Epson 3490 Better than Minolta Dual III?

[SuitePhoto]

While waiting for a used Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III (ebay) to arrive, I scanned some of my new B&W negs on a little Epson 3490 that I have at work. I was actually very surpised by the quality that is produced by that little scanner - not too grainy and sharp enough.

Well the Dual III arrived yesterday in the as-stated very good condition, but after some test scans, the little epson is starting to seem even better than I thought! When scanning at the same resolution, with no exposure correction/sharpening, the Dual III seems to output files that are about a stop darker and much grainier than the Epson. When examining the histigram of the Dual III scans, the shadow details are clipped quite a bit. When looking at the Epson scan, the darkest shadows start at about 5 or 6 (RGB #'s) which allows for a lot more shadow detail to be pulled out.

Are there any tricks to coax the best out of the Dual III? I know that the Epsons are great for a flatbed, but I assumed that a dedicated film scanner would just do a better job. Was I wrong? At this point, I'm seriously considering a resale on the Dual III and picking-up one of the Epsons...

 

[FrankS]

I'm getting an Epson 3590 this week! 🙂

 

[IGMeanwell]

Frank ... I can definitely say that 3590 is the best bang for your buck unless your into medium format then you have to go one more step up

I greatly enjoy my 3590

 

[Kin Lau]

What software are you using on the Dual III?

Have you tried scanning as a positive and then inverting it in PS? Most scanning software try to auto-adjust the exposure for negative film, but not for positives.

 

[SuitePhoto]

I'm using the software that was provided with the Dual III, with all of the auto functions off. I did try scanning as a positive and then inverting in PS, which resulted in scans that were about a stop brighter than the Epson scans and had much less contrast...

 

[wintoid]

I have a Minolta Scan Elite II and an Epson 4990. I found the Epson was far better with its default software versus the Minolta with its default software. When I use Vuescan, however, the Minolta kicks the Epson into touch.

I know they're different models, but it just shows how important the software can be.

 

[w3rk5]

I have the 3490 . I get good results. I even made a 8x10 print and it came out pretty good. Then again, I'm new to all of this. For what it's worth, it's a good "bang for the buck" scanner.

I almost got the 3590 but I was worried about "auto film loader" break breaking. 😛

Oh yeah.....I use the factory EPSON software.

 

[SuitePhoto]

I downloaded VueScan tonight and was blown away by the difference! I can't believe how bad Minolta's software was... I'd definately recommend it!