support page for the LS-2000 is located here: http://tinyurl.com/5gsrtc[again, the link may not work directly but should work if you copy it into a browser window]Having used scanners both with and without "Digital ICE", I would never even consider a scanner that didn't have it.  [Note:  Digital Ice works on almost all color negative films, but it does not work well (or in some cases at all) with Kodachrome slide films or black and white films.] LS-2000’s on E-Bay The LS-2000 is a somewhat older product (about 1999), originally very expensive (almost $2,000), and if you are buying a used one, you need to know that most LS-2000’s that you see for sale are in need of servicing. There are lots of LS-2000’s for sale that say “the power light blinks and then turns solid steady green”.  This means absolutely nothing.  It does not even mean that the scanner passed its own self test.  You will also see a lot of ads that say that the scanner is “untested” because “we didn’t have the {insert some combination of: power cord, data cable, SCSI card, software, film adapter ... whatever}”.  Testing an LS-2000 requires all of this; without it, you can’t even determine that a used LS-2000 is not totally, 100.0% dead.  Even if the power light turns on then turns steady green. Additionally, the LS-2000 has some characteristics that need to be considered in an older used unit.  One of these is that after a number of years, the lubricant originally used in the mechanism turns to a sticky, gooey mess that's more like glue than lubricant.  This, in turn, often causes failure of the scanning mechanism (and sometimes also failure of the auto-focus system as well).  Another problem is that after years, the optics will need to be cleaned; they become dusty, and scanning though dust-covered lenses and mirrors is like scanning images through a layer of wax paper; there is severe quality degradation (again, keep in mind that this thing is scanning a postage-stamp sized 35mm negative to approximately ten megapixels).  So while LS-2000's are great scanners, to get good results from a used unit it is necessary to locate one that has been disassembled, cleaned (both the mechanism and the optics), re-lubricated, updated with the latest firmware and tested.  That is how this unit is being sold.  Some other E-Bay sellers also offer them this way, but the majority of used LS-2000's are either completely untested and "as-is", or, less commonly, tested and working but not cleaned and re-lubricated. Finally, the LS-2000 is a SCSI device, and most PC owners don’t have the necessary SCSI card, cable or software required, so it is necessary to get one that comes with these, or to acquire them separately. LS-2000 system components and options The LS-2000 scanner itself is only part of the complete LS-2000 scanning system, and many units being sold include only the scanner itself without any of the other parts (a useless configuration that can’t scan anything).  Here is a list of all of the components of the LS-2000 system in addition to the scanner itself.  Please note, this is a list, for reference only, of all of the options that exist; not all of these were included even with a brand new LS-2000, and by no means are all of these items included in this auction (see below for which of these items are actually included in this auction), but it helps to understand what you need and are getting, since without at least a film adapter, SCSI interface and cables, you are not going to scan anything at all: The SA-20 film adapter accepts short 35mm film strips (2 to 6 images, negatives or transparencies) for batch scanning.  This is the “standard” adapter for negative print film The MA-20 film adapter accepts mounted 35mm film (slides or negatives).  This is the “standard” adapter for slides The FH-2 film holder allows “problem” film (that won’t properly feed in the SA-20) to be manually fed into the MA-20 in strips of 1 to 6 images in length.  It can deal with almost any kind of film problem.  This is an alternative feeder for either negative or transparency film. The IA-20 (sometimes also called the IX-240) accepts APS film rolls in their roll holder.  This is a fairly rare and somewhat expensive accessory. The SF-200 slide feeder accepts stacks of up to fifty 35mm mounted slides for automatic feeding and scanning.  This is an extremely rare and very expensive accessory (these usually sell for as much as $300 to $500 ... more than the scanners themselves). The LS-2000 is a SCSI interface device.  A SCSI card and cable are required.  The Adaptec AHA-2940 PCI card is usually recommended for PC applications, but any working SCSI card with a matching cable should work. Of course you need the Nikon software for the scanner (Nikon Scan), the drivers for the SCSI card, and the Adaptec “ASPI” layer software for Windows.  With the latest version of all of the applicable software, the LS-2000 is compatible with Windows 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. Vista compatibility is untested and should not be assumed. What’s included in this auction (and what’s not): This auction includes the following items: A Nikon LS-2000 scanner that has been cleaned, lubricated, updated to the latest firmware and fully tested.  It is guaranteed working on arrival (because of it’s age there is no further warranty, but these units can be expected to give many years of additional service).A Nikon MA-20 slide mount adapter is includedA Nikon SA-20 film strip adapter is included.  