Minolta Dimage IV scanner....

haagen_dazs

haagen_dazs

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hi peoples
i was wondering what is there to look out for in buying a used dimage IV scanner.
Would you recommend such a scanner?
Any pros and cons about this scanner?
and lastly, its 250USD about the price for a excellent-used scanner?
many thanks in advance!
 
I may be a little biased, but I'd recommend it. I actually have been toying with the idea of selling mine (it's been in the box for over half a year now).

It is fast, very fast at the highest resolution, even with multi-pass. Just use it with SilverFast or VueScan; the packaged software is very disappointing.

There's no digital ICE, though, so just be very neat with your negatives. That is the *only* reason why I considered the Coolscan family (and I stuck with the Coolscan 5000 because I found the incredibly-hard-to-find filmstrip adapter).
 
For the money, they are one of the best buys out there if you can find one in good condition (some people are finding them hard to get serviced well these days). As Gabriel said, no ICE (but ICE doesn't work with traditional b/w anyway) and fewer optional accessories but if you don't need those then a DSIV is a nice 35 mm scanner.

Doug
 
xvvvz said:
For the money, they are one of the best buys out there if you can find one in good condition (some people are finding them hard to get serviced well these days).
Doug
Click to expand...

Doug
1) what is a good price for such a scanner?
2) what constitutes a good condition scanner? cant really tell from outside right?
3) is it liable to break down often that service is an important consideration?

thanks!
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
There's no digital ICE, though, so just be very neat with your negatives. That is the *only* reason why I considered the Coolscan family (and I stuck with the Coolscan 5000 because I found the incredibly-hard-to-find filmstrip adapter).
Click to expand...

film strip adapter??. doesnt the dimage iv have the negative holder?
what is the difference?
sorry i am not too familiar/sure..
 
haagen_dazs said:
film strip adapter??. doesnt the dimage iv have the negative holder?
what is the difference?
sorry i am not too familiar/sure..
Click to expand...
Sorry, I meant to say "film roll adapter"; you can scan a whole roll of developed film, up to 40 frames. 35mm, of course.

Yes, the Dual Scan IV has a 6-frame film strip holder for film, and 4-slide holder. I apologize for the confusion.
 
I believe he means the optional LH-3 Film strip holder. I have the Coolscan V ED and the included SA-21 "automatic" film strip adapter has limitations. 1: it cannot scan 1 single piece of film 2: it does not do well with curled film. i.e. sides of scan are out of focus. 3: It will not work if the film perforations are cut in half. (it needs these first few perforations to be intact because that's how it draws the film into the machine.) I had a long conversation with Nikon about the lack of availability of the FH-3 and they informed me that the FH-3 is still being made but is on heavy back-order. The recommended as an alternative the FH-2 holder which works exactly the same and is a little more easily attainable. In fact they sent me one for free as a courtesy and it works great.
 
well, I got mine directly from nikon because I wrote in asking about the FH-3 availabilty. They were very apologetic because of the extreme back-order situation so they sent me the FH-2 for free. You can try that route. the web page to contact nikon is...

http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?goingto=cu_contact1&cmd=init&cat=1

I have also seen the FH-2 on ebay as well as on adorama.

good luck.
 
Based on my own experiences and from what I've read from other owners, I think the SD IV is a hit or miss product and I would not recommend it. Mine worked well for the first few months, under what I would call moderate use. It eventually developed a banding issue (grey-white-black banding in b&w and blue-red-green-etc. banding in color). I sent it to Konica-Minolta in NJ, where it spent a month in repairs. It came back, worked for a few months, then was hobbled somewhat again (and outside the warranty period).

Currently, my SD IV cannot scan at full 3200 dpi res. without banding. Using VueScan, I set it at 1600 and it does a credible job with b&w film (in fact, I like its b&w performance). This setting is fine for printing up to 8x10. As for color, I have never been able to adjust the scanner's/software's settings so that I get a clean color scan. I have to do too much post-processing to get the colors right.

