My previous scanner was the Minolta Scan Dual (v1, without
USB), which was the lowest
priced model in the Minolta range (around £260), but produced excellent A3 photographs
when printed with the Epson Photo 1200 inkjet printer, however
it no longer operates following an update of my operating system to Windows XP.
35mm scanners may, or may not, come complete with a SCSI card, which can be
an advantage enabling you to select a much better card suitable for driving SCSI CD's and
hard disks, for just a few pounds more than the basic Adaptec card usually on offer for an
extra £50. See Computer System page on the left-hand frame for more details about my SCSI card and cabling
tips. Modern scanners tend to use USB1, or the faster USB2. I haven't had the
chance to compare USB2 against SCSI, but SCSI certainly speeds up the Canonscan
4000. I will try to do some speed tests later.
In use, slides are more difficult to scan than negative film, due to increased film
density. If you want to scan slides and can afford the extra cost, look at models which can handle film density up to 3.6
or higher.
Technical support from Minolta used to be excellent. I had a problem a year ago with TWAIN
image transfer into Photoshop giving the wrong colour. Within a few days I had an email
reply, with a Beta version of updated software which was perfect. Another problem I had,
was a jammed APS (Advanced Photo System) film in the AD-10 adapter (an extra £70) caused
by a creased lead-in strip. This resulted in my having to send the adapter back to
Minolta to get the film extracted. Again with in a few days the adapter and film were
returned, free of charge.
My friend, Sid Mitchell has brought the Microtec Artixscan 4000T, and he's pretty impressed with the results. Although at £700 it's not the cheapest but at 4000 ppi it's worth it.
Stop Press (Jan 2002)
Microtec have announced a new film scanner the "Film Scanner 3600" which handles 35mm roll film, strips, or slides. Without ScanWizard Pro and SilverFast scanning software like its' big brother the 4000T the price is a bit cheaper at £499.99. The specification however looks good, with 3600ppi resolution, a 36-bit colour depth and film density of 3.6D (0.1D better than the 4000T). Finally scanners are moving away from the SCSI interface, the 3600 has both FireWire and USB ports. A FireWire card and leads are included.
There is also a cheaper 1600 ppi model and identical (re-baged) Jessops models.
An alternative to the Microtec 3600 is the excellent 4000 ppi Canonscan.
Canonscan 4000 US
I now use this high definition film scanner, which produces excellent scans from APS film as well. I hope to produce a more detailed review now that I've got the site uploading once again, and I've used the scanner over a range of film types. My main complaint is that scanning slides is extremely tricky and I want to try it with Viewscan software which has been recommended by other members of my camera club before commenting further.