Excellent quality scans, easy installation, excellent batch automation, excellent APS handling

wish it was a little faster

I've been working with this scanner since early October. It works a treat, makes great scans very easily. The APS carrier is fully automated and an additional $140, but is well worth it. I've scanned about 400 negatives and slides (both B&W and color) with it now and it has surprised me with its quality at every turn. The batch automation is useful for 35mm work (up to six negs in a strip, but is particularly convenient for APS work where you can do an entire roll of 40 frames with one batch setup. Truly an excellent value for the money. Pictures on my website at , towards the bottom of the photo section.

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

Polaroid Sprintscan 35E/S, Nikon LS2000, PrimeFilm 1800i

Very good resolution with slides. Easy to use software. Connection is easy.

35mm colour negative tends green and have to use colour adjustment almost every scan. Loud mechanical sound but it is bearable.

Good price, high resolution. But if you are only scanning 35mm colour negative you will have a hard time adjusting colours before printing.

Customer Service

No need yet.

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Only tried flatbed.

usb connection,
batch scan ability

Color resolution is very bad, you have to spend a lot of time adjusting every single scan. Also dust shows on the scans.

I just could not bear the fact I have to adjust colors for every single scan. I returned the scaner, and will get the CANON FS2710.

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CANON FS2710, is much better scanner. It scans colors acurately, on negatives, and I think the software eliminates dust since the scans look clean.

Lots of value in the mid price film scanner arena.

No digital ICE. Would like to see more detail in the shadow areas (higher Dmax).

This is a great scanner for the money. I think it compares favorably to the Canon. I also don't think the Nikon LS30 is worth and extra $300. If you've got bucks I'd check out one of the newer Nikon's.

The software is easy to use and it does what it's supposed to. I've spent some time with Vuescan and I can honestly say it does nothing that the Minotla software can't do. The USB hookup is a real plus. I don't scan tons of pics but when I do I can get very good results.

Customer Service

Actually had to send it back. Took about 10 days door to door for the fix.

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Various flatbeds. First film scanner

Very capable scanner that can if you are prepared to be patient produce top quality scans esp from negatives.Batch scanning is a bonus and really easy to set up.Also USB worked a treat so installation a treat.Provided software I found very good although a bit buggy.APS capable.

Did not handle slides or "dark" exposures very well at all.This scanner picks up dust alot !!!.I did think for this sort of money ICE would be available.I also like some other reviewers found it to be painfully slow on the USB.Doing lots of scans takes a very long time.

This is a very good scanner for the money which is capable of very good scans.However my particular example developed a fault after 4 months of light use where by 2 white line started to appear across all scans.I have since had to return it to the supplier and get refund as they have been unable to obtain a replacement from Minolta after 2 months of trying.Overall this is a good unit-when it works- but you do have to be patient and be prepared to percivere to get the most out of it however iI must mark it down slightly due to the dispicable attitude of Minolta.I am now going to save for Canon or Nikon.

Customer Service

Not helpful.Not impressed with Minolta at all.Scanner developed a fault which I reported to Minolta who despite numerous attempts did not respond.

Similar Products Used:

Black Widow Film Scan 2000

Very good resolution, shadow detail and sharpness. Low noise, with true blacks in dark areas of the scan. This scanner works best with black and white negatives, then color negatives, then slides.
The scans are generally dust free.

Scan speed seems slow to me, but that may be my computer. It makes a grinding noise when it scans, but I suppose that's normal since it has done this since day one, and seems to be working properly in every respect. I get a thin green line on one edge (always the same edge) of the scan sometimes with color negative film. This is intermittent, and I'm not sure what causes it. Might be dust on the CCD. Since it is at the edge, and never happens with any film other than color print film, it hasn't been a problem. I usually end up cropping that area out anyway.

I was looking at a variety of film scanners, and when Focus Camera had this at $409, I said why not? I haven't regretted the decision. The scans are accurate, and the supplied software is very helpful in doing prescan image correction, when needed. The fact that this is a Minolta product swayed me over Acer and the Pacific Image scanner. The main complaint with this scanner is that I don't like the way it scans slides. I'm not sure if that's because of me, or the scanner. I suspect it's me, since the slides come out too dark and contrasty for my taste. I have to do a lot of correction (5 minutes per slide) in software to get them to look right. This scanner does a great job with black and white negs and more than satisfactory with color negatives. It seems to do best with Kodak Supra and Fuji Superia, and less so with Portra or Kodak Max 400. I have gotten good scans with Max Zoom 800, though. All in all, an excellent choice, and I recommend it highly to those who need/want an affordable, reliable and high quality film scanner in the 2800 dpi range.

Customer Service

Not used

Similar Products Used:

No film scanners

USB Connection, PC/Mac compatibility, easy installation

Poor scan consistency, colour quality, very loud when transporting film holder, actual scanning is quiet though. Minolta software has problems with dark images or ones with lots of color saturation, Vuescan from Hamrick Software works a lot better and most images are acceptable to the average person.

I work as a pre-press technician and graphic designer and this scanner is useless to me, if the poor color was consistent then it would be easy to adjust in Photoshop but the color acuracy varies very wildly. Sunsets come out yellow/green not orange and on bright, color saturated images the color is blown out (no detail can be seen) and the color bleeds from one area into another. There was no consistency: slides, negatives, different brands of film, and speeds of film all come out poorly. The scanner also takes a long time to scan, about 3-4 minutes for the highest resolution using the Minolta software, the Vuescan software seems to be slightly faster though. At the time of purchase this scanner was the only one that seemed to meet my needs. If I was buying now, I would wait and get the Nikon coolscan 4. If you are looking for a scanner so you can e-mail pictures or archive an old slide collection then this scanner might work for you, but if you need it for anything where image quality is slightly important beware.

Customer Service

Took 1 week to ok return for calibration, when I got it back it didn't work at all (dead) had to return it for a replacement unit.

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1st film scanner, but have used other high end flatbed scanners from Umax, Epson, AGFA and Microtek

high resoultion.

build quality, and the QC at Minolta must be lacking. low 3.2 range.

I first bought this scanner back in January, and I've already have been through 2 of them, they kept breaking down! in total I've have been only able to scan just 50 slides before it breaks again! so the scanner is off to Minolta (again!) and when it comes back home; I'M SELLING IT!!! off to e-bay with you!! *bad scanner* grrrr
I'll just put down the extra cash for the Nikon LS-40.

Customer Service

confusing, and difficult to find someone any real help, both on the website and on phone

Similar Products Used:

None

USB Simplicity, compact and small, most affordable for image quality

Loud, putting negatives in the holders, too* automatic, scans slides 1/2 stop too dark no matter what.

I wish I woulda held off and got a better scanner, I suppose I get what I pay for, It scans negs very well though. The files are sharp and without distortion, however slides come out too dark and no ICE technology. I say save up for a Coolscan or a Scan Elite

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

Nikon Coolscan III

Cheap, reliable, sharp scans

Grinds and moans
Too much grain in not optimally exposed negs (?)
Software is a bi*ch

The software is next to useless for accurate color scanning, Vuescan solves this, best darned shareware I ever paid for. Scanning slides and negs with the Epson flatbed much easier but more noise and much less resolution obviously.

Biggest complaint: "Grainy" look to scans. This only seems to happen while scanning negs made with my compact (Yashica T5). Can't figure it out. Noise could be lower. Would like to compare it to a Canon or Nikon scanner, I bought this scanner due to good reviews in magazines.
I learned to work it, with good negs and slides its ok, it's cheap and it didn't break down.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Epson Perfection 1200 Photo