Digital BW, The Print

On Wed, 2003-09-10 at 20:00, Alan Zimmerman wrote:
> I'm considering a quality med format film scanner and would appreciate any comments on users of the Minolta Dimage multiscan !!.vs Nikon 8000 or new artix 120tf.
> Thanks,Alan Zimmerman
>

alan, i have the dimage scan multi pro.  it has good points and bad.  i
love the scans i get, but the minolta scan software is barely
functional--and that's a shame considering the cost of the package.  i
use vuescan with it, but i also purchased silverfast which i like a
lot.  the aftermarket scanhancer helps out a lot too--check out
www.scanhancer.com for details.  it's essentially a simple attachment
that lets you scan with diffused light. i use one and it's very nice for
some things.

the  standard medium format carrier is glass, but the 35mm ones are
not.  for a few bucks you can buy the custom mask kit and cut your own
35mm masks so you can scan 35mm in the medium format glass carrier.

there have been some hardware issues with this scanner, namely banding
generally attributed to failing lamps.  i have this issue too, and it's
maddening.  i'll have to ship it off for warranty repair at some point. 
but i'm hesitant since i have to really be pushing the scanner for it to
show up in my unit.

i like it better than the other scanners i looked at in its price range
at the time i bought it. i think there are a few more choices now that i
didn't have then, but i have no feel for whether those would be better
for me or not since i haven't looked at them. 

hope this helps you--at least a little.  :)

kenb