I decided to get a new scanner to upgrade from my previous Canon scanner that had no negative adaptor. The choice was relatively straightforward - the only compact USB-powered Canon scanner with a film adaptor is a Canon CanoScan LiDE 500F. And this is exactly what I bought.

In the Box

The scanner arrived with the following: the USB cable, the CD-ROM with software, manuals and warranty cards, film guide, film scanning unit.

Features

The Canon LiDE 500F is a compact USB-powered flatbed scanner with maximum of 2400x4800 dpi of hardware resolution, 48 bit internal and external color depth (16 bit for grayscale), a film adaptor that lets you scan 35mm negative and positive film and FARE (Film Automatic Retouching and Enhancement) Level 3 built-in. It uses USB 2.0 interface (USB 2.0 Hi-Speed, USB 1.1 for Windows 98 or computer that have no USB 2.0).

The scanner can be placed on a horizontal surface as well as able to stand on its side (it has a built-in stand). The double-hinge lid can accommodate books and other bulky items and can also be flipped completely open.

There are 4 buttons on the scanner: Copy, Scan, PDF, and E-Mail to automate respective operations. The maximum document size is 8.5x11.7-inch and maximum interpolated resolution is 19200x19200 dpi. It supports Windows 98/2000/Me/XP, Mac OS 10.2, 10.2.7, 10.3.x.

In Operation

The scanner is thin but relatively long as it has a panel with buttons. In addition to being placed vertically (an arrangement I don’t use as I scan film and the film scanning requires the scanner to be in horizontal position), it can be placed horizontally, classic-style wither longitudinally (portrait orientation) or transversely (landscape orientation). I use the former

The strange thing is the connectors for the USB cable and the film adaptor unit (FAU) are on the front, where the buttons are. Although I don’t use buttons at all and don’t care where they are located and how they are marked, I find that I would rather have the USB cable connected to the opposite end of the scanner. The film adaptor connection, which looks like an S-Video jack, is well-located however.

The manual and labels on the scanner suggest that you have to install the software first, before connecting the scanner. Which I did. You get TWAIN drivers, ScanGear CS scanning console software, CanoScan Toolbox CS, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, ScanSoft OmniPage SE and Adobe Photoshop Album SE.

Since I had and use Adobe PhotoShop CS2, I only installed the drivers with ScanGear CS.

Once you unlock the lock on the scanner’s bottom and connect it to your computer with a supplied USB cable, you are ready to scan. The LiDE 500F is USB-powered so there is no need for AC power. The USB cable supplies power to it. The scanner calibrated itself for a couple of minutes and I could scan documents.

The scanner is relatively fast (unless you are using high-resolution modes) and pretty quiet too. The preview of the full-platen document takes less about 10 seconds and the scan of the letter-size sheet in grayscale mode at 300 dpi takes about 15 seconds.

The strange thing is that it starts scanning (or preview) from the part furthest from the buttons and cable jacks, which I consider the front of the scanner. This means that if you place the document close to the front, the preview will make them appear at the end, slowing the process down. This is counter-intuitive and counter-productive.

If you don't intend to use the buttons on the scanner, you can rotate it so that the cables and the buttons are in the back and place the documents on the glass at the opposite side, thereby speeding up the previews and the scanning.

Software

The ScanGear CS is quite easy to use and has an Advanced tab that lets you select many options (from resolution and levels to FARE level, unsharp mask and tone correction). It integrates with Adobe PhotoShop CS2 and other imaging applications quite easy.

Scanning Film

The main reason I upgraded my scanner to this model is to be able to scan 35mm film. If you don’t need such ability, you might consider other, less expensive scanners. For scanning film, you place the film guide on the scanner’s glass, place the negative in it and align it, connect the FAU (film adaptor unit) to the scanner’s jack, place it on top of the frame you want to scan, close the lid and use ScanGear CS to do preview, select the scan area and then scan the film.

You select the film type (negative or positive), select resolution and options like dust and scratch removal level (none, low, medium, high), tone correction, unsharp mask, grain correction, backlight compensation, etc.

You enter the output resolution e.g. 300 dpi and 6x4-inch landscape output, which will produce 6x4-inch output at 300 dpi. You can also specify input resolution by setting output format to Flexible and then setting the resolution that the scanner will use (hardware resolution).

I usually use a resolution setting of 400 dpi and 6x4-inch landscape size, which produces images of 2400x1600 pixels. I use low setting of dust and scratch removal. I use no unsharp mask and sharpen the image afterwards in Photoshop.

By default you get 24-bit color output (8-bit grayscale), but you can enable 48-bit output (16-bit grayscale) by opening the ScanGear's preferences window. There you can also make the ScanGear disappear after the scan is complete and the image had been transferred into your imaging program (it stays open by default).

The immediate drawback I noticed was the fact that you have to scan one frame at a time because the FAU can only be over (and project light) one frame at a time. Also, the scanning is slow. The preview takes about 20 seconds in auto mode od 10-15 seconds if you specify the frame number. The scan takes about 2 minutes at target output resolution of 400 dpi, which is about 2000 dpi of hardware scanner resolution.

Results

The scans of documents are very good. What is more important, the image quality of film scans is also very good/excellent. The FARE at low setting of dust removal practically eliminates dust and small scratches with no effect on overall image quality. The scans demonstrate excellent dynamic range, capturing all detail that is present in film.

You can see a sample scanned image that I scanned from a 35mm negative (Fujicolor Superia Reala ISO 100, Nikon N55 with 28-80/f3.5-5.6 lens, Sunpack circular polarizer) at the address below:

http://www.review-shop.com/Canon_LiDE_500F/Canon_LiDE_500F_Samples_1.html

You can copy and paste the above address into your browser's address area.

I scanned Fujicolor Superia Reala ISO 100 shot with my Nikon N55 as well as Fujicolor Superia ISO 400 shot with Chinon 35EE-II rangefinder. In both cases, the resultant images came out richly saturated with smooth tones (more so with Reala) and wide dynamic range. The negative film can capture more dynamic range than most digital cameras and it clearly shows with this scanner - you can have your detailed highlights (clouds) and detailed shadows as well (e.g. buildings or trees) in the same shot on a bright day. Try this with your average digital camera!

The scanned images are not sharp immediately, however (it was expected), and have to be sharpened in Photoshop or even using ScanGear CS during the scan. I use Unsharp Mask (USM) in Photoshop with a radius of 1.0, amount of 200-330 and threshold of 4-8 levels to make images sharp in the final print.

I am very satisfied with the image quality. I just wish the film scanning were faster and more convenient.

Reliability

As of 04/2009, having used this scanner for almost 4 years, it still works perfectly.

Bottom Line

As an inexpensive, versatile and compact flatbed scanner that can also scan negatives and positives well, I highly recommend the Canon LiDE 500F.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 108
Interface: USB