I’ll admit to some frustration once I jumped down the rabbit hole of standards, terminology and connector brand names.
In a haze of half-baked-knowledge with the prize of successful multi-device connectivity ahead of me, I reached out to a friend in the know for final-final-final clarification.Įverything you see here is a direct result of this my question and Mike’s simple answer.
2018 15″ MacBook Pro (Thunderbolt 3 ports). 2017 Asus ROC laptop (USB-A, USB-C and Mini DisplayPort ports). 2016 27″ iMac (USB-A and Thunderbolt 2 ports). 2016 Dell Optiplex 3000 series desktop (USB-A, Mini DisplayPort ports). 2012 13″ MacBook Air (USB-A and Thunderbolt 2 ports). I should say that none of these natively provide the FireWire 400 connection I need: To further complicate issues, I wanted the flexibility of being able to use the scanner with anywhere up to five computers with connectors introduced some 20 years apart (ranging from 1996’s USB A to 2015’s Thunderbolt 3). New laptop on the left with Thunderbolt 3 and 18 year old Nikon 4000 ED scanner on the right with FireWire 400… Like any reasonably sane person, I had done my research, however, the question if the daisy chain of up to four cables and adapters would actually work remained. All this adds up to headaches for users who are not locked into yearly/bi-yearly upgrade cycles and when connectors go from simply being superseded to eventually being labelled “legacy”, well…God help you.įor some context, I recently decided to take the leap and get a dedicated scanner for 35mm film: a Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 4000 ED to be exact. There’s a new “gold standard” connector to contend with every few years or so, from SCSI to FireWire to USB, DisplayPort and Thunderbolt…and there are no signs of it stopping. Still and motion picture film formats are positively glacial in their rate of change when compared to the innumerable options that have come and gone for connecting scanners, printers and other devices to computers over the past four decades. Here’s how it breaks down: Why am I doing this? For scanners specifically, this can largely be handled by third-party software such as Vuescan or Silverfast. You’ll still potentially have driver support and software support issues to deal with. Next, I’ll be describing the combinations you’ll need to get your device plugged in and (hopefully) working.Īs with all legacy hardware, the physical connection with your computer is only a third of the battle. 
I’ll first be covering background information on legacy and current connectors/standards and how to identify them. How to: Connect legacy film scanners to modern computers - EMULSIVE Close Search for:
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