Minolta Dimage Scan Elite Scanner with Digital ICE

Features

  • Scans 35mm sleeved and mounted slides and negatives in color and black and white
  • Digital ICE technology removes scratches and other defects
  • 2,820 dpi resolution
  • SCSI-2 interface
  • Fast 35-second full-resolution scanning

Description

With Minolta film scanners, image quality always comes first. So, when quality counts, count on the Dim?ge Scan Elite. 12-bit input and 2, 820 dpi resolution give you sharp, detailed images. And the new Digital ICE technology cleans up images quickly. When work piles up, you'll appreciate the fast scanning and user-friendly driver software. Raise your quality and your productivity with the Dim?ge Scan Elite.Digital ICE (Image Correction Enhancement) is a new technology that dramatically improves image quality, while saving your time as well. All you do is switch the Digital ICE function on; visible "dirt" on the film, such as scratches, fingerprints, dust, mold, and tape marks are automatically eliminated. Of course you can manually remove defects like this via your computer, but it can require hours of troublesome effort. Digital ICE reads the surface defects and records them on a fourth scanning channel, separate from the three RGB channels. Software then uses proprietary algorithms to remove the defects. Only a single pass is necessary for the process to work, and the image remains unchanged.

The Minolta Dimage Scan Elite Scanner is designed for professionals who want to produce top-quality images. Using Digital ICE (Image Correction Enhancement) technology, this scanner identifies surface defects like scratches, dust and fingerprints, and automatically removes them from the scan, reducing the need for retouching and producing cleaner images.

With a high input resolution of 2,820 dpi, the Dimage Scan Elite supplies 10 million pixels in a full-frame image scanned from 35mm film. The 12-bit RGB analog-to-digital conversion and 3.6 dynamic range deliver strong color while adjusting for deep shadows and bright highlights. Scanned images possess the fine quality of your original, with tonal gradations of up to 4,096 shades for each color channel (that's a total of 68.7 billion colors for RGB channels). The Dimage Scan Elite's driver software sustains from conventional 8-bit to 16-bit output. Thus you'll maintain accurate color fidelity in the final printing from prescanned images with gamma correction.

Top-quality output and versatility are paramount in the design of the Dimage Scan Elite. It's capable of scanning 35mm sleeved and mounted, positive and negative films in color and black and white. Plus, with an optional adapter, the Elite is also compatible with Advanced Photo System (APS) film. A click of the mouse yields index scans and continuous scanning of the entire APS film cassette. Running at scanning speeds you would expect from a more advanced unit, the Dimage Scan Elite scans 35mm color positives in an average of 30 seconds for Macintosh and 35 seconds for PCs. Combine this scanning rate with a high-speed SCSI-II interface, and your staff will scan more productively, saving time and effort.

Spotlight customer reviews

CONNECTION PROBLEMS

[ Posted: 2001-07-12 ]

Rating: 60%
 

I CANNOT FULLY RATE THE QUALITY OF THIS PRODUCT YET. I AM STILL TRYING TO GET THE COMPUTER/SCANNER INTERFACE HARDWARE TO RUN IT AND I DO NOT HAVE A CHEAP COMPUTER. I HAD TO CALL THE MINOLTA SERVICE OFFICE IN NJ TO GET THE CORRECT INFO AND WAS TOLD IT TAKES A SPECIAL CARD AND CABLE (SO FAR) TO HOOK IT UP. BEWARE OF THIS BEFORE YOU BUY. I RECOMMEND GOING TO THE MINOLTA WEB SITE AND CHECKING THE REQUIREMENTS PAGE FOR THIS ITEM TO SEE IF YOUR COMPUTER IS COMPATIBLE BEFORE YOU BUY.

Excellent Scans at a Reasonable Price

[ Posted: 2001-03-02 ]

Rating: 80%
 

I've been using this scanner for the past several months with mainly color transparencies and have been very happy with the results. The Digital ICE feature is invaluable, saving me hours of time retouching. The software is easy to use and works well. If you want to do a full resolution 16 bit scan with ICE, it can take about 20 minutes, but everyday scans for web use are quick and clean. The few B&W and color negative scans have turned out nice too.

My only complaint is that once in a while, maybe every 10 times I use the scanner, it seems to scan poorly, like it's missing whole chunks of color. Restarting the machine and the scanner takes care of that though. All in all I'm very happy with it and saved a lot of money compared to a scanner like the Nikon Supercoolscan, it's nearest competitor.

Happy scanning!

Great scanner! The only film scanner to buy!

[ Posted: 2001-03-01 ]

Rating: 100%
 

I did quite a bit of research before deciding on this scanner, so I'll sum up for you what took me many hours. I also considered a couple of the lower end Minolta Dimage scanners, as well as the Nikon Coolscan and the HP Photosmart S20.

Essentially, they all promise to scan 35mm film, and with an adapter, it can also do APS. However, promises are just that - empty for most of these scanners. This one however does it all:

- Digital ICE (you absolutely need this for cleaning images after they are scanned in - do NOT get a scanner without this, you'll be sorry!). - 2,820 dpi resolution (you always want to scan as high as possible. You can always sample down and lower resolution, but you can't go the other way without quality degradation) - Fast scanning speeds (with the exception of $2,000 models, this is the fastest scanner around. On my Windows PC is takes around 30 secs. On a Mac is takes 10 or so per FINAL scan.)

The problem with the Photosmart 20 is that it doesnt have a proper ICE image cleaner and film scans poorly. The Nikon coolscan doesnt have a good dut guard, and you end up with dust on your negatives/slides, which scans in horribly! UGH!

This one has virtually no weakness. SCSI connection makes it extremely fast! Get it and you'll be happy you did.