Coolscan 4000 found in the Trash

EASmithV · Jul 11, 2019

My brother's friend found a bunch of "junk" and they were gonna take sledgehammers to it but luckily I looked through it and found a perfectly functioning Yashica rangefinder with a bent filter ring and a Coolscan 4000 that had some dings in it.

I know next to nothing about Nikon scanners, other than they're fancy and expensive? I plugged it in and it whirred and appeared to power on.

How do I know if it's working? I assume i'll need to use some sort of legacy scan software like vuescan or silverfast. It's a firewire device so i'll need to find some way to adapt it to USB. Do these use trays or does the film feed straight in?
Any suggestions are welcome.

Tom Kershaw · Jul 11, 2019

VueScan is a good option. I still use a computer with a Firewire connection, so not sure about USB adaptation. The Nikon Coolscan 4000 should give you good results; there are various film trays, a motorised unit for strips of film and a slide mounted film holder. Do you have any photos of the unit that might help us assess condition?

Theo Sulphate · Jul 11, 2019

Which Yashica rangefinder?

EASmithV · Jul 11, 2019

Tom Kershaw said:
Do you have any photos of the unit that might help us assess condition?

None right now as i'm between cell phones but there is no water damage or anything that I can see. the front plastic cover has some chips and cracks in it, but popping that off the interior of the unit looks perfect except for some dust. My guess is someone upgraded or gave up trying to find a firewire / software solution.

Tom Kershaw · Jul 11, 2019

EASmithV said:
None right now as i'm between cell phones but there is no water damage or anything that I can see. the front plastic cover has some chips and cracks in it, but popping that off the interior of the unit looks perfect except for some dust. My guess is someone upgraded or gave up trying to find a firewire / software solution.

Do you have any of the inserts that slot into the front of the scanner?

EASmithV · Jul 11, 2019

Tom Kershaw said:
Do you have any of the inserts that slot into the front of the scanner?

Yes, I have a MA-21 slide mount adaptor

EASmithV · Jul 11, 2019

I powered it on and the self-test cycle shows everything appears to move freely and properly and there are some colored lights that are flashing inside.

mshchem · Jul 11, 2019

EASmithV said:
I powered it on and the self-test cycle shows everything appears to move freely and properly and there are some colored lights that are flashing inside.

Buy Vuescan it works with everything.

Tom Kershaw · Jul 11, 2019

mshchem said:
Buy Vuescan it works with everything.

Agreed. I use the combination of VueScan, PhotoLine (www.pl32.com) and ColorPerfect, since I stopped using Adobe.

Tom

EASmithV · Jul 11, 2019

Excellent. Now, is there a good way to convert firewire into USB? I know it can't carry all the data for audio uses but scanning it should be fine right?

PhilBurton · Jul 11, 2019

EASmithV said:
Excellent. Now, is there a good way to convert firewire into USB? I know it can't carry all the data for audio uses but scanning it should be fine right?

Try Newegg. Highly recommended in case you are not familiar with that store. https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=firewire+to+USB+convertor

Regarding scanner software, try downloading NikonScan from the Nikon website.

Patrick Robert James · Jul 11, 2019

You can use NikonScan on a Windows computer if you do the workaround. Otherwise you can download a trial of Vuescan for free.

Don't know how you can convert firewire to usb. I think you can convert firewire to thunderbolt though.

If you know anyone with an older Mac like a Powerbook you can use firewire on theirs to see if it is working. Or get a firewire card for your Windows computer. Or you can probably buy an old Powerbook for $40. Doubt it would be much more than that. Actually, that is probably the easiest thing to do. NikonScan will run on old Powerbooks and it is free of course. I keep an old Powerbook around just for that reason.

Hope that helps you.

mgb74 · Jul 11, 2019

You can download a trial version of Vuescan if you just want to test the scanner. There are firewire to usb cables, but not sure how plug and play they are. Firewire cards are cheap.

AgX · Jul 12, 2019

E.A. Smith, you likely are a lucky guy concerning that scanner.

"My brother's friend found a bunch of "junk" and they were gonna take sledgehammers to it"
Why someone who finds some junk would take a sledgehammer to it, remains enigmatic to me.

John51 · Jul 12, 2019

EASmithV said:
Excellent. Now, is there a good way to convert firewire into USB? I know it can't carry all the data for audio uses but scanning it should be fine right?

Instead of that, I would look for an old pc with firewire.

glbeas · Jul 12, 2019

I did a quick search and there are a multitude of usb to firewire adaptors available online.

StepheKoontz · Jul 12, 2019

I'd be skeptical about firewire to USB adapters. As others have said, firewire cards are cheap. That is assuming you are using a desktop with an open slot.

bdial · Jul 12, 2019

A good start would be to check with Vuescan to see what USB-Firewire adaptors they might support, if any. For example, as far as I know, Nikon's software will only look at firewire ports for the scanner. You can make the electrical connection with a USB adaptor, but the software may not recognize it.

EASmithV · Jul 13, 2019

AgX said:
E.A. Smith, you likely are a lucky guy concerning that scanner.

"My brother's friend found a bunch of "junk" and they were gonna take sledgehammers to it"
Why someone who finds some junk would take a sledgehammer to it, remains enigmatic to me.

It's actually a pretty great stress relief, as long as you do it safely. Something to be said about smashing some old junk. Trick is, gotta make sure it's junk!

EASmithV · Jul 13, 2019

bdial said:
A good start would be to check with Vuescan to see what USB-Firewire adaptors they might support, if any. For example, as far as I know, Nikon's software will only look at firewire ports for the scanner. You can make the electrical connection with a USB adaptor, but the software may not recognize it.

That's not a bad idea. I'll send them an email. I know they use a generic driver which is why their software works so well with legacy devices.

Coolscan 4000 found in the Trash

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency