Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

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.

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).

My test is to see how far I can get installing and using new equipment without the manual. I got this scanner installed and was using Easy Scan in minutes. The utilities work well for me including batch scan. I have scanned color positives and negatives, but not B&W. This scanner in conjunction with a good printer can produce lab quality prints in minutes.

I researched and thought about buying a scanner for months. I read so many different reviews and internet postings that I became paralyzed, unable to make a decision. I thought for a while that I wanted a flatbed scanner that could scan slides and negatives. Then I read about this scanner and it sounded good for me as I only have 35mm slides and negatives to scan. I plan on buying an inexpensive flat bed to scan the few flat prints and art that I need scanned. For me the software is easy to use and seems to do a great job. I installed the software on my machine with Microsoft XP as per the instructions and was scanning slides in a matter of moments.I read reviews stating the the software was not that good, but for what my needs are, it has worked very well. This scanner is not cheap, but I didn't mind paying a little extra for a quality machine. Overall I am very pleased with this purchase.

I really like the quality of the scans from the Dimage Elite 5400 II. I primarily use it to scan slides, though it can scan negatives as well. The unit itself is small, quiet, and elegant in its simplicity. The software, however, leaves a lot to be desired. It has 4 modes, the most useful of which is batch scanning. When the software works, it pretty much is painless- start it up and do other things till done. However, the software sometimes quits with no warning on my Macintosh Dual G5. Unfortunately, this results in having to restart the computer. No kernal panic, but the scanner simply will not work without a reboot. This can be frustrating.

The package comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0, for both Mac and PC. The scanner software also comes ready for Mac and PC. I think this was a great bundle for the price. If the scanning software had been better I would have given it 5 stars.

Just a note to potential buyers -- it works fine with OSX and Intel. The Mac software isn't fantastic, but it works and is straightfoward. The scan quality is great. I'm quite happy with the purchase.

NOTE: The USB support is flaky with the included software. Try VueScan -- it's been a lot more consistent for me.

This scanner was definately a deal. The resolution is great and the software is very easy to install and use. The two different masks make it so you can scan negatives and slides. The slide mask allows you to load 5 slides at a time instead of scanning them one at a time. It took a little longer to arrive than I had expected, but it was well worth the wait.

I purchased this scanner based on the recommendations of several photographers and photo supply stores. While the quality of the image scans is excellent and batch scanning is convenient, the product does have consistent jams and software hangups.

I can get past the software hangups, and have been able to maneuever around the jams with the negative slider in the past, but I've only had the product a couple months now and the last jam has warranted a trip back to the manufacturer.

The way the slider is fed/directed into the scanner, it can easily be misguided and jammed. Even once this scanner is fixed, it is only a matter of time before the next jam will render it back to the manufacturer.

For the price of the scanner, I find this unacceptable for any product. I've had it two months and already I will be inconvenienced without it for a month at the manufacturers, not to mention absorbing shipping/insuring costs, etc.

Are quality scans really worth the risk of the jams and inconvenience?

I'm a professional photographer. I decided to purchase a new scanner. I'd previously used a Nikon LS 2000 for about 5 years without any hardware problems. I decided to buy a new film scanner and purchased this product on July 17. The film transport froze after about 20 scans. It was replaced with a new scanner that had the same problem. I was advised that if I attempted to remove my valuable film strip the guarantee would be void. A defective scanner and an unconcerned Minolta. Be prepared to lose your film.