Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II 35mm Film and Slide Scanner

by Minolta

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 9 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007WZN12
• Item model number: 2892-301
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 28, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II boasts class-leading 5,400 dpi resolution that transforms a single frame of 35mm film into more than 42.2-megapixels of rich, 16-bit color data. Designed specifically to meet the demands of people who are serious about image quality, it captures every detail and tonal nuance of the original, allowing you to produce stunningly beautiful large-format prints (up to 19.1-by-12.8-inches at 400 dpi, 38.3-by-25.5-inches at 200 dpi). In so many ways, the DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II is simply better.

Features:

• 5,400 dpi optical resolution produces greater detail
• Faster scan times owing to a brighter light source
• More sophisticated image correction
• Accurate, in-focus scans if your film is slightly curved
• Special holders to protect your films
• Smaller footprint

High-speed focusing and scanning
An improved drive mechanism, optimized internal processing, and proprietary optics contribute to significantly faster setup, scanning, and autofocusing. Scanning is particularly fast and now takes only about 25 seconds per frame.

New film expert algorithm for enhanced color fidelity
Scanning color negatives can be a tricky business, even for experts. But with the DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II, you can take advantage of a new Film Expert algorithm that draws on decades of Konica Minolta expertise in photofinishing and optical imaging technology. As a result, you can get consistently beautiful results without the hassle of manually adjusting scanner settings to match the different exposure characteristics and color balance of various types of negative film.

Edge-to-edge full-frame scanning
There's no need to compromise on scanning area when you're working with filmstrips, because the DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II offers edge-to-edge 24-by-24-millimeter scanning that captures 100% of the frame.

Multi-sample scanning for rich shadow detail
Multi-sample scanning allows images to be scanned 2, 4, 8, or 16 times, significantly reducing random noise in shadow areas and revealing tonal gradations that would otherwise be lost.

16-bit A/D conversion
16-bit analog-to-digital signal conversion and a wide, 4.8 dynamic range deliver over 65,000 gradations in each of the three RGB color channels. The result is smooth shading of color tones, with excellent shadow and highlight detail.

Precise focus control
Proprietary Konica Minolta film grain detection technology assures accurate autofocusing even on low-contrast images, with an improved AF drive system for enhanced speed. In addition, a Point AF function and a Manual Focus Dial are provided for those special situations where you want to exercise maximum control over image sharpness.

Auto-Loading index and high-speed preview for faster throughput
Automatic index scanning begins as soon as you load the film holder, providing a quick index preview of all frames loaded -- up to 4 frames with the slide mount holder, and up to 6 frames with the 35mm film holder. Enlarged previews can be instantly displayed in the Index Palette!

Advanced Digital ICE Technology
A set of four powerful image enhancement tools makes it easy to clean up and correct imperfections as images are being scanned. The result is an effortless and dramatic improvement in image quality.

Easy film and slide handling
35mm film holder A convenient holder for 6-frame negative or positive filmstrips. Film is securely held to ensure maximum flatness for focusing accuracy.

Slide mount holder
A 4-frame holder for 35mm mounted slides. The slide in the end-most position can be replaced without removing the holder from the scanner, making it easy to perform additional scans.

Dust and scratch removal
Identifies and removes dust, scratches, and other surface defects without blurring and softening details in the underlying image.

Color restoration
Uses advanced dye signature analysis to identify and restore faded colors on older film and slide images.

Film grain management
Analyzes film emulsion patterns and reduces graininess while preserving image quality, color, and sharpness.

Shadow and highlight optimization
Automatically optimizes contrast and exposure to reveal additional image detail in areas of deep shadow or extreme highlight.

What's in the Box
Scanner, 35mm film holder FH-M20, slide mount holder SH-M20, USB cable UC-2 (USB2.0 compatible), AC adapter AC-U26, CD-ROM for DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, reset tool RT-M10

Product Description

The Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II not only offers 42.2 Megapixel resolution by adopting a high performance 5400 dpi 3-line color CCD, it improves color reproduction of negative film with a new Film Expert Algorithm developed with photofinishing technology. With a 16-bit A/D conversion and a wide dynamic range of 4.8, it faithfully reproduces the rich variations in tone from light to dark of the original film image. High-speed Preview instantly displays enlarged preview images High-speed Autofocus 16-bit A/D conversion (calculated Dynamic Range of 4.8) Multi-sample scanning for reducing random noise Digital ICE4 to increase work efficiency Digital ICE for Dust & Scratch Removal Digital ROC for Color Restoration Digital GEM for Film Grain Management Digital SHO for Shadow & Highlight Optimization Pixel Polish for various automatic image corrections Quick Scan button continuously scans 6 frames from a single press Manual Focus dial for adjusting focus as desired 3 driver software applications Easy Scan Utility for easy 3-step scanning Batch Scan Utility for large volume scanning with less work Scan Utility for detailed image correction Master Setup that allows users to save and load all settings such as image correction, Digital ICE4 and others Edge-to-edge full frame scanning thanks to a new film holder that enables a 100% field of view Hi-speed USB 2.0 interface

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing quality, no regrets!, December 23, 2005

By 

David Bradley "klaatubob" (Lawrence, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II 35mm Film and Slide Scanner (Office Product)

I read through the other reviews for this item, along with reviews for other film scanners, especially some Canon and Nikon scanners. While they looked good, this one looked better. There were a few negative reviews in terms of jams and software lockups, but most of the reviews said it was problem free. I went ahead and bought it. I have over 1,300 slides to scan for a current project.

