Minolta Diamge Scan Dual II vs Nikon LS30

[ross_lipman]

<p>I have set a goal of scanning my way through boxes of negatives and snapshots when the weather turns cooler.</p>

<p>I have an old Minolta Diamage Scan Dual II that I picked up at Goodwill for $10, and never used.<br>

A local CL seller has advertised a Nikon LS30 at an attractive price.</p>

<p>Both require a SCSI connection, and I have a Windows XP laptop that can accept a SCSI PCMCIA card.</p>

<p>Assuming both scanners work, which is better for scanning 35mm negatives ?</p>

<p>Thanks !</p>

<p> </p>

[William Kahn]

<p>Well, I guess you can't go wrong for ten bucks, but there are some problems with the Minolta, starting with the nonexistence of support and parts. Minolta dumped their entire consumer scanner products about 15 years ago and walked away. Nikon, on the other hand, is alive and kicking, and I think you'd have better luck finding support for the LS30. Software is another concern. For instance, Lasersoft/Silverfast has the software driver for the LS30, but none earlier than the Minolta Scan Dual III/IV.</p>

<p>Anyway, I think would be fun trying to resurrect the Minolta. At worst, you'll have a neat doorstop...</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>My first film scanner was an LS30. The resolution is low, only about 2700 ppi, and the drivers hopelessly out of date. I gave it to my son, who could not get it to work on a Mac. SCSI is a whole new bag of worms. Eeeeiah!</p>

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>SCSI is more a Windows 98 thingy. Getting it running on XP might be challenging. I have an LS-30 which seems to have developed a fault. Couldn't get it running on newer Windows versions but Linux (Ubuntu) recognized it immediately - and reported a fault :-) If I had to test one I'd try Linux first but YMMV.</p>

[tom_halfhill]

<p>In my experience, the Minolta scanner is better than Nikon scanners for conventional b&w film. The Minolta has a diffuse light source that minimizes dust, scratches, and grain -- yet the images are quite sharp. If you are familiar with wet darkrooms, it's like the difference between a diffusion enlarger versus a condenser enlarger. Both scanners are good for color negatives and slides.</p>

<p>However, the Minolta scanner is not as well built as Nikon scanners. The one I was using started jamming and couldn't be fixed.</p>

<p>BTW, Windows XP hasn't received security updates for years. It's no longer considered safe for online use. I keep a Windows XP computer just to run my Nikon CoolScan V and use a newer computer for everything else.</p>

 

[sjmurray]

<p>Vuescan scanner software works with virtually any operating system and computer, as the opening page states: "VueScan is compatible with 3023 scanners from 35 manufacturers on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux" You can use it for the old Minolta scanners on modern operating systems. I use it with my Minolta scan dual 3 and 64 bit windows 7 and it works beautifully. I also use it with my Epson 2450 and HP printer/scanner.</p>

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>No need to use XP for a Coolscan V, see this http://axelriet.blogspot.nl/2009/10/nikon-ls-40-ls-50-ls-5000-scanners-on.html link for a patch to make it work on Windows 7-10, 64 bits. I have it running for some time, Vuescan and Nikonscan both work in this way. In this case Vuescan needs additional drivers to recognize Nikon scanners.<br>

SCSI is a different can of worms. Probably needs additional drivers/software under modern Windows versions, hence the suggestion for Linux. </p>

[tom_halfhill]

<p>Thanks, Jos, I will try to get my CoolScan V working with Windows 8.1 when I get some time. The instructions you referenced are the first ones I've seen that don't require a registry hack or other risky tricks.</p>