Posted by Mark Hulette on October 28, 2009 at 9:26 AM
I have an older Nikon CoolScan with the scuzzi input. I had to take it off of my desktop PC a couple of years ago due to issues with the motherboard and just never put it back on. That PC still has some issues and I'd rather not put the scuzzi back in it. This is a nice scanner and I still have books of slides to digitize so I'd like to be able to use the CoolScan.
Question: Is there an adapter or anything out there that I can get to convert the OEM plug to USB? Any other options you can think of?
(BTW- I've got a laptop that I'd use that runs Vista 64).
Thanks!
Posted by Jim DeWitt on October 28, 2009 at 12:58 PM
There's good news and bad news. The good news is that there are many SCSI to USB converters. They are pretty simple hardware gadgets. Amazon has them, for example. Any Google search will turn up others.
The bad news is that Nikon hasn't done a very good job of supporting older CoolScan hardware on modern operating systems. Before spending money on the SCSI-USB converter, I'd make certain that Nikon has drivers for your model CoolScan that will work under the operating systems you are presently running.
Posted by Mark Hulette on October 28, 2009 at 2:29 PM
Thanks, Jim--- after looking a little deeper into the Nikon Support & Service website, looks like they have no plans to upgrade SCSI devices to Vista. Rats.
I'm on Mac, but had to abandon my old LS-2000 because Nikon quit updating the firmware to keep up with Mac's system software. There's further "bad" news. I've been looking for a new 5000 lately, and they're out of stock or on indefinite backorder from all the sources I've checked.
Posted by Mark Hulette on October 29, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Thanks for the input, guys. Guess I'll try to resurrect the PC with XP and go from there! I appreciate your help!
Posted by Duane Burleson on October 29, 2009 at 11:10 PM
Hank,
Have you tried the silverfast scanning software with your LS2000, you can try it out for free to make sure it works. http://www.silverfast.com/get_demo/en.html It puts a watermark all over the final scan but you can make sure it works before purchase.
Cheers,
Duane
Posted by Craig Sullivan on October 30, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Hank and Mark, don't discard your LS-2000. I just purchased a SCSI-Firewire adapter on Ebay and plan to use it with Vuescan (which is available for Mac or Windows. Vuescan Link
The developer Ed Hamrick assured me the adapter and Vuescan would support my LS-2000. I bought the adapter on Ebay from a reputable firm in Israel. Took two weeks to ship, but well worth the wait as their price was excellent. Item Here
I just received the adapter and have not had time to try it yet. I will post results here when I do.
UPDATE:
Loaded Vuescan and hooked up Nikon LS-2000 and Firewire-SCSI adapter in less than 30 minutes and started scanning. Basically it was plug and play on my Mac. Windows could be more involved, but both Vuescan and adapter come with excellent documentation that should ease windows installation.
Vuescan has much more controls and options for color, raw, icc profiles, etc. than I remember Nikon's software offered. Needless to say I am impressed and happy with my purchases. They resurrected my old scanner.
I really appreciate the heads up Craig, and would follow up if I could. But my LS-2000 completely froze up. The scanning mechanism wouldn't move at all. rather it sat and buzzed and hopped. I checked with Nikon and they said to trash it. And I did. Glad to hear that Ed still backs them.
Discussion
8 repliesQuestion: Is there an adapter or anything out there that I can get to convert the OEM plug to USB? Any other options you can think of?
(BTW- I've got a laptop that I'd use that runs Vista 64).
Thanks!
The bad news is that Nikon hasn't done a very good job of supporting older CoolScan hardware on modern operating systems. Before spending money on the SCSI-USB converter, I'd make certain that Nikon has drivers for your model CoolScan that will work under the operating systems you are presently running.
Oh well. Figures.
http://www.silverfast.com/product/Nikon/en.html
I'm on Mac, but had to abandon my old LS-2000 because Nikon quit updating the firmware to keep up with Mac's system software. There's further "bad" news. I've been looking for a new 5000 lately, and they're out of stock or on indefinite backorder from all the sources I've checked.
Have you tried the silverfast scanning software with your LS2000, you can try it out for free to make sure it works. http://www.silverfast.com/get_demo/en.html It puts a watermark all over the final scan but you can make sure it works before purchase.
Cheers,
Duane
The developer Ed Hamrick assured me the adapter and Vuescan would support my LS-2000. I bought the adapter on Ebay from a reputable firm in Israel. Took two weeks to ship, but well worth the wait as their price was excellent. Item Here
I just received the adapter and have not had time to try it yet. I will post results here when I do.
UPDATE:
Loaded Vuescan and hooked up Nikon LS-2000 and Firewire-SCSI adapter in less than 30 minutes and started scanning. Basically it was plug and play on my Mac. Windows could be more involved, but both Vuescan and adapter come with excellent documentation that should ease windows installation.
Vuescan has much more controls and options for color, raw, icc profiles, etc. than I remember Nikon's software offered. Needless to say I am impressed and happy with my purchases. They resurrected my old scanner.