- Tamron 28-75mm 1:2.8
- Canon EF 50mm 1:2.5 Compact-Macro
- Canon EF 28mm 1:2.8
- Tamron 17-50mm 1:2.8
- Canon EF 24mm 1:2.8
- Konica Hexar AF
- Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM
- Minolta MC W.Rokkor - NL 21mm 1:2.8
- Canon BG-ED3 Battery Grip
- Canon 10D
- Sigma EF-500 DG Super EO ETTL
- Minolta Dimage Scan Elite II
- Sears 55mm 1:1.4
- Minolta X-370
- Canon EF 28-90mm 1:4-5.6 III
- Canon 400D (Rebel XTi)
Minolta Dimage Scan Elite II
Date:
4/12/2010 The authur of this website is seeing more opportunities to use and review 35mm film gear. To help me show the fruits of these reviews I picked up a new in the box 35mm film scanner. The full review of this scanner will be on hold until I have spent a bit more time with this new toy. Early impressions will have to suffice for now.
The Box - It is small and light. It hides nicely on a shelf between some other camera related gear. It is louder than I expected. It has an eerie repertoire of mechanical sounds while working. The scanner includes one six frame 35mm film tray and one four frame mounted slide tray. The scanner can also accommodate APS film with an optional APS film tray.
Software - This scanner, although NIB, was manufactured a while ago. The supplied CD had older software that did not work correctly on my Windows XP Pro laptop. The software installed and executed as if all was well but would not deliver an image. Downloading a newer version from the manufacturer's website solved this issue. There are two programs included. The 'Easy Scan Utility' is the equivalent to using a DSLR in 'Auto' or 'Green Square' mode. The 'Standard Scan Utility' is closer to manual mode. Both versions of the software include some helper functions to remove dust spots or scratches. Both versions support TIFF file formats along with others.
Image Quality - One of my requirements was an output image that roughly equaled a modern DSLR in resolution. Advertised as 11 million pixels or 2820 dpi it should be able to deliver. But with limited experience I can only say that the image quality jury is still out. Almost all scanning so far has been using the Easy Scan Utility. Hopefully learning how to tweak the settings in 'manual mode' will help the digital results duplicate what is on the film. I can say for sure that Easy Scan uses 'Auto Exposure' which has negatively affected at least one scanned image.
This page will be transformed into a complete review after spending a proper amount of time using and experimenting with Minolta's Dimage Scan Elite II and software.
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