Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/09/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dave, I've been using a Minolta MultiPro, 4800 dpi for 35 mm, for nearly two years now. Look closely in the corners of your scans, preferably ones with some film grain (Tri-X or any high speed silver emulsion), and tell us if the grain is as sharp in the corners as it is at the more central (actually user-definable, at least on the MultiPro) focus point. With the MultiPro I generally use the 6 cm glass negative holder even for 35 mm film, because with the 35 mm holders the corners are sharp only if the film is absolutely flat, and it never is. Obviously there is no glass holder for the 5400. I guess that what I'm actually asking is a question of DOF. BTW, the lack of sharpness I get is only apparent at very great enlargement, the image appears sharp but the grain gets mushy. Gilbert On Saturday, September 13, 2003, at 09:29 PM, David Freedman wrote: > Well, I've owned an Elite Scan 5400 for all of four days now so my > observations should be taken as preliminary. To cut to the chase, my > results in scanning a mere handful of transparencies have been > absolutely > stunning. Far superior to the results I've been getting with my Nikon > LS-2000. Scans have been extremely sharp and dynamic range appears to > be > excellent. Physical unit is long (approx. 13 inches) and lean (maybe > 2-1/2 > inches). Build quality (externally, at least) is excellent. The > scanner > connects to the computer via IEEE 1394 (aka "Firewire") or USB 2.0. > I'm > using USB. Software installation was a breeze. Scanning software can > be > used as a standalone utility or accessed through Photoshop "import" > function. The scan utility is very easy to use. There's also an > express > version of the scan utility that operates in wizard-like fashion. You > answer a few on-screen questions and the scan is performed. The unit > comes > with two film holders: one for unmounted media (6 frame strips) and > one for > mounted media (4 transparencies). The scanner creates an on-screen > thumbnail index of images in the film holder. I haven't played with > the > various image cleanup utilities such as the grain dissolver, Pixel > Polish, > or ICE. Note that a 5400 dpi resolution (actually, PPI), a 35mm frame > will > generate a 116 MB file. YIKES! However, output at 240 - 300 dpi, > you'll get > yourself a man-sized print without interpolation. Minolta also > provides > Photoshop Elements 2.0 in the software bundle which is a very nice > product > when industrial strength image manipulation is not required. I > purchased my > 5400 from Page Computers (www.pagecomputers.com). Price was $797 + a > few > dollars for shipping. I received the scanner in 3 days. There seems > to be > some price volatility with the 5400. Page has the price up a few > dollars > today to $801 and it had been around $789 at one point a week or two > back. > > Hope this helps. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions about > the > 5400 though it might be best to continue off-list as this is somewhat > off > topic. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html