I have NOT been disappointed! This scanner was a real piece of cake to set up. Nice and easy! The software is wonderful too!

I read that it doesn't do too well on Kodachrome slides. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the 1,300+ that I'm scanning, I've scanned about 650 so far, and there are lots of Kodachrome, lots of Ektachrome, and some no name brands as well. There are also some rather cheap "professional" slides that were purchased in the 60s, 70s, and 80s at various tourist attractions. These had mounts that were less than ideal to work with and the film was starting to curl and warp.

Some of the Kodachrome slides had a bluish cast to them. Some of the Ektachrome slides had a reddish cast to them, and some had a bluish cast to them. The no name slides seemed to be a bit faded. The "professional" slides were curled and warped. The result in every case was a stunning, sharply focused, beautifully even colored scan.

I have not had a single jam of the physical transport, and I have not had a single problem with the software. Everything works perfectly on XP Home and on a second system running XP Pro. (I move the scanner back and forth between the two systems.)

The Digital ICE enhancement algorithms do a fantastic job on correcting the color casts I mentioned above, as well as handling scratches and dust, although large pieces of dust have to be removed before scanning, but why would you leave them on there anyway?

One thing I noticed is that people complained that the scan times were not accurate and were just marketing hype. If you look in the door when it's opened for the slide holder, you can watch the light source during the pre-scan and the scan to see how long it's actually taking. The software says it's "scanning" long after the light source has gone dark and the scanner isn't doing anything any more. I timed 16-bit 5400 dpi scans with the full selection of enhancement options turned ON and got the following:

Start of scan using batch utility and four slides in SH-M20 holder.
Transport film, 4 seconds
Autofocus, 8 seconds
Transport film, 3 seconds
Prescanning, 6 seconds
Transport film, 5 seconds
Prescanning (again?), 1 minute 21 seconds
Transport film, 4 seconds
Scanning, 4 minutes 44 seconds (note that light source was OFF the entire 4 minutes and 44 seconds and that the film holder did NOT move during the entire 4 minutes and 44 seconds)
Processing Data 27 seconds
Then, after a grand total of 7 minutes and 2 seconds, it moved onto the next slide starting the above cycle all over again.

What I think is happening is that the first time it says "Prescanning" it is actually doing the prescan (which in my test took 6 seconds) and the second time it says "Prescanning" it was doing the final scan. Then for 4 minutes and 44 seconds it remained completely still and dark, and I think that is when two things were happening, first the USB 2.0 transfer of the data from the scanner to the computer, then the processing of all the enhancement options on that data. Since it was dark and still it couldn't have been actually scanning during that time. Then it took 27 minutes for "Processing Data" after which my file existed on the hard drive. I think that's the time it takes the software to write the file to the disc.

Overall it's pretty fast, and VERY high quality.

Faded, unevenly faded, and poorly colored slides all scanned to beautiful digital images.

Be aware, this is a LOT of file data. In uncompressed TIFF file mode, the results were about 202 MB per slide (16-bit). I re-ran them at 8-bit and got about 101 MB per slide. Back in 16-bit mode, with JPG compression put on low so that the quality doesn't suffer much if any, the file size was down to about 40-45 MB for 16-bit and about 20-25 MB for 8-bit.

My one and ONLY complaint is that the bundled application, Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 (yes, 3.0, not 2.0) can not handle a 16-bit file. For that you need other software. But since I don't use Elements to do the scans (I use the bundled batch scanning utility) and since I do my final adjustments in Photoshop (not Photoshop Elements) and since Photoshop CAN handle a 16-bit image, this was not a major problem for me. It would be nice, though, if the bundled software application could handle the scans produced by the bundled scanning utility.

Overall, I think this is an amazingly high quality scanner from Konica-Minolta!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good image quality; mechanically deficient, October 20, 2005

By 

C. A. Jones (Memhis, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II 35mm Film and Slide Scanner (Office Product)

Set up is smooth and easy, scan quality is very good. Forget about that 25 seconds per frame thing, however. On a slow computer a hi-res scan might take up to 14 minutes; on a new computer the same scan took only 4 minutes, with most of the enhancement options turned on.

Carrier locks up between frames frequently, however, which renders the batch scanning mode useless. It's been back to the factory twice now -- they've had it longer than I have.

Might be better to wait for the next model, when hopefully they'll have the mechanics worked out.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick and easily operated, September 6, 2005

By 

Svante Adermark "@ fleecelabs.se" (Göteborg, Sverige) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II 35mm Film and Slide Scanner (Office Product)

It scans pictures much less low than I feared and the quality is excellent. Even though I mostly use Photoshop for images manipulation, the tools provided by Minolta works really fine. After you've tried the settings out and developed your own presets you'll probably work with batch scanning all the time, scanning six images at a time and you will have a whole roll of 36 exposures ready in about one quarter of an hour (if you settle for the same settings I did).