I would opt for the Minolta.
I owned the first version, I must say it was affected by problems of
high noise in high density areas of the slides, but anyway better than
the FS4000.
Moreover, an used Scanner could have collected dust, affecting the CCDs.
Please be aware that Digital ICE as found on the Minolta could not work
with Kodachromes, whose pigments are opaque to the IR that the scanner
uses to check for dust and other imperfections on the film surface.
I'm not sure about what version of Digital ICE the Minolta uses, but,
an advantage is that it features what is called the "grain dissolver"
that is a piece of microporous translucent plastic in front of the
lamp, that acts as a diffuser scattering the light that hits the film,
with an enhancement that could be compared to the difference between a
diffusion and a condenser enlarger.
The grain dissolver can be turned on or off via software, that is, it
slides or rotates laterally to free the cold cathode lamp.
This features was originally introduced as a third party add-on on
their large format Multi Pro, and they copied it.
http://www.scanhancer.com/index.php?art=15&men=15
for more informations, from statements on the site, it seem the grain
dissolver could allow Digital ICE to work even with Kodachromes, but I
never tried this myself.
You may also want to check:
http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Minolta%20Dimage/page-1.htm
For a review of the Minolta, I don't know where to find a review of the
Canon, sorry.
In my opinion the best scanner to fit this category is the Nikon
5000ED, but asking price is much higher.
Another feature to check is the connession port.
To the best of my knowledge all the overmentioned Scanners do connect
only via USB 2.0
If You computer does have only USB 1.0 this would slow data transfer a
lot.
The old Minolta was the only I found sporting both USB and Firewire; a
must for my old Mac.
Firewire is now gone with the ELITE II.
Hope this helps.
Alfredo
On Aug 25, 2005, at 4:08 PM, Ralf Loi wrote:
>
> Hi all,
> I'm thinking of buying a new scanner (now I have a Microtek one, 1800
> dpi).
> I will probably choose one between the Canon FS4000 (used) and the
> Minolta
> Scan Elite 5400 II.
> I have only slides (some Kodachromes too).
> Hints and tips welcome.
>
> Thanks
> Ralf Loi
>
>
>
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