I have been under the impression that my SD IV's color performance was par for the course for most scanners, but recently I got a Nikon CoolScan 5000, and it has been a revelation. This scanner is much more expensive ($979 at B&H, and usually out of stock), but as a point of comparison I got an absolutely gorgeous color scan on my first try, no post-processing required. As Gabriel noted, the SD IV does not have digital ICE, so it requires spotting (esp. w/ color negs, which inevitably get dusty in handling, even at pro shops), thus requiring more time in post-processing.

If you are going to do mainly b&w, I might say the SD IV is a good scanner, especially if you can find one at a good price. In my opinion, $250 is too high, considering you will have a hard time servicing it should it break down. Up until a few months ago, B&H had the SD IV for $220 new. I do not know what is a good price for a used scanner, given they are now pretty rare. I would strongly caution that if you buy used you should buy from somone you can trust and who will give you a 7-day return warranty.
 
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I would recommend it. I've had excellent luck with it. There is a certain learning curve to it, particularly for negatives or slides that just don't look right with the auto exposure.

The performance is impressive. It really beats the mini-lab scans. Lately I've been doing some 13x19 prints from negatives I've scanned on it and the results are stunning!

Unfortunately it seems to be an orphan product now. :(
 
jja said:
In my opinion, $250 is too high, considering you will have a hard time servicing it should it break down. Up until a few months ago, B&H had the SD IV for $220 new. .
Click to expand...

jja
sounds kind of scary.. what you had to go through.

is bh was selling it at 220.. that wont make 250 a great deal.
was 220 a new or refurb product?

thanks for the insight. i will be more cautious when considering scanners...
 
I paid either $220 or $240 new 1.5 or 2 years ago, I can't remember, but I'm sure it was for sale at $220 for a new model just a few months ago. If you are willing to take a risk on this model, look at such places as newegg.com, I think they were carrying it too.

I knew the risk of buying this machine when I got it, as I had already read about its spotty history. It was my first scanner, so I wasn't sure if I would take to it. In retrospect, it was not a terrible purchase, just not a 'final' purchase.
 
FYI, I got banding on my SD IV ONLY when using Vuescan. I also could not get good color using Vuescan. Once I decided to just live with the supplied software, it's been very reliable.
 
I'd recommend the SDIV if you can get it for a good price.

I use SDIII and am quite happy with it.
- I use manual exposure settings, and I scan B&W neg as B&W positive so that it records all the detail there is.
- For color slides it's necessary to use AutoLevels as the first operation in post processing, but I got used to that.
- It's quite noisy, but the bundled software does its own auto-calibration immediately after it's turned on (I guess there is an auto-calibration function in menu in VueScan - correct me if I'm wrong) so I just turn if off and on once in a while :)
 
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aad said:
FYI, I got banding on my SD IV ONLY when using Vuescan. I also could not get good color using Vuescan. Once I decided to just live with the supplied software, it's been very reliable.
Click to expand...

Thanks, aad. I used the original software, but it kept crashing on my Mac, requiring me to switch to Vuescan. At any rate, now that I have the Nikon, there is just no going back; at least in my experience, the Nikon is a quantum leap, especially in color.
 
I bought mine retail for about $300 three (?!) years ago. Been a solid performer.

I scan B&W in Color Pos mode and then convert in PSE4. I've posted about my process before. All my pics at RFF are with the SDIII. I can make decent 11x14 prints from 3200dpi scans. I find it likes thin negatives over overexposed film, probably something to do with film density and the bulb/sensor capability.

I use the standard software; it's OK, gets it done. I never really wanted to get into another image processing software.

If I had it to do over, I'd get a flatbed with the real dust removal. That would have eased the transition to medium format cameras too. If I was going to stay with 35mm B&W film, to me it would be the best choice, probably the best capability/quality for the price.

I'd think you could get one for about $200, but that is just a guess. Prices may have gone "up" but they can't stay that way forever.
 
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