OT: Scanner recommendations
 

My HP All-in-One has been giving me problems off and on for so long that my resolve is finally teetering on the edge of triumphing over my inertia. My most recent card scans must have board members wondering if they're developing glaucoma. Haven't decided whether to buy a new all-in-one or just go the scanner route (as the printer on my All-in-One works fine). Wanted to get some opinions on products/models that work for y'all.

The Epson Perfection line does well.

for me
 

I use a Microtek S400 and it works great. Just make sure you get a high speed USB port version 2 on whatever scanner you get.....they are much faster than the older versions....

Anthony - I just had this happen with my HP D145 AIO that I had for 7+ years. I researched over 20 different AIO models (basically the top inkjet models from HP, Brother, Canon, Lexmark and a few others) and found only 2 models that had the 3 features I wanted:
1) CCD scanner - this is THE key if you want decent looking scans of graded cards. CCD technology takes a good image of something that's not directly pressed against the flatbed which is what happen when a card is in a slab.
2) Duplex printing/copying - I do a lot of article printing so the ability to have it automatically do 2 sided printing is important
3) Wireless connectivity - this was more of a "nice to have" but my wife gets annoyed at having to turn on the computer connected to the unit in order to print instead of just being able to print from her laptop.

Those 3 requirements in an "All in One" unit narrowed it down to the HP L7780 and the Canon MP980. Whereas the HP was praised in reviews for cartridges lasting longer then on a laser unit, the Canon was almost universally criticized for being an ink hog and having to replace the cartridge way to often. That made my choice for me - ordered the HP 2 days ago from NewEgg.com for $250 delivered.

If you want in AIO and don't need the duplex copying/printing the HP Photosmart C8180 outclassed everything by a ton. The CCD scanner on that model is 9600 DPI, which is off the charts.

I use the Canoscan 4400F. It's an absolutely fantastic scanner and does well with SGC, PSA, and BVG slabs. On Amazon.com it can be purchased for around $100.

There are a lot of members that use this scanner.

Here are examples of each slab (SGC, PSA, BVG) and a raw card scan.

Attachment 917

Attachment 918

Attachment 919

Attachment 920

My Canon CanoScan 8800F Flatbed Scanner just arrived today.
It uses a CCD scan element and Hi-Speed USB.

For comparative purposes, the first image was taken with a CIS scanner (HP 8500 Pro), the second with a CCD scanner (my now deceased HP D145).

Yep. I have the 3590 Photo and it works great,

I use the 4400F, as well. The scan quality (for both raw and graded cards) is excellent for the price. Although I have cropped the slab out, this Speaker is in a PSA case:

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q...ar_speaker.jpg

I have the Canon 8800F and it's wonderful.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvindog/2910089238/" title="T205 by calvindog65, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/2910089238_a39f404fd4_o.jpg" width="450" height="769" alt="T205" /></a>

Wow, that's a nice scan. Thanks for all the recommendations so far, guys.

Matt,

Thanks for posting the before (CIS) and after (CCD) scans. That seems to make a huge difference in the picture clarity for slabbed cards.

jeff l.-
 

the quality of the scan is exceeded only by the sheer beauty of the card...
congratulations on them both!
spectacular acquisitions!

Mark, thanks, I love that card. The scanned image always blows me away.

Jeff,

Did you have to adjust the settings at all or are those the default settings? That is one of the clearest scans I think I have ever seen. I may have to look into your Canon model when it's time to put my HP to rest.

Mike

I'm with Jeff, except mine is Canon 8600F. Seems to work great. Used it for my albums in my profile.

JR cfc1909

Mike, those are the default settings. The only tweaking I do is to sharpen the scan a bit after I upload it to my flickr site. Unfortunately I don't know how to do much else with the scans. Here's another example from the Canon scanner:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvindog/2918385863/" title="1914 Cracker Jack by calvindog65, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/2918385863_a3c881d96b_o.jpg" width="450" height="733" alt="1914 Cracker Jack" /></a>

Jeff,

I'm really impressed with how that Epson reproduces the color. I thought maybe it was just the Cobb, but the Jackson looks great too.

By the way, you didn't happen to win the Cobb Piedmont Art Stamp last night (Huggins and Scott)...I was the underbidder wondering if that might have been you that won it:(...Congrats if you did.

