Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 Review

My hobby of archiving old family photos involves digitizing and salvaging photos for family and friends. I realized how damaged even well-preserved photos can become over time a few years ago when I was looking through my mother's acid-free, archival quality photo albums and negative sleeves. Several prints and negatives that my mother had taken back in the 1960's and 1970's were faded almost beyond recognition. Wanting to restore my mother's photos, and also wanting to give my wonderful mother-in-law a gift by digitizing her family slide photos, I decided to purchase a film scanner. After much research I purchased the Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 35mm Film Scanner.

About The Dimage Scan Elite 5400, and Why I Chose It
I had used an earlier generation of this scanner that my father-in-law had purchased. It had a SCSI interface and was too slow to batch scan entire strips of film and slides. I read generally positive reviews of the Dimage 5400, though there were still some complaints of slowness. I ended up choosing the Dimage Scan Elite 5400 because I was familiar with that brand of film scanners, because of the image quality reviews I had read, and because it comes with both USB 2.0 and FireWire interface support. The Dimage Scan Elite is a consumer level film scanner that, as its name implies, scans at 5400 DPI. Minolta lists the following specifications for the Dimage Scan Elite 5400:

Film type: 35mm film/slides
Optical Resolution: 5400 dpi
Scan Size & Input Pixels (max.): 35mm film: 24.61 x 36.69mm, 5232 x 7800 pixels
Scan Method: Moving film, fixed sensor, single-pass scan
Sensor: RGB 3-LINE CCD, 5300 pixels / line
Multi-sample Scanning: 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, OFF
Continuous Scan:
- 35mm Film Holder: Max. 6 frames
- Slide Mount Holder: Max. 4 frames
A/D Conversion: 16 bits
Output Data: 8 bits, 16 bits (per color channel)
Approximate Final Scan Time: (With 35mm positive film without trimming / image compensation functions, color matching & AE OFF / at 5400 dpi & 8-bit input. Scan time will be longer with negative film.): 60 - 69 seconds
Light source: 3-wave, cold-cathode fluorescent lamp
Focus: Autofocus (Point AF available), Power focus, Manual focus
Interfaces: USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 compatible), IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Additional Image Enhancing Features: Digital ICE(tm), Grain Dissolver, Pixel Polish, Quick Scan button
Dimensions (WxHxD): 65 x 165 x 360 mm / 2-9/16 x 6-1/2 x 14-3/16 inches
Weight: Approx. 2.5 kg / 88-3/16 ounces

Using the Scanner
Installing the scanner and setting up the software was straightforward. I have used this film scanner with both Mac OS X and Windows XP. While the software worked in both environments, it seems to be more well-integrated into Windows XP. The scanner comes with the driver and support software, two film holders, one for slides which holds four frames and one for 35mm film negatives which holds six frames. It also comes with both USB and FireWire cables.

Both holders work exactly the same, you must turn on the scanner, allow it to warm up while the software is turned on. When the On/Off button stops blinking, the film or slide holder is inserted with the arrows facing forward and up. The scanner pulls the holder in, scanning an Index image of everything that's in the holder. From this scan you can choose which images you want and rotate the ones that need to be rotated.

The scanner software also includes many features to improve the scanned image's quality. Digital ICE is available to remove dirt and other imperfections in the image. Grain Dissolver, which is automatically enabled when Digital ICE is used, helps soften the grain in films. Pixel Polisher allows the user to automate certain simple scanning parameters.

Using these parameters, and fine-tuning the software further, users can set up profiles for use with multiple images, or even batch scan, which allows you to scan a strip of film or slides with the same setting, naming and saving the resulting images sequentially.

Batch scans and individual scans can be set up from the Minolta Dimage Scan Launcher. The launcher lets you set your custom settings for your batch scans. From the launcher you can also choose to use the Easy Scan utility and you can configure any one of these utilities, or even another application, to load when you press the Scan button on the scanner for a Quick Scan.

How Well and How Fast It Works
The 60 - 69 second time listed in the specifications for this scanner is a best case, one pass scan. In truth, it always takes much, much longer. I've had to wait for up to fifteen minutes for a 35mm image to scan with several passes and Digital ICE activated.

The quality however, is excellent. I've scanned in many damaged, faded photographs and the only way that such images stand a chance of being corrected is if the scanner picks up on every last minute detail so that it can be used later in Photoshop for correction. With multiple samples and DigitalICE turned on, the Minolta Dimage does just that.


Cat's Bottom Line
I am very pleased with the quality of the images I get from my Minolta Dimage 5400 film scanner, even if it does take awhile to get the images scanned. I recommend this scanner to anyone looking to archive old family photos, just so long as you're patient.