Canon CanoScan 9950F review

The CanoScan is Canon's new range-topping scanner for people who need to scan plenty of film.

It's a direct competitor to Epson's Perfection 4990 Photo, reviewed in What's New, Shopper April 2005. Both have a moving transparency backlight that covers the entire scan area.

Canon supplies adaptors for 35mm negatives, mounted 35mm slides, medium-format and 5x4" large-format transparencies. The standard medium-format holder accepts 120mm roll film, but a second can be adjusted for single negatives ranging from 6x4.5cm to 6x9cm.

The CanoScan's large scan area means it can capture five strips of six 35mm negatives at once, which is six frames more than the Epson. This ability to bulk scan helps productivity, but the 35mm holder is thin and feels frail. The scanner itself feels solid and durable, with strong hinges that prevent its lid slamming shut.

We expect high-end scanners to be fast and the 9950F matched the 4990's high reflective scan speeds. When using its USB Hi-Speed connection, we timed each A4 preview at seven seconds and our 300dpi A4 scan took 18.5 seconds. Capturing a 6x4" photograph at 1,200dpi took 36 seconds.

By default, Canon's driver pre-selects each negative frame. This can be disabled to give you full control, but only if you can find the button. The 9950F lagged behind the Epson when capturing transparencies. At 4,800dpi it took two minutes and 51 seconds to scan one 35mm frame. Switching to High-quality mode, it took 10 minutes and 11 seconds, though the image was slightly improved.

High-resolution tests from both reflective and transparent originals lacked the sharp detail we would expect from such an expensive scanner. We recommend Epson's F3200 film scanner to those who need the best results from transparencies.