This allows scanning strips of up to six 35mm film images (negatives or unmounted slides)A power cord is includedA CD is included with ALL of the software necessary to install and use the scanner, both the SCSI software and the Nikon software.The CD also includes full documentation of the LS-2000 and all of it’s accessories, as well as service information that you may need in the future (in particular, instructions on how to clean the optics yourself).  Even some reviews and Photography Magazine “how to use it” articles are included.Instructions are included on how to get the whole system installed and working.An Adaptec PCI SCSI card is includedA SCSI cable is includedThis is a complete package; everything that you need to scan both slides and negatives, and to connect the scanner to a typical computer, is included.  For most users, installation of this scanner will require opening their PC and installing a SCSI card, plus a number of pieces of software.  If hardware and software installations are beyond you, you should probably pass on this item, but if you are comfortable with this, instructions are included to help you out. The cosmetic condition of these units varies slightly but all of the ones that I am selling have been cleaned and are in overall good cosmetic condition with no specific cosmetic defects worth mentioning other than that the front plastic of the scanner and film adapters may be somewhat yellowed (to varying, but not severe, degrees).  Scanner may also have minor dings, dents and chips (minor, and purely cosmetic).  The photo is of one of the kits that I have sold, it is not a photo of the exact units in this particular auction, but it's contents are identical to the kit you are bidding on, including the same items in a cosmetic condition that (unless specifically noted) would be indistinguishable from that shown in this type of photo.  Please note that the length and color of the power and data cables and the exact model number of the Adaptec SCSI card may vary, but all are working, in good condition and guaranteed. Remember, you are buying a tested, cleaned, lubricated, updated high end scanner that was almost $2,000 for about 90% less than what it originally cost, and it works as good as when it was new. Attention Laptop Users: These scanners can be used with a laptop.  I have the necessary PC cards and software to install them on any laptop with a PC Card (aka "PCMCIA" card) slot.  Please inquire if interested.Update on non-SCSI interfacing: I recently acquired a Ratoc FR1SX SCSI to Firewire converter and have confirmed that using this converter allows the LS-30 and LS-2000 scanners to be used with a Firewire interface rather than a SCSI interface providing that you use Hamrick Vuescan software instead of the Nikon Nikon Scan software (Nikon Scan, regretfully, does not work with the Ratoc converter).  Ratoc also makes an equivalent SCSI to USB converter (U2SCX), and unverified 3rd party reports are that it also works with these scanners in a similar manner.  This testing was done under Windows XP, however both the Ratoc converter and Vuescan are supported under Vista, thus it is a near certainty that this combination allows use of these scanners with Vista (but see below for information on Vista).Of course the downside to all of this is that neither the Ratoc converters nor VueScan are free (they are about $100 and $40, respectively), but the combination does at least provide an alternative to using a SCSI interface, and also provides an option for Vista.  This same combination has also been the recommended solution for use on a Mac when a "real" SCSI port could not be installed or when the version of the Mac OS being used was not supported by Nikon Scan.Update on Vista:The LS-30 and LS-2000 do work with Vista!! Installation is [extremely] tricky, but it is possible, and properly installed it does work (I am referring here to a standard, native configuration using a "real" SCSI card and Nikon software (Nikon Scan version 3.1.2)).  The SCSI port used must be supported by Vista (not all are, but many are) and as part of this must have Vista drivers.  Adaptec ASPI version 4.71a2 must be installed and Nikon Scan must be installed.  Neither ASPI nor Nikon Scan will normally install under Vista, but by applying "compatibility mode" in at least four different places (and in some cases more), the installation can be accomplished and it does work (note, the "compatibility mode" issues apply to installation of the various pieces of software; once installed, they function normally.  In the near future I plan to document the procedure for performing this installation.Alternatively, LS-30's and LS-2000's can also be used with Vista as described above by using a Ratoc SCSI to Fireware (or, likely, USB) converter and Hamrick VueScan software.Shipping Shipping is $25 for continental 48 states and this includes careful packing, tracking and insurance.  Shipping to other US locations (AK, HI, possessions, territories and APO addresses) may be (likely will be) higher. Payment by Pay-Pal, money order or check (item will be held for payment to clear).  Sales to US only, please.  Thank you for your interest in my auction. Search catcher: LS-2000 LS-30 CoolScan Cool Scan II III IV V LS-4000 LS-5000 LS-40 LS-50 LS30 LS40 LS50 LS1000 LS2000 LS3000 LS4000 LS5000 ED 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 8000 9000 Epson 4490 4990 TMA HP Minolta Dimage Kodak Plustek Opticfilm Primefilm Microtek Pacific Image SquareTrade © squaretrade warranty v2.0 Place a Bid!