Use specialist driver software for film scanner?

[Tom Baldwin]

I'm thinking of getting a film scanner, around £500 budget, which
seems to offer the choice of either a Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400
or a Nikon LS-50.
I'd be grateful for people's opinions of these two set against each
other, but my real question is: which is the better way to spend my
money; buy one of these scanners, and use the manufacturer-supplied
drivers, or to buy something cheaper like a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual
4, and spend the extra money on specialist image acquisition software,
like Silverfast or Vuescan?
I really don't know how to decide which will give better results.

Scanning will be a mixture of 35mm colour negs and 35mm transparency;
output is very unlikely to be larger than A3 (16" x 11"). The material
scanned will often be quite old, so may well need retouching/ repair
etc.

Any help will be very much appreciated!

Thanks,

Tom

 

[Jim]

I know nothing about Minolta scanners...

I prefer Vuescan for my Nikon LS-40. Vuescan isn't all that expensive...

For old negatives (1970s vintage) you will find that ROC is the only way to
get decent results. If you were so unwise as to shoot E2 and E4, ROC is
essential unless you want all red results.

You will need some kind of grain reduction and some kind of scratch removal
for all films except Kodachrome.

If the Minolta scanner supplies all that capability, it might be fine.

Sorry, I know nothing about Silverfast.

Jim

 

[Hecate]

I'm thinking of getting a film scanner, around £500 budget, which
seems to offer the choice of either a Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400
or a Nikon LS-50.
I'd be grateful for people's opinions of these two set against each
other, but my real question is: which is the better way to spend my
money; buy one of these scanners, and use the manufacturer-supplied
drivers, or to buy something cheaper like a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual
4, and spend the extra money on specialist image acquisition software,
like Silverfast or Vuescan?
I really don't know how to decide which will give better results.

Scanning will be a mixture of 35mm colour negs and 35mm transparency;
output is very unlikely to be larger than A3 (16" x 11"). The material
scanned will often be quite old, so may well need retouching/ repair
etc.

Any help will be very much appreciated!

Thanks,

Tom

Both have their own specific problems. I looked at a lot of the posts
and decided to purchase the Minolta.

As far as your other question goes - whilst I am sure the cheaper
Minolta is good, it doesn't have ICE. And believe me, you'll really
notice the time you spend cleaning up dust etc if you don't have ICE.
So, buy either the Nikon L50 or the Minolta 5400 and use the software
that comes with it. Personally I haven't found any problem with it. It
just takes time building profiles for each film type you have.

A quick word of advice if you buy the Minolta - print out the manual
and learn how to correct images properly - *do not* rely on the easy
scan.