My father's scanner, the SCA Canon CanoScan 8600F

LaFoto · Jan 24, 2007

Is any of you familiar with this type of scanner?

My father bought it (it is still quite new) in order to work on a PowerPoint presentation on the anniversary of the friendship between my home town and a place in Northern-Ireland, and thought about scanning not only old prints, but mostly so old slides and also negatives.

Now he has found a whole lot of square 6x6 (in centimetres) negatives that he means to scan, but his scanner refuses to work on them.

The first strip usually works ok, all three negatives are being recognised.
Of the second lot the scanner then only recognises 2 ... and from then on keeps telling him "Can't recognise a negative" or something to that extent. Nothing works.

He is a bit at a loss.
Working on a power point presentation is nothing he has done all his life, either, he is a mere beginner in many a thing that is related to the computer, and I admire him for wanting to learn all this at 76 years of age. But he is a bit upset about the performance of his scanner.

Has any of you had similar experiences with this kind of scanner, maybe?

mysteryscribe · Jan 24, 2007

I bought on but when it arrived the thing wouldn't power up. I decided not to buy another sorry I can't help. I would definitely take it in for service. I might reinstall the software first just to be sure that isnt the problem. While at it I would check to see if canon had a new driver for it.

Orgnoi1 · Jan 24, 2007

I use the 8400F... and had that same problem... I ended up scanning the first couple... then turning the neg around and starting from the other end... it definately is particular though and the neg has to be just right in the holder...

Don Simon · Jan 24, 2007

I'm also familiar with the 8400F, I suspect the 8600F is fairly similar. I've never had the problem with 6x6 negatives but have had it happen with 35mm... you could try calibrating or simply switching the scanner off and on again; that seemed to resolve it for me on the couple of occasions it happened. Also I think the scanner wants no space before the beginning of the film strip, in other words insert the film strip as far as it will go so that no light can shine straight through on the furthest end. Sorry that probably doesn't make a lot of sense... my scanner is on another computer so I'll take a look and come back later hopefully with a better suggestion.

By the way, are you using Canon's own software that came with it?

Orgnoi1 · Jan 24, 2007

ZaphodB said:
Also I think the scanner wants no space before the beginning of the film strip, in other words insert the film strip as far as it will go so that no light can shine straight through on the furthest end.

I forgot to mention that... thats 100% correct... the first negative should be almost exactly where the see-through section of the tray starts..

LaFoto · Jan 24, 2007

ZaphodB said:
By the way, are you using Canon's own software that came with it?

Thank you for the answers so far. It is not my own question, I am actually relaying my father's question to you all, since he is facing these problems, not myself. We only ever talk about it on the phone, so I can only guess and say: supposedly yes, he is using the very own software that came with the scanner in the box, and he got it brandnew, out of a shop. My father is too unfamiliar with these things to try anything out of the order, he is only learning about them as he is using them. And right now he is a bit fed up with his very new scanner's behaviour.

But I will tell him you said to really closely watch how the negatives go in there and to make sure not to get even the tiniest bit of light between the negative tray and the negative. Thanks for that!