Minolta Dimage Scan IV: budget film scanner with good image quality but questionable reliability.
Written: Aug 19 '04 (Updated Sep 04 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Inexpensive for a film scanner, better image quality than any flatbed scanner.
Cons: Questionable reliability, limited customer support, potentially problematic setup.
The Bottom Line: Recommended as an upgrade to any flatbed scanner, but only if you can't afford a Nikon Coolscan V ED or Canon Canoscan FS4000. Not recommended for heavy workloads.
|
|
|
| jvandegr's Full Review: Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV Film Scanner (3... |
I tested this scanner as a possible upgrade to my Epson Perfection 3170 Photo flatbed scanner, which didn't quite have the film scanning image quality I needed. The Dimage Scan IV performed noticeably better than the Epson 3170, but not as well as the Nikon Coolscan V ED, which has become the standard by which I judge all film scanners.
Features
This is a 3200 spi film scanner with 48-bit color resolution. It can scan 35mm slides, negatives, and APS film (with an optional adapter).
- Film formats: 35mm, Advanced Photo System (with optional APS Adapter AD-10)
- Film types: Negative and positive, color and black and white
- Optical input resolution: 3200dpi
- Scan sizes: 35mm film: 24.76 x 37.14 mm; Advanced Photo System film: 17.33 x 30.09 mm
- Input pixels: 35mm film: 3,120 x 4,680; Advanced Photo System film: 2,184 x 3,792
- Scan method: Moving-film, fixed-sensor, single-pass scan
- Scan type: 3-line color CCD (5,340 pixels / line)
- Filter: RGB filter
- Multi-sample scanning: 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, Off
- Continuous scan: 35mm-film holder: Maximum 6 frames; Slide mount holder: Maximum 4 frames
- A/D conversion: 16-bits
- Output data: 8 bits, 16 bits (per color channel)
- Dynamic range: 4.8 computed, 3.6 actual
- PC interface: USB 2.0 (1.1 compatible)
- Focusing: Autofocus (Point AF available), Manual focus
- Light source: 3-wave cold-cathode fluorescent tube
- Power Requirements: 24V DC with specified AC adapter 100-120V AC for North America
- Power consumption: Maximum 30W
- Dimensions (WxHxD): 5.7 x 3.9 x 12.8 inches (145 x 100 x 325mm)
- Weight(scan unit only): Approximately 3.3 lb. (1.5 kg)
- Standard Accessories: 35mm-film Holder FH-U2, Slide Mount Holder SH-U1, USB Cable UC-2, AC Adapter AC-U25, CD-ROM for DiMAGE Scan Dual IV, Photoshop Elements 2.0
- Batch Scanning: up to 6 frames of 35mm Film Up to 4 frames Mounted Slides
- System Requirements: Windows 98, 2000, Me, XP; Macintosh OS 8.6-9x, OS X (10.1 or later)
Performance
Image Quality
All tests were performed with the Dimage Scan IV set to 3200 “dpi” resolution, 8x or 16x multi-sampling, and 48-bit color resolution. These are the maximum image quality settings available on this scanner.
Test results from two 35mm Kodak E100GX slides, one bright and one with a lot of shadow detail, yielded similar results. In both cases, the Dimage Scan IV was sharper than the Epson Perfection 3170 Photo flatbed, but not as sharp as the Nikon Coolscan V. Color rendition with the test slides was more accurate than the Epson 3170, but slightly less accurate than the Coolscan V. The Dimage Scan IV brought out noticeably more shadow detail than the Epson 3170 but once again, less detail than the Coolscan V.
Test results from 35mm Kodak Porta 400BW negative film were slightly more difficult to interpret. The Epson 3170 does a nice job with 35mm negatives, but the Dimage Scan IV produced slightly sharper images. The tonal range of the Dimage Scan IV also seemed to be just slightly better than the Epson 3170. Not surprisingly, the Nikon Coolscan V was sharper still and rendered more shadow detail with more accurate gray tones.
One of the best measures of the image quality of a scanner is optical depth. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers give reliable optical depth figures for their scanners. Minolta is certainly guilty of this. Almost everywhere you look, you’ll read that this scanner has an optical depth of 4.8. This exceeds the optical depth of some of the top professional scanners in the world. If you read carefully into some of the literature available from Minolta, you’ll see that the Dimage Scan IV has a maximum “calculated” optical depth of 4.8 and a maximum “actual” optical depth of 3.6. For comparison, the Epson Perfection 3170 Photo has a maximum optical depth of 3.4 and the Nikon Coolscan V has a maximum optical depth of 4.2. Based on my test results, it seems that the Dimage Scan IV is probably somewhere between 3.6 and 3.8. This is only a qualitative assessment; I have no means of performing a quantitative evaluation of optical depth.
Film Handling
Scan times at 3200 spi and 48-bit color are slightly faster than the Epson 3170, but not as fast as the Nikon Coolscan V set to similar settings. On average, previews require 10 seconds and full scans require between 2 to 3 minutes, on average.
The included 35mm negative strip holder does a nice job of keeping the film flat while not obscuring any portion of the image frames. The included 35mm slide holder also works well, but I still prefer scanners that don’t require slide holders. If you want to scan APS film, you’ll need to purchase the optional APS film holder (it’s not included). I haven't scanned any APS film so I am unsure of its film handling ability in this regard. Most of the time, my slides scanned without any mechanical problems. On a couple occasions, the holder became stuck, requiring some help to move smoothly. In this respect, I was a little disappointed. I could imagine that if I had large batches of slides to scan, this could become a significant problem. My impression after many hours of use is that this scanner is designed as entry-level film scanner and is not designed for professional use.
Software
The Dimage Scan IV Utility software is fairly intuitive and is clearly designed for first time users. It can easily walk you through most scanning operations if you don't have any experience with film scanners. For the more experienced users, you'll be happy to know that exposure values and curves can be adjusted within this software, and a basic but sufficient histogram display is provided.
Minolta includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 with this scanner. Although this is certainly a capable piece of photo management software, it lacks one of the most significant tools that a photographer needs: levels (or curves) adjustment. Why didn’t Adobe include this? Because they want to make money from the much more expensive Photoshop. No big deal, I can understand that. What I don’t understand is why any manufacturer would include Photoshop Elements 2.0 with a scanner, since this is probably the most needed tool (it makes a little more sense to include it with a digital camera). This means you'll need to be happy with the levels/curves adjustments available in the utility software, or you’ll need to find other software. Since you’re thinking about buying this scanner, you’re probably on a budget so I’ll recommend Macromedia Fireworks or Corel Photo-Paint, both of which are significantly less expensive than Adobe Photoshop.
Installation of the scanner must be done exactly according to the instructions, or you'll have a lot of trouble getting this scanner to work. This is certainly not a plug and play device! I was forewarned about this and followed everything exactly and I've had no trouble since. If you do make a mistake, or if you need technical support for another reason, Minolta is not a very customer-friendly company. Most questions need to be answered by email, which can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. I have yet to find a toll-free phone number for technical support.
Conclusions
If you’re dissatisfied with the film scanning ability of your flatbed scanner, and you’re on a limited budget, the Minolta Dimage Scan IV could make a nice upgrade. It produces sharper, more detailed images with more accurate colors than I’ve seen from flatbeds costing twice as much. If you can afford another $300, the Nikon Coolscan V is a much better choice as it is simply unbeatable in terms of image quality, reliability, included software, and support, within its price range.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 255
Interface: USB
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.