New Minolta Scan Elite 5400-II

[rgbcmyk]

The documentation doesn't say, so I don't know for sure.


Yes, that's what the exposure controls are for, adjusting the relative
amounts of either R/G/B exposure or ADC offset+gain settings. For the
best quality scans, you typically want to maximize the channel
exposures without clipping, and then correct for color by setting the
Black+White point.

I don't seem to recall the 5400 manual mentioning any "ADC offset+gain
settings". Are these hw controls, and where can I find them? Do you set
the black and white points in the scanner sw or in PS? I use the latter.

I found that after assigning the linear posi profile to a slide scan in
PS, the histograms will shift a bit from those shown in the scanner. If
there are clippings in the PS histograms, I would adjust the Exposure
Controls in the scanner and scan again.

 

[Hecate]

Thus disproving your argument.

As I said in a previous post, Firewire is an additional cost on PC
design *BECAUSE* is is not built into the basic chipset and requires
additional chips on the card.

You kind of missed out the other two manufacturers whose cheapest
machines *do* include it. And the price for the Evesham machines with
Firewire (whether as an add on or not) are cheap too.

The point is not that everyone includes but that your statement that
the majority don't can be easily disproved.

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

You kind of missed out the other two manufacturers whose cheapest
machines *do* include it. And the price for the Evesham machines with
Firewire (whether as an add on or not) are cheap too.

You kind of missed the point - you only need one example to disprove
your argument and you provided that yourself. I didn't *need* to
include the other examples.

The point is not that everyone includes but that your statement that
the majority don't can be easily disproved.

In that first post on the subject matter Hecate I state quite clearly
that (it) "Doesn't mean you can't buy motherboards that do have it, but
they tend to be the more expensive boards." Subsequent posts on the
subject explained why this is the case - none of the basic Intel
chipsets used to build common P4 based PC do not have integral firewire,
so it requires an additional chip. By contrast, you stated that you
doubted that you could buy a PC without it and then posted an example
which demonstrated that your doubts were totally unfounded.

 

[Anoni Moose]

In that first post on the subject matter Hecate I state quite clearly

that (it) "Doesn't mean you can't buy motherboards that do have it, but
they tend to be the more expensive boards." Subsequent posts on the
subject explained why this is the case - none of the basic Intel
chipsets used to build common P4 based PC do not have integral firewire,
so it requires an additional chip.

Of course, all my recent motherboards are all AMD Athlon ones (although
my 3 year old Dell laptop (w/firewire) is an Intel p3). Even cheap
motherboards have firewire. The popularity isn't for Minolta
scanners, they're becoming more and more popular for downloading
family movies from video cameras.

One thing that might also be mentioned is the 'M' word, no not that,
one, the one associated with 'A'. The Mac. I think "firewire" is
their name for IEEE 1394, and I suspect most if not all Macs have it
whether nor not it takes an additional 50 cent chip to implement it.
Mac owners can correct me if needed (I don't have one currently).

Mike

 

[Jason Perez]

Of course, all my recent motherboards are all AMD Athlon ones (although
my 3 year old Dell laptop (w/firewire) is an Intel p3). Even cheap
motherboards have firewire. The popularity isn't for Minolta
scanners, they're becoming more and more popular for downloading
family movies from video cameras.

One thing that might also be mentioned is the 'M' word, no not that,
one, the one associated with 'A'. The Mac. I think "firewire" is
their name for IEEE 1394, and I suspect most if not all Macs have it
whether nor not it takes an additional 50 cent chip to implement it.
Mac owners can correct me if needed (I don't have one currently).

All Macs for several years now have had Firewire built-in. Even
the lowly Mac mini has it.

-Jason

 

[rafe bustin]

Of course, all my recent motherboards are all AMD Athlon ones (although
my 3 year old Dell laptop (w/firewire) is an Intel p3). Even cheap
motherboards have firewire. The popularity isn't for Minolta
scanners, they're becoming more and more popular for downloading
family movies from video cameras.

One thing that might also be mentioned is the 'M' word, no not that,
one, the one associated with 'A'. The Mac. I think "firewire" is
their name for IEEE 1394, and I suspect most if not all Macs have it
whether nor not it takes an additional 50 cent chip to implement it.
Mac owners can correct me if needed (I don't have one currently).

Yep, Firewire has been integrated onto
lots of (most?) PC motherboards. It's
just a few more pins and an extra 1E^4
transistors on a VLSI chip...

But USB2/High-Speed is catching on,
and I believe the data rates are
comparable to Firewire (IEEE-1394).

I've seen Firewire PCI cards for as
low as $10 at Circuit City.


rafe b.
http://www.terrapinphoto.com

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

One thing that might also be mentioned is the 'M' word, no not that,
one, the one associated with 'A'. The Mac. I think "firewire" is
their name for IEEE 1394, and I suspect most if not all Macs have it
whether nor not it takes an additional 50 cent chip to implement it.
Mac owners can correct me if needed (I don't have one currently).

Which is the original point I was making: it has been integrally
standard on that platform for years whereas USB2 has been integrated
into the PC platform in preference. All the Intel chipsets that support
the P4 include USB2 in the Southbridge, none include 1394.

This places constraints on suppliers of cross-platform peripherals
intended to be added to the installed base which inevitably results in
superfluous components being bundled, as was the case with the previous
Nikon range. That additional expense, small though it is, becomes
significant when multiplied by millions of scanners sold. Consequently
it is more cost effective for them to drop it, which is what happened on
the current Nikon range. It should be no surprise that Minolta have
followed suit, the arithmetic applies just as well in the Minolta
boardroom as it does in the Nikon one.

