Because of the ability of Vuescan to oversample each pass 16X without having to back-track, it effectively boosts the dynamic range to the equivalent of models costing two to three times as much (Coolscan III, Scan Dual II). Disregard the jokers who say that it can't scan negatives, they obviously don't what they're doing, which is why they're using the Minolta driver. My negative scans (and slide scans) will hold their own up to anything produced by models costing 2-3X more.

Resolution is just okay, but for the money what do you expect? Minolta driver sucks.

Definitely the most bang for buck film scanner you can buy. The ONLY reason you should look elsewhere is if you need prints larger than 8 x 10. Quality-wise, the hardware is there, but the only software that brings out its full potential is Vuescan. Stay away from the Minolta driver! It will make you frustrated, then you'll end up leaving a lame review here.

I can't believe some of the prices people have paid who have left reviews here. If those prices are $USD, I have some beach front property in Arizona I'd like to sell you.

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Coolscan III
Scan Dual II
Umax 1220U flatbed
Various HP flatbeds

Great performance for the price. Marvellous with the negatives, but you need VueScam to reveal the real potential of this scanner.

Low dynamic range, no autoexposure feature, lousy standard software. If you work with slides you'll spend enormous amounts of time fixing image in Photoshop after scanning.

This scanner is great for the negatives. If you want to scan slides -- forget it. Get Scan Dual II and you will thank yourself later.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

flatbed scanners

Inexpensive. SCSI interface,driver and bundled software(Photoshop LE).

none so far.

I've used the Scan Dual for about 3 weeks with good to excellent results on both slides and negatives. I plugged into the chain on my HP Flat bed scanner's SCSI card with no problems. Tried Vuescan that everyone is pitching, but so far I haven't seen any real advantage over the Minolta software. Great buy for anyone who already has SCSI.

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

Flat bed scanners.

Great price. Supported by Vuescan. Over sampling (with Vuescan)

No ICE, no batch scanning, lousy software, low density range. Poor choice for slides.

Good value for money, but realise you it will take you 2 hours to scan and proof a 36 exp film. I would recommend taking a hard look at the number of films you shoot and the value of your time, and compare that to the price of a scanner with ICE and batch scanning. I would only recommend this for less than a roll a week, or if you have heaps of spare time. If you plan to scan old slides, the lack of ICE will cause you endless spotting in PS.

I have shot 63 rolls of film, a mixture of slide, print and B&W, but have stop shooting slides for scanning.

The resulting scans with slides (sensia) have been disappointing, kind of gritty dark grain, and very poor skin tones.

With slow print films and T-max 100/400/ & CN the results are very good. Matched to the Epson 870 it make a fine hobby darkroom. This set up has given my photography a new life.

The scanner seems well matched to 100 ASA color neg film, 400 (superia) gets rather speckled grain (pixels).

If you want control of color you really need to get Vuescan, also not perfect, but better than the Minolta SW (which reboots my computor at the end of a full res scan). Vuscan has an excellent proof sheet function, far better than PS 5.5

Customer Service

No tried.

Similar Products Used:

my first scanner.

Price, SCSI interface, quality, durability

a little slow, no batch scan

I have been using this scanner for over a year. I have scanned in hundreds of old slides and negatives.

It is slow going, but the results are very good.

I don't like the software that comes with it very much. I use vuescan, and that seems to speed things up as well as give you more control over the quality.

For the money, I don't think it can be beaten.

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

None

- Easy to use
- Vuescan supports it
- Good scans of B&W and Color (with Vuescan)
- Cand do multipass to reduce noise with Vuescan

- Pain in the rear to do a whole strip (no batch scanning)
- Slides not satisfactory, the original software does a much better job.
- SCSI card needed if you do not have one

Very good value for the money, if the film is properly exposed, makes great scans - slides are a bit of a problem. Get Vuescan and do 16x mutlipass to reduce noise, which is not that much of it is a good exposure.

Similar Products Used:

Microtek slide adapter - not good at all