[Leica] Minolta 5400 scanner

[morggan at earthlink.net (Horacio Sofi)]

I?d had a new Minolta 54300 II for a couple of years that worked excellent,
but a mechanical problem forced me to ask Sony support; in short words: in
2008 they had paid me $ 550.00, because they haven?t the mechanical
replacement piece. So ...
Horacio.

On 6/5/10 8:37 PM, "Lawrence Zeitlin" <lrzeitlin at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have owned a Konica Minolta Dimage 5400 scanner for a number of years and
> have scanned over 8000 slides and many B&W film strips.
> 
> 
> There is no doubt that the  5400 and 5400 II will produce fine scans. Just
> about as good as can be expected from a dedicated slide scanner. However 
> the
> machines have their weak spots which should be taken into consideration by 
> a
> prospective owner.
> 
> 
> First Konica Minolta is no longer in the camera of scanner business. It has
> transferred its film imaging and scanner operation to Sony. No direct
> manufacturer support is available and when the supply of replacement
> components runs out the scanner will no longer be able to be repaired.
> 
> 
> Second, the scanner has known mechanical weak spots. Slides and film strips
> are moved under the scanner optics by a stepper motor and gear drive with
> fairly weak plastic parts. When the plastic wears, scanning becomes erratic
> and eventually fails. Replacement is not too costly but the machine has to
> be sent to an official repair depot. This is getting more and more
> difficult. See the above paragraph.
> 
> 
> Third, the electronics are prone to overheating. Color shifts may occur
> toward the end of a session. If the scanner is used for a long period or
> left on overnight the electronics may fail with a puff of smoke. Again a
> repair depot job.
> 
> 
> Fourth, while the included slide and film holders are adequate for standard
> size images and mounts, they will not handle unusual sizes. I had to scan
> images in the 24 x 24 mm Robot format one at a time. The holders require
> film strips to be cut into five frame lengths. No continuous roll scanning.
> 
> 
> Fifth, high resolution scanning with the 5400 takes a long time. It is a
> slow machine. Using Digital ICE and high resolution takes between two and
> three minutes a slide. A box of 36 slides takes an hour and a half assuming
> the settings for all slides is the same. My 8000 slides took ten 40 hour
> weeks of machine time.
> 
> 
> After four years and two trips to the repair depot, I finally gave up on 
> the
> 5400. I would have sent it back to the depot for a replacement electronics
> module but the part was no longer available. I replaced it a couple of 
> years
> ago with a much less expensive flatbed Epson Perfection V500 scanner which
> works admirably. It doesn't have quite the high end resolution of the 5400
> (3600 dpi as opposed to 5400 dpi) but it is MUCH faster and the Digital ICE
> works even better. Besides it also scans 6x6 and 6x9 negs and the 4x6 
> prints
> my wife brings home from CVS.
> 
> 
> Sometimes the very best is too much.
> 
> 
> Larry Z
> 
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