Minolta DiMAGE Scan Dual II Film Scanner

This was the first slide scanner I bought for personal use. Scan results were acceptable for A4 sized prints and web use.

Two gripes with this scanner - the flimsy build quality and average image quality.

My scanner would often choke when moving the film strip holder in and would make a grinding sound like the gears were being stripped. Got this fixed by Minolta service, but the problem reappeared in two months time. This time they replaced the entire drive mechanism. The problem threatened to resurface after a few months, I could make out by the way it sounded. There was a way to "help" the film strip transport mechanism by applying a gentle bit of inward pressure on the film holder.

The scans were acceptable. Slides scanned better than negs. I could get pretty decent results with Provia 100F, Provia 400F and Astia. It struggled with Velvia though, and didn't really like dense films like APX-25 or PanF+. Standard off the shelf films like Kodak gold 100 or Fuji reala came out pretty nicely. I had better results with vuescan than the minolta software due to its ability to do multi-pass scans.

I spent months scanning part of my slide and negative collection, having got used to the slight softness of the images and the lack of detail we don't forgive these days. My old HP scanner was no better and I didn't question these results. Time passed, I sold it and went digital.

Got myself a Nikon coolscan V ED recently, mentally preparing myself for similar results and the subsequent hours spent cleaning up the images, but the Nikon surpassed my wildest expectations. Images were detail-rich right out of the box. Detail I didn't know existed magically started appearing on even high ISO negs like Fuji press 800 and 1600. The Nikon also feels a lot more robust and solidly built.

After the II, I've used the scan dual IV, the scan multi pro and the elite 5400, and while they're better than the II, the Nikons were always able to extract more detail and the images just looked more natural.

I bought this scanner to do several hundred family slides. I found a refurbished one, and was able to get that with my limited budget.

The scanner came in an old box, and without the original packing - unlike other refurbished items I've bought before; which came in new boxes and with new packing. I was suspicious, but continued anyway, because I need to get the family's stuff done.

I hooked it up and installed it per the instructions. The scanner initialized correctly, but when I went to insert the slide holder, it just sat and rattled loudly. It then kicked the slide holder out an eighth inch at a time. No amount of re-installs, re-initializations, or gently "helping" the slide tray into the scanner did any good. I wasted three whole days in fiddling with it.

What's worse is that Minolta has gone out of this business, and Sony (Consumer) is now in charge of parts and service. Sony (Consumer) does not have any online resources, updates, or any other type of support for this device. You have to rely upon hearsay materials from the internet. I used to repair broadcast video gear for a living, but this is cheaply made inside with cheap connectors and cables. They're designed to mate only once; if you have to unplug them, you throw the cable out and put in a new one. I suspect that's the case with my 'refurbished' unit. Other knocks: the transport mechanism is all plastic.

I sent it back, and took the bath on the restocking fee. Somebody else can risk their money on this useless, time-sucking box.

Scanner gives Great Color and Contrast but the setup seems to take forever, under Win2000 scans terminated if IE/NS Browsers are used. ...,

I had some difficulty obtaining quality scans with this scanner, and the software wasn't very efficient. Focusing was often inaccurate. However, I tried Viewscan software and the results became very acceptable and fast. 4 slides at 2800 dpi in about 10 minutes. Accurate colors and 8x10 prints are very sharp. I have scanned about 600 slides without a malfunction.

I bought this scanner and while pleased with the some of the scans, the software always seems to be locking up and is quite a nuisance. It is currently in the shop being repaired. If the Nikon IV wasn't so much money, I would have dumped it and went with it.