Scanner advice/opinions, please ...

[dmr]

I'm sure this board is the best place to ask this ...

First some history (to make a long story long) ...

I've had a Konica-Minolta SD IV for 7 years now, almost to the day. I use it typically a few times a month for a few scans a session. It's worked almost flawlessly up until now.

The other day I tried making some scans. The scanner woke up and made that "whirring" sound when I launched the application.

Howver, when I inserted the negative carrier, it would not "grab" it as it should. Attempts to start the scan using several trial positions gave me an "error 5" indicating that the scanner did not see the carrier in place.

I did a quickie inspection and I do not see anything out of place.

Here are my quesitons:

1. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, is there a simple fix? (crossing fingers!)

2. Is this thing even worth fixing or fixable anymore? It's 7 years old and I know it's been out of production. It may even be out of support. Does anyone even know where to get repair on this? I'm afraid that a repair, if I can get it, would run the same order of magnitude in price as a new scanner. 🙁

3. Is there a newer or better dedicated film scanner in a moderate price range that might be better? (LOL, yes, I looked in the B&H Wish Book.) 🙂

4. Are film scans by the newer flatbed scanners now really approaching the quality of the older dedicated film scanners? A local shop here (Nebraska Furniture Mart) has a Canon at a very attractive price and the guy there swears that it (at 9600 dpi) will give a better negative scan than my 7 year old film scanner. (Include here the usual reaction when he asked me if I really still shoot film!) 🙂

Any comments or advice?

Thanks in advance, gang. 🙂

 

[Gerry M]

I had that happen to my SD IV, some time back. You've probably already done this, but I turned the scanner off and then unplugged the USB connector. Plugged it back in and turned the scanner on. You may have to reboot the computer. Actually, I've had this happen several times. My SD IV is still plugging along. I use Vuescan. Good luck.
Gerry

PS, I have a V700 for MF. For me, the SD IV still out performs it for 35mm.

 

[cabbiinc]

Don't bother with the Canon flatbed. You'll be disappointed. 9600 dpi is what the computer can do to the files after it's in the computer. The real dpi is likely 4800 with the real resolution being much lower. If you can get the Minolta scanner working (which I've never had the pleasure to use a Minolta scanner) you'll have much higher quality.

Gerry M is likely onto your problem. I had horrible problems with a scanner once when it turned out it was USB related. Long story short, my keyboard reported to the OS that it was self powered, it wasn't, so the USB power that should have been there wasn't and that caused very very odd behavior with the scanner. Try plugging the USB cord into a different side of the computer, isolating the USB port (don't plug other stuff in next too it, at least to see if it makes a difference), etc...

Good luck.

You may also try different software. If you use the Minolta software try Vuescan or vice versa.

 

[Godfrey]

I had the Dimage II. After seven years, it simply died ... when I took it apart, the servo motors were dead and I could no longer get parts.

I hope doing a power down reset like that solves the problem.

I replaced mine with a Nikon Coolscan IV, which was excellent. Then a Coolscan V came available and I nabbed it. It's what I am using now. Feel sad about the old Minolta as it really was an excellent scanner for a very long time.

 

[thegman]

I think if I was in the market for a 35mm scanner, I'd look at the Plusteks, they are new, under warranty, and many around here use them with good results.

As for flatbeds, I only ever used them for MF. They get a bad rap for 35mm, but this review:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/SCAN/CS9000/9000F.HTM

shows that good results are possible, it's a review of the Canon 9000F, but it covers a couple of others too.

It'll depend on your needs though, personally I think if you're printing 10x8 or sharing online, a flatbed will be more than enough.

Also try searching flickr, you will be able to find high res scans using any scanner you can think of.

 

[Murchu]

I've posted this before, but perhaps it might be helpful. Filmscanner.info run tests gauging scanners, and from their tests, you can conclude that the real resolution of scanners tends to be about 1600dpi for most flatbed, 2400dpi for the V700/750, 3300dpi for the Plusteks, and between 3300- 4000 for the older Nikon or Minolta scanners. This will net you approx. 2400x 1600, 3600x 2400, 4850x 3300, and 4850x 3300 to 6000x 4000 pixel scans respectively for the above scanners with 35mm negatives. With that info on real resolution, you can probably draw your own conclusions on what will work for your own needs.

 

[dmr]

Thanks, everyone!

http://www.imaging-resource.com/SCAN/CS9000/9000F.HTM

shows that good results are possible, it's a review of the Canon 9000F, but it covers a couple of others too.

Actually, that looks like the same exact model they were showing me. If I can't bring the K-M back to life I may go that way. I would like to get the K-M running, since I have been very happy with it.

Yes, I powered the scanner down and back up, but have not rebooted the PC nor reconnected the USB. I'll try that tonight.

A co-worker also suggested taking canned air and blowing out the sides of the insides in case an optical sensor is obstructed with grunge or something. I'll give that a shot too.

Thanks again, gang. 🙂

 

[dmr]

Thanks, everybody!

I got it working again, at least for now. 🙂

First, I gave it a good blow-out with canned air. I'm kind of amazed that there was that much dust in there! It's almost completely enclosed.

Then I unplugged it from the PC, shut the PC down, plugged the scanner back in, and restarted it.

It worked fine!

Thanks again, everybody! 🙂