Minolta Scan Dual iv, any users?

stevelmx5

stevelmx5

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Hi all,

Having got back into 35mm shooting I've been looking at scanners. I don't want a flatbed again due to their size so was looking at dedicated 35mm scanners. A guy I work with has offered to lend me his Minolta Scan Dual iv so I've been looking at reviews/flickr and the results look really good.

Before I take him up on the offer I was wondering if anyone had used one here with a Mac running Yosemite and Vuescan?

Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks for the quick response Chris. Seeing your results certainly gives me confidence in the quality of the scanner :0)

Cheers
Steve
 
I have the IV but use a PC and Vuescan. In my opinion it is a quantum leap in quality from trying to scan 35mm film on a flatbed scanner.
 
Thanks Wickerman. Looks like my colleague is having problems finding the power supply but I'll hopefully get it soon.
 
I have one that's now redundant - I've scanned all the films I needed to do (or at least all the frames worth the effort!), besides, it doesn't like Windows past XP. I may put it in the classifieds if anyone wants it.

The plus side is that it does a slightly better job than a good flatbed can but the minus is that it takes a while for it to do the job!
 
I'd be very interested in that scanner, Nod, assuming I could do something with vuescan and windows 7. I'll do some research once I get home and update this. :)
 
Ok, I am definitely interested and I love how well 4G works on my new phone :D
 
I'll see if I can find the box and disks and paperwork etc. then post it in the classifieds. Might take a while though!
 
I've got a scan multi and a scan multi pro, neither of them need a power supply but the scan multi is scsi, I dunno if the drivers are available for that past XP.
Anyway, they're both better than any flatbed I've used if a little slow, I just use the Minolta scan software they came with which looks like win 98 but works fine.
Most of the Minoltas are pretty decent.
 
Nod said:
I'll see if I can find the box and disks and paperwork etc. then post it in the classifieds. Might take a while though!
Click to expand...

Thanks! If it helps, I'll create a wanted thread to keep everything above board. :)
 
Most of the legacy film scanners that are usb or FireWire can be used with vuscan. I use a Minolta from 2005 which Minolta dropped support for after
Tiger. Works fine on Mavericks with Vuscan. Id assume similar for the others.

I'm still kicking myself for not getting the model up from mine that does medium format. It was about £150 extra then, now I'd have to pay over £1000 for a second hand one!
 
Had the III, very capable scanner. The Minolta software is a windows 95 throwback, but it works.
 
Strappy said:
And I did, eventually. :)
Click to expand...

Not only that but I saw the thread (unusually, I had the classifieds visible since I was after a lens. I usually keep that area shrunk to deliver me from the temptation of GAS!!!) and the scanner is at this very moment being kicked around a sorting office somewhere winging its way Eastwards.
 
Quick update as I've finally made time to test the scanner I purchased from Nod and I have to say that I'm delighted :D

Installation was a breeze - ignore all those web pages that say you have to run the scanner on Windows XP, I plugged it into my Windows 7 machine, switched on the scanner and Windows automagically installed the appropriate driver. Started VueScan and it had the scanner as a source on startup with all the options I think I'll need, plus a few new ones specific to this scanner. The film strip holder is excellent, it has dividers for each frame of a strip (of 6 35mm frames), which holds the strip flat for scanning, something that's very useful when scanning a curly film like Tri-X.

Compared to my CanoScan 9000F, the Scan Dual is considerably quicker and the results are sharper with better tone (IMO), though it's not all beer and skittles. Lack of digital ICE is noticeable, though provided I scan my films quickly after developing they won't get too dusty. The CanoScan ICE is ok but you have to keep the settings on low otherwise it can start to smear over details so dust spotting is something I've already gotten used to. The second thing is some slightly counter-intuitive UI when taking previews; the CanoScan would present all the negatives in one strip whereas the Minolta scans each frame separately. That's quite likely something which should be tweaked in VueScan.

Samples follow: LHS is the original scan from my CanoScan 9000F, RHS is the new scan from the Scan Dual IV. I've kept the samples small to present them side-by-side (though that depends on how you're viewing the forum, of course). Larger versions are available on click-through to flickr.







I'm particularly pleased with the last sample. That's an Agfa Prescia slide taken at Westonbirt that I couldn't scan satisfactorily with the Canon even after several attempts and multiple tweaks in LR. The Minolta version is lightly tweaked but essentially what came out of the scanner. That's more like it :)
 
Glad you're happy with it, Dean - I was but don't do much (any!) film stuff now so the flatbed (coincidentally a 9000F) can be pressed into use should I need any doing.
 
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