HELP! Minolta Dual scan IV problem

[astroman]

Just purchased a dualscan IV. Using a 1 year old mac pro 10.4.11.Downloaded the newest software update from minolta(Im guess not that new as the scanner has been discontinued for some time).When I use the Easyscan option It always freeze up.Do I need a newer 3rd party sofware to run the scanner properly on my mac?Or will that even solve the issue?
Thank You

 

[MartinP]

With the PC version of the software, I found trouble until I un-installed everything scanner-related completely and followed the instructions exactly (oops). After that, I only use the batch-scan thing and it works fine. I'd say that under Windows, the installation is a finicky but should work when correctly done.

It's likely that there are also third-party drivers available for this scanner too, so you could always try one of those.

Having said this - what/when exactly is the freezing up symptom ? When scanning, or when doing the pre-check of the scanner on starting ? It was the very first pre-check which failed a few times for me on PC, and which proved to be a bad software install by me..

 

[Honus]

I would highly recommend purchasing VueScan. I use it with a Dualscan IV with OSX 10.5.5. VueScan takes a little time to learn, but it's worth the effort, imho.

 

[astroman]

The Freezing happens when its scanning.I have loaded and unloaded the software 3 times.Just to make sure

 

[astroman]

Do you use vuescan alone or in combination with the original software

 

[back alley]

i used the included software on my macbook, have only used easy scan so far and had no problems. i do all post processing in photoshop.

 

[climbing_vine]

I would highly recommend purchasing VueScan. I use it with a Dualscan IV with OSX 10.5.5. VueScan takes a little time to learn, but it's worth the effort, imho.

Speaking of VueScan.... when I'm scanning black/white images (whether photo prints or anything else) it takes it upon itself to amp up the contrast far beyond what it uses for color images, such that I lose most of the middle grays. I've tried all sorts of things (scanning RGB rather than grayscale, resolution changes, blah blah), nothing works. Ever heard of this? Have any suggestions? I can't find a simple "contrast" setting to dial down.

 

[Bob Michaels]

Speaking of VueScan.... when I'm scanning black/white images (whether photo prints or anything else) it takes it upon itself to amp up the contrast far beyond what it uses for color images, such that I lose most of the middle grays. I've tried all sorts of things (scanning RGB rather than grayscale, resolution changes, blah blah), nothing works. Ever heard of this? Have any suggestions? I can't find a simple "contrast" setting to dial down.

I have never seen this in six years of using Vuescan. I assume your negs are not incredibly contrasty.

This is not something Vuescan does itself. It has to be some setting. What are you using for a film type? Try generic b&w. Where do you have the black and white points set? Are they close to zero? Try resetting all the defaults to zero. That should get you in the ballpark.

Oh wait, I just notice you said scanning prints. That is not something I know much about as I only did that once and that was many years ago.

 

[climbing_vine]

I have never seen this in six years of using Vuescan. I assume your negs are not incredibly contrasty.

This is not something Vuescan does itself. It has to be some setting. What are you using for a film type? Try generic b&w. Where do you have the black and white points set? Are they close to zero? Try resetting all the defaults to zero. That should get you in the ballpark.

Oh wait, I just notice you said scanning prints. That is not something I know much about as I only did that once and that was many years ago.

It does it whether I'm scanning prints, or b&w pictures out of a book, or sketches, or anything else. Anything grayscale. VueScan loses an incredible amount of detail that is obviously there in the original material, just as if you crank up the contrast in Photoshop. It's bizarre.

 

[astroman]

What operating system do you use.As the newer update on the konica/minolta site is only up to 10.4.4 Im using 10.4.11

i used the included software on my macbook, have only used easy scan so far and had no problems. i do all post processing in photoshop.

 

[aad]

No, no, don't use Vuescan!

I know what is happening-your scanner is trying to focus for each scan, and the focus system will often lock up the scanner for no apparent reason. It will drive you crazy-I know.

You can try to fight it by re-booting when it locks, but there's a better way.

Use the "Professional" mode, and make sure the "autofocus at scan" option is deselected. There are many places to do this-if you set up any job or batch profiles, make sure you have it deselected there, too.
There is no reason to have the scanner focus all the time, and with the excellent holders even rather curly film will be fine. Same for slides. Once it is in focus, you should never have to worry about it again.

Vuescan doesn't fix this problem, and with my Mac will give weird results anyway.