Digital BW, The Print

Hi all,

Yesterday I wrote that I was experiencing slow scan times with 
my new Minolta Multi Pro. I spoke with a Minolta service 
technician this morning, and he has corrected my scanning 
process with the Multi Pro...

I was scanning directly on the desktop, not through Photoshop 
with the Multi-Pro Plug In; the technician informed me that the 
scanner is very fast through Photoshop using the Plug In, but 
very slow on the desktop (my experience). I've just finished 
retesting using Photoshop/Import/Multi-Pro/Scan, and the 
technician is correct! This is a super-fast scanner when used 
with Photoshop (in my case, PS 6.01).

My new scan times: 
     35mm B&W, 4800 dpi, 16 bit: less than 2 minutes (68 megs)
     35mm B&W, 4800 dpi, 16 bit, 2x sampling: less than 3 Mins
     35mm ColorNeg, 4800 dpi, 16 bit, ICE3: 6 minutes (186 
megs)

This times are about two thirds faster than times I got scanning 
from the desktop. Scanning from the desktop, rather than 
through photoshop, may also be the error than Digital 
Resources made when they gave the Multi-Pro an excellent 
review, but with the exception that they thought it was "a little 
slow."

This scanner is excellent when used optimally! My reservations 
about the software are now completely erased. And the software 
is very easy to use. And the manual focus control is also easy 
and fast to use, and dead-on accurate.

Minolta now earns an A+ in my book (and my apology to Minolta 
for my earlier post)!

Cheers,
James Lerager



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "James Lerager" 
<JLerager@y...> wrote:
> (Cross-Posted w/ Piezo 3000 group)
> 
> I recently purchased a Minolta Multi Pro, and have been 
running 
> tests with it. The scan times seem excessively long, even 
though 
> I've assigned a full gig of ram to Minolta's scan software and 
am 
> using Firewire (on a G4 OS 9.1): 5 minutes for a 35mm B&W 
neg 
> at 4800, 10 minutes for a 35mm color neg at 4800, 20 minutes 
> for a color neg at 4800 with ICE3. These are without 
> multi-sampling, which dramatically increases scan times 
using 
> Minolta's scan software. (Digital Resources's review of the 
Multi 
> Pro seems to indicate the Multi-Pro actually scans about 10% 
> faster using a SCSI connection on a G3 compared with 
Firewire 
> on a G4 - figure that if you can!).
> 
> I've used a Minolta Scan Elite for the past 15 months with 
> excellent results - but only by using Vuescan software. My 
> positive experience with the Scan Elite - coupled with Vuescan 
- 
> is why I purchased the Multi-Pro. The Minolta software on the 
> Elite was slow, and gave mediocre scans, but Vuescan made 
> the unit shine - much better than a Nikon 2000 or Polaroid 
4000 
> for B&W and for color neg (I tested both of them with their 
> respective manufacturer's software, although not with 
Vuescan). 
> Vuescan cut the scanning times approximately in half, with 
much 
> better quality and wider dynamic range, when compared to the 
> Minolta software. Even Ed's incorporated defect-removal 
> software seems to work better than the much vaunted ICE - 
and 
> without increasing scan times by very much - in my opinion.
> 
> Ed Hamrick has said that he plans to create a version of 
> Vuescan for the Multi-Pro, so I have my fingers crossed that he 
is 
> successful, and releases it soon, and that it scans rapidly and 
> efficiently, as Vuescan does on the Scan Elite. (Ed has also 
said 
> he plans to incorporate a histogram in Vuescan in the future - 
> which could really make it a dynamite program to use).
> 
> Minolta has created a beautiful and intuitive user interface for 
> their software, but the underlying scanning program is awful 
> (again in my opinion), and doesn't allow the user access to the 
> full quality - and potential speed - of the hardware (at least that 
> has been my experience using the Scan Elite). 
> 
> Too bad for Minolta; they are definitely going to lose 
professional 
> enthusiasm and sales for what may be a beautiful piece of 
> hardware, which includes excellent film holders (they have 
even 
> included glass inserts for the 6x6 to 6x9 film holder along with 
> the scanner) - that is, unless they radically revise and improve 
> the quality and speed of their scanning software, and soon.
> 
> I plan to forward these exchanges to Minolta, and to Ed 
Hamrick.
> 
> My 2 cents,
> James Lerager