Canon CanoScan 8600F Flatbed Scanner

CanoScan 8600 Flatbed Scanner

Strengths: Easy to set up. Relatively straight forward to operate. Image quality is very good. Software tools are very useful and funtional.

Weakness: Takes up quite a bit of realestate on the desk. Expect a lot of annoying high pitched squealing during operation. OCR can be hit and miss - actually can be humorous at times.

I have used the scanner heavily for over one week now and I am happy with the purchase. I have scanned dozens of color negatives, old and new photos of varying quality and size all with excellent results. I am most impressed with the softwares ability to compensate for faded photographs, they really come back to life with a click of the button. I purchased the scanner with a specific project in...
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I have used the scanner heavily for over one week now and I am happy with the purchase. I have scanned dozens of color negatives, old and new photos of varying quality and size all with excellent results. I am most impressed with the softwares ability to compensate for faded photographs, they really come back to life with a click of the button. I purchased the scanner with a specific project in mind - to digitize all the family photos, so I have scanned negatives more than anything else. Scanning negatives can be very time consuming with this product, and I have experienced one or two software crashes in the process. Overall however the CanoScan has been very much up to the task and given very good results.

By american5710 - Apr 8, 2007

Outstanding slide scanner

Strengths: I purchased this scanner based on several reviews that lauded its' performance as a slide scanner. I have scanned over 200 slides and am very impressed with the quality of the scans.

Weakness: The only negative comment would be the speed of the scan, over 2 minutes to scan one slide at 2400dpi. Higher resolutions take significantly longer.

I had never thought that a flat bed scanner could do a good job of scanning slides while they were still in the cardboard mounts (distance of the image from the actual glass). However, this scanner has proved me wrong. After scanning over 200 slides with quality approaching the original slide, I'm impressed. I have a dedicated slide scanner (Acer), however its slide holder manages to damage the...
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I had never thought that a flat bed scanner could do a good job of scanning slides while they were still in the cardboard mounts (distance of the image from the actual glass). However, this scanner has proved me wrong. After scanning over 200 slides with quality approaching the original slide, I'm impressed. I have a dedicated slide scanner (Acer), however its slide holder manages to damage the corners of every cardboard mount and the time required to place the slides in the holder is frustrating. The CanoScan 8600F provides easy undamaged placement of the slides in the scanner and produces comparable quality scans of slides. The only other choice would be a dedicated slide scanner such as the Nikon Coolpix scanner at a cost significantly higher. This type of scanner because of the cost would only be justified for a commercial slide scanning operation.

By RMGielow - Mar 25, 2007

CanoScan 8600 Flatbed Scanner

Strengths: Quality, effeciency, look and size

Weakness: none that I can see

I was given the family responsibility to archive all the old family photographs. I was looking for a scanner that had a good quality output, was easy to use and wouldn't take us too much space on my desk. The CanoScan is just that. I have been very happy with all of the above. I'm still getting used to using the software but overall I am very pleased with the quality and ease of use.

By ddelliot - Feb 4, 2007

Excellent Scanner

Strengths: Does negatives and slides. Its also fast and quiet compared to my previous Canon scanner.

Weakness: Somewhat Confusing software

I haven't used this scanner very long yet, and haven't had the time yet to try scanning slides. However what little I have scanned so far, I'm very pleased with. This scanner is quiet and fast compared to my previous Canon D1250 scanner. The scanner also feels very well built. Its heavy and even has an on/off switch, which my previous two scanners never had. I prefer having and on/off switch....
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I haven't used this scanner very long yet, and haven't had the time yet to try scanning slides. However what little I have scanned so far, I'm very pleased with. This scanner is quiet and fast compared to my previous Canon D1250 scanner.

The scanner also feels very well built. Its heavy and even has an on/off switch, which my previous two scanners never had. I prefer having and on/off switch. There is also a thin blue light that lights up on the cover when the power is on.

Mine also came with Photoshop Elements 4.0, which is nice to have. I haven't tried it yet with Vista, but read that it works ok with it.

The software though is confusing. It has two drivers that show up in Microsoft Digital Image Suite, and I'm not sure which is best to use. One is a WIA driver, the other is a normal driver.

By tc17 - Jan 15, 2007

Great Canoscan 8600F Flatbed Scanner

Strengths: 1. The instructions are very clear and the setup is super easy. 2. The accompanying software is very user-friendly. 3. The layout and labelling of the 7 buttons makes them easy to use.

Weakness: I haven't discovered any yet.

I have had excellent results when scanning a wide variety of originals: pencil and crayon drawings,photo prints, and many mounted 35mm slides. The ease of use and the outstanding results are impressive. I even like the retro look of the unit.

By Hankus - Nov 20, 2006