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

Yep, Firewire has been integrated onto
lots of (most?) PC motherboards. It's
just a few more pins and an extra 1E^4
transistors on a VLSI chip...

Plus the cost of that VLSI chip which is NOT part of the basic PC
chipset, whereas USB2 has been for some considerable time - see the
previous posted links to Intel chipsets, which dominate the P4 market.

A £5 chip may not be particularly expensive, but it isn't there on most
of the installed base and supporting that over millions of peripheral
sales is why it has been dropped in favour of the bus which is available
for free.

 

[Anoni Moose]

Plus the cost of that VLSI chip which is NOT part of the basic PC
chipset, whereas USB2 has been for some considerable time - see the
previous posted links to Intel chipsets, which dominate the P4 market.

A £5 chip may not be particularly expensive, but it isn't there on most
of the installed base and supporting that over millions of peripheral

It's probably not a £5 chip, probably more like £0.3 or so (for
inclusion
on a motherboard -- if not even cheaper than that to the mfgr).

I might also point out that The p4 market's dominance is strongest in
the
business office and business server (lower end, not using the
server-specific chips) markets where the Minolta scanners may not be
used.

The Minolta scanners are more likely to be used in the graphics
markets where there's relatively few Intel motherboards or even Intel
chips,
more along the line of Macs that all have firewire. For hobbiest
use (like myself) AMD has has a much higher market percentage than
they do "overall", where Intel motherboards aren't used.

Even places like Dell (which use Intel-only processors), have firewire
on some of their computers (like the laptop I have).

Mike

 

[Hecate]

In that first post on the subject matter Hecate I state quite clearly
that (it) "Doesn't mean you can't buy motherboards that do have it, but
they tend to be the more expensive boards." Subsequent posts on the
subject explained why this is the case - none of the basic Intel
chipsets used to build common P4 based PC do not have integral firewire,
so it requires an additional chip. By contrast, you stated that you
doubted that you could buy a PC without it and then posted an example
which demonstrated that your doubts were totally unfounded.

That is true. I should have been more careful in my use of language
and I would concede that point. However, I would also say that your
point that the "majority" don't include firewire is also invalid.

 

[Hecate]

Yep, Firewire has been integrated onto
lots of (most?) PC motherboards. It's
just a few more pins and an extra 1E^4
transistors on a VLSI chip...

But USB2/High-Speed is catching on,
and I believe the data rates are
comparable to Firewire (IEEE-1394).

Only theoretically. In real world use even the Firewire spec is
faster. And then of course, there's Firewire 2 which doubles the
available data rate.

 

[Hecate]

followed suit, the arithmetic applies just as well in the Minolta
boardroom as it does in the Nikon one.

And that, of course, as I said earlier is the whole problem. The suits
that is. Firewire has a better throughput and is more reliable than
USB of any version. What they don't cater for is people who will say
"I'm not buying it if it comes without a Firewire connection".

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

What they don't cater for is people who will say
"I'm not buying it if it comes without a Firewire connection".

That is only an issue if their major competitor(s) provide Firewire
connectivity on their products, which is not the case in this instance.
On the contrary, Minolta have seen their biggest competitor in this
arena drop Firewire connectivity first, leaving them nothing to worry
about if they follow suit.

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

It's probably not a £5 chip, probably more like £0.3 or so (for
inclusion
on a motherboard -- if not even cheaper than that to the mfgr).

I suggest you do some research on the price of fully compliant Firewire
chipsets.

 

[Hecate]

That is only an issue if their major competitor(s) provide Firewire
connectivity on their products, which is not the case in this instance.
On the contrary, Minolta have seen their biggest competitor in this
arena drop Firewire connectivity first, leaving them nothing to worry
about if they follow suit.

Yes, that is true. It would still make me look for a scanner with
Firewire and if that means an old model or a second hand model, then
I'd go for that.

 

[I need serious Warez]

Whelp I got the 5400 II just 2 days ago, and its really great. No
firewire, but it hasn't done anything with USB either. Speed is
great, but when ICE, ROC, SHO, GEM is turned on, it does start to
slow down alot. All in all I love it.

http://mysite.verizon.net/turbo2/album/Tools of%
20Trade/slides/Minolta%205400%20Elite%20II.html

 

[Anoni Moose]

I suggest you do some research on the price of fully compliant Firewire
chipsets.

I've seen Four-port Firewire PCI boards advertised in our local
newspaper
(as noted by at least one other) for under 10 USD (£5.2) . That's
retail.
That means the store paid maybe 6 USD (£3) for the board & box. Means
the
importer/distributor paid maybe 4~5 USD for it. Note again, the retail
store is selling it for under 10 USD in one-quantity. The circuit
board, multiple Firewire connectors, PCI "metal", misc electronic
parts,
the labor to run them through a surface-mount assembly line, the labor
to assemble the mechanicals by hand, the labor to test it, leaves
little for profit and the cost of that IC. Might not be 50 cents,
might be 1 USD. But can't be much. And it's a quarter of that
per port.

Part can't cost much unless the manufacturer is selling it at a loss
for the fun of it.

And there may be cheaper examples, this under 10 USD one is one
I happen to know of. And there may be more "layers" of distribution
in the path of the unit above. I also left out shipping costs
and import duties that would also have to be deducted out of the sales
price in my deduction of part cost.

The under 10 USD price I mentioned is the actual price one would
pay here. No additional taxes added on or the like.

Mike

P.S. - I noted your "fully compliant" gotcha. That's a good point.
For all I know, there may be few fully compliant in all
firewire products made in the world for PC's.
I suspect this board I talk about would work with
the Minolta Scanner in the subject line, but I don't really know
that for sure. With PC's it's often a matter of being good
enough to work in the typical application.