Mike

Mike, my scanner is the Canon 8800F. And no, I didn't win that Cobb stamp -- not my fault! :)

Just to complete my comments above, attached is a scan of the same card from my new L7780 (just hooked up moments ago). As with the two scans I posted above, in the one on the left, I'm not using any sharpening or modification to the scan. Just for fun, for the one on the right, I sharpened and increased the color saturation of the image.

Jeff's Scans...
 

Jeff - I have always salivated at not only your cards, but the scans you put out seem to be the best of the best in my humble opinion. I have been needing to get a scanner for some time and after looking, again at the few scans you just put up, I have to go with the 8800F.

Is there anything about the Cannon you do not like ?

Thanks,

JJ

Jeff's scans have been enhanced with software - as I showed above (post above yours, image on the right), using free Picasa software I made my CJ Cobb bright and super sharp as well. It may be that the default setting on that particular scanner is to adjust the image to that level, but that's a function of software and NOT the scanner.

great discussion for me as I am looking to buy my first scanner at home.
Do the Canon scanners (4400 and 8800) work well with Macs and is the sofware easy to use/set up? I've heard mixed things about the software. Are there major differences between these two Canon scanners? Thanks, Brian

Jeremy, the Cannon 8800F is great, was pretty cheap ($179) I think and I have zero complaints. It's important to use a black background on your scans and to make sure no light gets through.

Matt, I don't use Picassa and looking at your enhanced Cobb I'm happy about that decision. I think it's pretty clear that whatever you did to your card is not done to mine. I do sharpen my scans sometimes (because when the card is blown up it can sometimes lose some sharpness) but not too much as it would make the scan appear grainy. As for any color enhancement, I don't do the actual scanning (my secretary has that lucky job) but considering how lazy he is I doubt much is done at all to the scans other than some sort of automatic slight enhancement. Here are some additional scans that can give you an idea as to what my scanner can do, in color and one in black and white:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvindog/2909241541/" title="1911 Series of Champions T227 by calvindog65, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/2909241541_c8d99e3bb0_o.jpg" width="450" height="761" alt="1911 Series of Champions T227" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvindog/2925273100/" title="Charlie Gehringer by calvindog65, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2925273100_44f32e6148_o.jpg" width="450" height="756" alt="Charlie Gehringer" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvindog/3084954078/" title="1908 Detroit Free Press PC 773-4 by calvindog65, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/3084954078_91616db3e7_o.jpg" width="475" height="882" alt="1908 Detroit Free Press PC 773-4" /></a>

As you can see in the red flips in my T227 Cobb and Goudey Gehringer, the color red does not pop out the way it does in Matt's altered Cobb scan.

Sorry Jeff - I didn't explain well. I know you aren't using Picasa; what I was saying is that your scanning software automatically is doing some color adjusting for you. As an example, my HP software has an option to "automatically adjust color on scans." If, in your software, such a setting was defaulted to being on, your scan is being "altered" without you knowing about it and without your lazy secretary having to do anything.
Are you suggesting the CJ Joe Jax you posted above looks that bright in real life? I've never seen a CJ that looks like that; my guess is your software is automatically adjusting color for you without you knowing about it.
As an aside - using Picasa doesn't automatically make your scans like the silly altered one I threw up there - it just gives you the ability to do things like sharpen and change color saturation; in that example I went WAY overboard just to show what software can do. I've attached a less extreme example, also achieved using Picasa. Bottom line; I contend that if you and I both scanned the exact same card, using Picasa I could get the scan from my HP L7780 to look exactly the same as the one from your Canon.

I've been biting my tongue for two days, refraining from making ANY jokes about you doing your own scanning and/or the Columbia secretary.

Then you go and do it yourself.

Hats off to an honest man!

:D

Matt, ok, I understand. I'm sure there is some automatic adjustment done to the scans before they get to me; I only occasionally sharpen the scans via flickr.

The Jackson I have above was really bright regardless. I sold it recently (and it's been sold again) to a prominent dealer/collector in our hobby and he told me it was the one of the nicest 1914 CJs he had ever seen. It really is a spectacular card.

Jim, he's actually studying to take the law school boards in a week and I'm quietly snickering at the prospect of it all. But I'm also very concerned about losing the best scanner in the business....sigh. :)

Lichtman & Associates???

