35mm film scanner > SCSI cable difficulties

[wblati]

Hi,

I recently got a film scanner(Minolta F-2800) and its got an SCSI cable. I thought it would connect to my laptop(IBM T42) seeing it had a 25pin on one end but the they are too small. The cable is a DB25-to-SCSI-1.

Can someone with a film scanner+SCSI have any advice on how I can connect it to my laptop. Thanks.

 

[semilog]

For my Polaroid 4000 scanner, I use one of these. Works fine.

Edited to add: I'm using it with either an Intel MacBook Pro or a Mac Mini, OS X 10.5, and VueScan.

 

[wblati]

That would be nice but a little too expensive.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Get the adapter. SCSI is evil! 😉

 

[Pickett Wilson]

You can't hook a SCSI device to your laptop without the adapter.

 

[rxmd]

I recently got a film scanner(Minolta F-2800) and its got an SCSI cable. I thought it would connect to my laptop(IBM T42) seeing it had a 25pin on one end but the they are too small.

DON'T try to connect the scanner directly to the DB25 port on your laptop with adapter cables or anything. The pinout is such that if you do, you're guaranteed to short circuit the SCSI port.

Get an Adaptec APA-1460 PCMCIA-SCSI adapter. It fits into your laptop's PCMCIA card slot. They can be had on eBay for low money (20-30 EUR if you're lucky). I've used that for a long time with scanners. (No, I'm not selling my Adaptec 😉) Anyway, the PCMCIA-SCSI adapter comes with a little pigtail cable with a SCSI connector, take care that you get the right kind of SCSI connector for your scanner cable.

 

[biomed]

Get the adapter. SCSI is evil! 😉

I had a Canon FS4000US scanner that was a royal PITA when using the SCSI interface. It was more reliable using the painfully slow USB1 interface. It was a very good scanner! Get the interface.

 

[wblati]

so will this do? if its got a male connector - can't see from the photo.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300393324611&_trksid=p2759.l1259

 

[batterytypehah!]

Probably. First make sure your software supports the adapter, though. SCSI is a b1tch.

Alternative: Pick up an old Mac from craigslist. They came standard with SCSI until the iMac era. Should be next to nothing on the used market these days and may just come with Photoshop already installed. (No self-respecting Mac user would be caught without PS in the 90s.) Old and clunky but plenty fast enough to keep up with your scanner.

 

[rxmd]

Probably. First make sure your software supports the adapter, though. SCSI is a b1tch.

Not really, Windows does a pretty good job of it. Adaptec is something like the reference for SCSI hardware; the Adaptec driver for Windows is fine, you just may need to install Adaptec's ASPI layer as well. For scanning software I wouldn't recommend anything but VueScan with the older scanners anyway, unless you want to hack around in a mid-1990s interface. VueScan should work fine with the Adaptec, I used it with an old first-generation Scan Dual and the Adaptec 1460 without major problems.

Much better to invest the $40 or $80 in VueScan than in an old Mac IMHO.

The adapter in the photo should be fine.

 

[wblati]

just to update you guys... I got the scanner to work with an adaptor+cable similar to the one in the link. I downloaded the required drivers and had no problems/ errors what so ever. The Minolta software is OK but am I better off using Silverfast or Vuescan?

Does anyone have a setting(preset) that will fully use the scanners capabilities - dont mind waiting as long as the scans are really high quality. Thanks.

 

[rxmd]

Difficult to give you a preset if we don't know what software to use, and then it's scanner-specific and depends on the kind of film you use.

You'll be much better off with VueScan. It's worth the buy, you do it once, you get free lifetime updates and it will work with just about any other scanner as well.

Just experiment around with it. Scanning is a bit of an arcane art where you need some practice, just like darkroom work. There are good tutorials for scanning with VueScan that will cover just about anything. You can also ask here if you have more concrete questions.

 

[wblati]

I am using the Minolta software that came with the scanner - I am mainly using HP5+, Neopan 400, Ektar 100, Portra 160VC and now APX 100/400.

Dont know if I posted here or somewhere else but I also wanted to know if Vuescan or Silverfast is better for my scanner. I try and get Vuescan and see what the results are. Thanks.

 

[tammons]

Try Vuescan first.