My FS4000 arrived on Monday, and I have spent every spare moment scanning. So far the results look great! It does a beautiful job with negatives and slides (most of which are Velvia). I have been very impressed with the resolution. My initial scans with slides appeared somewhat dark, but I made adjustments with the gamma (thank you for the tip)and exposure (with somewhat dark slides). Subsequent scans have been much improved. With very contrasty or darker slides, would multipass scanning with Vuescan help pull out detail in shadows?
Overall, I am very pleased with the scanner, and I pray that I do not encounter any mechanical problems. I hope others who have encountered problems can hang in there. Thanks again for your input and advice. Steve