Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 Scanner

by Minolta

Product Details

Product Manual [938kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 2.6 x 6.5 inches ; 5.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000095331
• Item model number: 2890-301
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #30 in Electronics > Camera & Photo > Printers & Scanners > Slide & Film Scanners
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 gives even novice users the power to achieve professional-quality digital scans at up to 5,400 dpi from 35mm film or slides, perfect for countless professional applications or for professional-looking images of friends and family.

With 16-bit A/D conversion, the DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 is able capture and reproduce the depth, subtleties, and rich variations in tone and color of the original film image. Choose from Grain Dissolver or Digital ICE functionality to select the desired level of visible grain, or remove the affects of surface contaminants such as dust, scratches, even fingerprints. Pixel Polish provides automatic corrections for color, exposure, and more, and can even provide restorative simulation for faded colors on aged film.

With clean, modern styling, the DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 is housed in a sleek metal body, slim enough to fit into small spaces on your busy desktop. It offers automatic or manual focus, with a large manual focus dial that allows you to make fine adjustments quickly and easily.

Offering compatibility for both PC and Mac based systems, the DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 is connected to your computer through an IEEE1394 (FireWire) or USB 2.0 interface, both of which offer fast data transfer rates well suited to the large image files associated with image scanning.

What's in the Box
Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 Scanner, FH-M10 35mm film holder, SH-M10 slide mount holder, UC-2 USB cable, FC-2 IEEE 1394 cable, AC-U25 AC adapter, DiMAGE Scan, Photoshop Elements 2.0, ST-M10 stand, RT-M10 reset tool

Product Description

The MINOLTA DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 is a vertical form factor film scanner with an incredibly sharp resolution of 5400 dots per inch ( dpi ) and 16-bit A/D conversion. Applied Science Fiction's Digital ICE (Image Correction & Enhancement) technology automatically removes scratches, dust, fingerprints and mold from negative, positive or slide scans, using proprietary MINOLTA "Grain Dissolver" to reduce film grain in scanned images. Batch Scan utility simplifies the process of scanning large numbers of photos with identical settings Manual focus button Ultra-slim design Minolta Pixel Polish software

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unit good when it works, problem is it doesn't always work., April 6, 2004

By 

"bkwells" (Scarsdale, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 Scanner (Office Product)

I purchased this unit in Dec 2003. Scanned a few slides, then came back to in a month later. The unit would not load or unload slides. It made all sorts of grinding noises. Minolta fixed it under warranty. When they shipped it back, it had a damaged face plate. I stupidly did not bother to call them back and demand it to be fixed again. I did not care about minor cosmetic damage to the face plate. I subsequently scanned over 500 slides with it with good results. I did not use if for several months, and now the unit is dead. Won't load or eject the film holder. Now Minotla claims it is damaged and not under warranty. Before you buy this unit, look for others will similar repair problems. I wish I did before I bought this scanner. Not recommened do to the poor workmanship and faulty design that requires frequent trips to the repair shop.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Minolta 5400 - Great Scanner - Easy to use, August 28, 2003

By 

Ira Solomon "Old Geek" (Lowell, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 Scanner (Office Product)

This is a wonderful machine. Software installed first time, not common for scanners, and worked first time. I have a ton of stuff on my machine (XP/Pro) and found no conflicts.
Best film/slide holders I've seen.
3 scanning modes available.
Easy which does a quite good job, but with little ability to change settings and full which lets you adjust everything. The third mode is batch which lets you set up to scan all negs or slides in the holder.
The full mode can be used within Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements 2 which is included).
Shadow detail is stunning.
All film scanners are slower than flatbeds and this is no exception. An ultimate negative scan (Maximum input resolution, Maximum output resolution, 48bit color, Digital Ice) takes just under 4 minutes and produces a 233Meg Tif file. But you seldem need quite that quality. Most scans would be about 1.2 minutes to 3 minutes. Negatives take longer than slides.
You must have USB 2 or Firewire! You could connect this to USB 1.1, but speeds, especially at the high end would be terrible.
My only complaint is that you can't tell the software the length of the film strip. My of my film is in 4 negative strips and the software always scans the whole holder which is 6 long.
Highly recommended.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ok but inconsistent and disappointing, January 31, 2004

By 

Selcuk Onat "harsh critic" (Seattle, wa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 Scanner (Office Product)

I've tested this scanner for two weeks now, and I must admit that despite it doing excellent slide scans, I am worried
about numerous items that may force me to return it.

I'll start with the good: It does excellent slide scans
at 2700 dpi and these come through in about 4 minutes,
pretty consistently and beautifully sharp. The saturation seems only very slightly lacking and I've
been noticing some deficiency in the yellow end of the color balance, but I also have to admit they are very sharp and
perfectly acceptable for a scanner at this price. The Elite also does excellent scans of very dark images, for
instance night shots, which exceeded the capacity
of my last slide scanner.

There remain other problems, however. Top of the list is the results from color negatives. Granted, the results from
my Nikon Coolscan III also suffered the same deficiency in
saturation but I bought that scanner in 1999 and figured
this would be a solved problem. When you scan a negative
in this unit, expect to have to readjust it, a hassle with
negatives for which there may be no real reference
(ie prints, etc) I've gotten beautiful rich prints from
Kodak negative film and these scans just do not come
anywhere near that richness of color. You'll do much better
to scan prints from a flatbed.

Of equal or more concern is the slapdash look of the software included. There was little or no attention paid
to the look of the user interface, which leads me to distrust the value of many of the suppposedly automated functions, such as noise reduction and dust and scratch removal.
The prescans seems to be superfluous. Nikon's
software left this in the dust. I know for a fact that the color adjust is basically for show only. It doesnt appear to
update as you adjust it. Anyway, it's advertised as some
remarkable support ware for scanning which it is not.

The most serious concern is the occasionally wild
variations in scan times that occur when scanning
negatives, however, and the varying times of setup
when you leave it unattended after scanning.
I've seen this unit take from 6- 20 minutes(!) per image at the 2700dpi negative setting
and why it should take so much longer than the slide scan
is a mystery. What's worrisome is the variation in
function. In all fairness, the loaders allow you to load
and leave 4 slides or a strip of six negatives. While the scanner works, you can take a break or snack. I really
appreciate this function and you won't find it elsewhere
at this price. The unit has a thin long profile, and the firewire
makes transfer much faster than any USB scanner will muster.

However, the variation in function and motor noise, cheap appearance of the software, and online rumors make me wonder about the long-term durability of this item, so
proceed with caution. Buy an extended warranty, I guess. So far so good on the slides, though, and that's what really counts, since my experience until now has shown me that negative scans are not gonig to be great at the sub-$1000
price point. They're certainly sharp enough, but Minolta,
where's the color saturation? Telling me to adjust
it in the crappy interface is not a sufficentt answer. And
what in golly's name is the focussing button for?
How am I going to accurately focus a laser on a
small piece of emulsion? Does this mean that this
thing goes out of focus easily? GREAT. That's YOUR
job, Minolta. Mine is to focus the camera.
I'll be looking to another company from now on.
I expect to see a software update if you want to keep the
business of a PRO photographer.