Brian,

I sent you some info.

Eric,
thanks, that was very helpful.
Take care. Brian

I love Canon the best,crisp and vivid pics.

Epson Scanners
 

I am a photographer and scan everything from cards, to photos to negatives. The Epson Perfection line of scanners is leaps and bounds ahead of Canon and HP. Epson has excellent color properties and minimizes "digital grain", aka over pixilation. I would highly recommend Epson, while there scanners are more expensive, you get more bells and whistles and you are likely to never have to buy another scanner. Epson is the undisputed king of scanners for Photographers, Digital Artists and Graphic Designers. If you do decide to go with another brand, the only other scanners worth your time are Canons Pro Line.

Chris,

Which Epson model would you recommend for straight forward use?

Just wanted to give a quick update and show the benefits of a good scanner. After reading all of your suggestions, I decided to purchase the Canon 8800.

The results:

The top scan was taken with my old HP all-in-one which I will be throwing off my roof later this evening.

The 2nd scan was taken with my new Canon 8800. No retouching.

Tremendous improvement. Thanks to all for your assistance.

night and day.

Big difference! Congrats on that, I know you'll be happy with it.

I have spent hours of my free time scanning in each of my cards for my own records/information over the last several months. Now, after seeing these Canon 8800 scans I am very depressed indeed!!! All that work for naught as I cannot keep the scans I have after seeing those. Now what do I do. What a depressing thought.

Thanks to this thread, I just got a Canon 8800 too (somebody here ought to get a commission!) Anyhow, the scans are fantastic and vivid. Here's a T3 I just received and scanned:

The Canon 8800, while it does produce great scans, is larger and more expensive than I'd want. Can anyone recommend one of the slimmer/cheaper scanners?

The Canon LiDE200 caught my eye on Amazon -- how well does it work on slabs?

Tex - welcome to the forum. You may want to read the thread you have replied to as it contains the information to answer your own question.

This might be a ridiculous question. Are there any compatability issues with scanners regarding using them with a Mac vs. a PC ? Jeff, those scans are beautiful.

I just purchased a Mac for my office presentation work which has some amazing properties to it. My old "new" scanner that I had to purchase when I had to get a new one when the switch was made to VISTA (no comment) seems to be far inferior to my older HP which ended up being non-compatable.

Thanks for any help

Greg

Greg,

I just bought the Canon 8800 last week and I use a Mac. Works like a charm.

I did read the thread, hence my reference to the 8800 which has been the topic of most of the replies thus far. There is no reference to the Canon LiDE200, and I've been underwhelmed by the few comments about non-8800 scanners thus far. That's...uhh...why I posted my question. Please just let my question be unless you have a relevant answer.



Thanks in advance to others who reply to my original question! :)

Did you read the posts that explain the importance of a CCD scanner? Did you check whether the one you asked about is a CCD or CIS scanner?

Tex,

If you're going to buy a new scanner, buy one with CCD technology (the Canon LiDE200 uses CIS technology). One of the main benefits is that CCD scanners provide a very clear image of graded cards in plastic holders, whereas the CIS scanners do not. Matt goes into greater detail about the differences in the 4th post in this thread. Check out the T206 Speaker images in my post from a couple days ago in this thread to see the profound difference in quality.

Yes, I read your post. If you read my question, you'll see that I'm asking for opinions on cheaper and slimmer scanners. The CCD scanners are $150+ and are not as portable. I simply need something I can setup/scan/store in a matter of minutes, because I have no where to put a scanner.

Sorry, I don't doubt your claim that CCD is the balls for scanning slabs, but I'm specifically asking for feedback on less-than-ideal options. Is that OK?

I will repeat what some have already said if it helps make the point!

Regardless of what you pay, make sure the scanner element is a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) instead of a CIS (Contact Image Scanner) if you want the best picture of OTHER than a flat object!

I believe ALL of the Canon LiDE are CIS, not positive.

My old HP 5400 is a CCD and it does slabs beautifully--You can find old, cheap scanners---But you got to know which element it has!

How can I find out which technology my scanner has? Epson Perfection 4180 Photo. Assume for the sake of argument that I don't have access to the owner's manual.

J

I believe that has the CCD technology.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/c...egory=Products