: : I've been saving up over the last year in order to purchase a film scanner. One I've considered is the Canon FS4000U. But, having kept an eye on this site and reading the posts, and other sources on the Internet, it seems like there are some real problems with the Canon - not in every case however. Any opinions as to a brand on my purchase? I'm not really a "money is no object" person, but I do want to go with something worthwhile! The reason I've been intrigued with the Canon is 4000 dpi resolution. I have about 20 years worth of slides and negatives to work with and can really only print up 8.5 by 11 inch. Is 4000 dpi really needed?
: : James

If you print to 8.5 by 11 inch with little cropping of a 35 mm negative/slide, you don't need 4000 dpi resolution. A 2800-2900 is more than enough. If your film has fine-grain and is well exposed, you can print even bigger without going to 4000. I bought a Minolta Scan Elite II (less expensive than Nikon IV) and it works great: with 1/3 cropping off a film I can print to 8.5 by 11 with high quality. Many variables affect your final print quality, and I believe the negative/slide quality, exposure, grain structure are more important than the difference between a 2820 and 4000 dpi in a scanner. If a film is bad, no scanner can save it, and a 4000 scanner only makes it look worse.