Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III

Review Date
May 5, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.14 of 5, 7 votes

Reviewed by
zenkoh , Casual

Price Paid
$347.00 at Singapore

Photography Experience
2-5 years , People

Summary
The cheapest dedicated 35mm film and slide scanner on the market. The scanner is easy to use, software is intuitive and controls are comprehensive with curves, colour correction, sharpening and others.

It doesn't have Digital ICE and that makes cleaning dusty images a chore if you insist on using the clone tool in Photoshop.

The software dust removal function in the provided software is pretty much useless and softens the images. It does have a "pixel" polish function that enhances the photographs, which is not bad, as long as the scanner gets the colours about right first time out. After much trying, I finally abandoned using this function and auto dust removal because it softens the image and introduces noise.

Adjusting curves, colour correction and doing a straight scan without auto dust removal and pixel polish gives much better results and sharper results. You can then manually remove dust or use Adobe Photoshop Elements' dust removal.

After experimenting with PS Elements' function, I was able to remove dust quickly with very minimal effect. I was very pleased.

The film / slide holders and operation are excellent and you'll be up scanning in a couple of hours. The holders are especially good, unlike Nikon's silly and flimsy film strip holders.

The downside is that scanning negatives usually does not give the best colours first time out. I noticed I get a greenish or magenta colour cast which I need to correct. You need to tweek the contrast a little too. So long as you notice this and do the appropriate remedy, it is a great scanner to use.

The scans are sharp and clear. I’ve no complaints about that. And due to USB2.0, the transfer of images are fast too.

I bought a used Nikon Coolscan IV ED for the Digital ICE and I must say that this is the scanner for lazy photographers like me. Compared to the Scandual III, it is faster and easier to use due to its hardware Dust Removal, auto film feeder and good colours first scan out. It requires minimal tweeking as compared to the Scandual III. However, if you are diligent and are willing to spend time with your scans, the Scanduall III is a great buy.

Strengths
1) Cheapest film scanner around!
2) Easy to use
3) Sharp scans
4) Bundled with PS Elements
5) Fast file transfer with USB2.0
6) Good film strip holders
7) Intuitive software

Weaknesses
1) Colour casts (not too big a problem, only time consuming)
2) Useless software dust removal function
3) Pixel polish isn’t very good

Similar Products Used
Nikon Coolscan II
Nikon Coolscan IV

Review Date
February 27, 2005

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
Chriscotec , Professional

Price Paid
$390.00 at New Sankyo Camera Co

Photography Experience
21+ years , Other

Summary
Optically and colour fidelity wise this is a very good scanner for the money. If you can get it to scan the results are really quite good. Even against the up-market Nikon Coolscan scanner I had before. The problem is, and it is a big problem, that it doesn't work with current Mac operating systems and it barely works with the old OS9 system. This would be fair enough if Minolta didn't claim Mac compatibility. The other issue is that a high percentage of professional photographers are on the Mac platform. I have tried e-mailing Minolta on several occasions over the last year, both in the USA and in Australia where I now live. Nobody has had the courtacy to reply.
If you use a PC this is a great scanner for the money but I won't be doing that again. It was very quick on a friend's PC. For us Mac users, it is a bit light to be a paper weight so I guess I'll have to sell it on Ebay.

Strengths
Good sharpness and dynamic range with controlled banding on well exposed material. Good software options. Good Price.

Weaknesses
Non-existent Mac support even though it is listed on the brochure.

Similar Products Used
Nikon Coolscan LS 800 ED, various Polaroid and Agfa film scanners.

Customer Service
Appalling! They don't reply to e-mails or return phone calls.

Review Date
February 26, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
3.40 of 5, 5 votes

Reviewed by
audphile1 , Intermediate

Price Paid
$275.00 at B&H

Summary
I had Epson 3170, which was not good for scanning 35mm film so I returned it to the store. Went to B&H and got this Minolta scanner. Very nice unit. Compact size, convinient to operate. Creates decent results for negatives, but sometimes I found it to be a little off when it comes to slide scanning. Especially slow speed slides. They come out a little dark and require more adjustments in Image Editing program than negatives. If you know your slides will be scanned only and will never be projected, try overexposing 1/3 to 1/2 stop. Be aware though that if you currently do not own any image editting software such as PhotoShop or PhotoShop elements, you will not achieve good results with this scanner. Dust and scratch control of this unit/software combination is practically useless, so I do it in PhotoShop. Very time consuming and boring. After the first few images are done, you will feel like you worked the whole day. Sometimes I wish I had waited a bit longer and went with the new Nikon LSV, but then again, eventually I will go digital, so my scanner needs to pay for itself before that happens and not just sit on my desk.

Strengths
Good results(if you are proficient in image editing software).
Price.

Weaknesses
Biggest problem - dust. Wear cotton gloves to avoid fingerprinting your film. Have some film cleaning supplies such as tissues, q-tips spray and blower brush.
Noise. It is fairly noisy especially when you set multi-sampling on.

Similar Products Used
Epson 3170 - junk for 35mm film scanning.

Customer Service
Thankfully I didn't need it yet.

Review Date
December 24, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 3 votes

Reviewed by
jonboy , Intermediate

Price Paid
$260.00 at Warehouseexpress.co.

Summary
I bought this film scanner to convert some recent slides to digital format. This was primarily for inclusion into electronic slideshows on PC and DVD, and also to make A4 sized prints. Previous to purchasing the Dual Scan III, I had used an Epson Perfection 2400 Photo. I have found the Dual Scan III to be far superior, expecially with focus and colour accuracy. Some high contrast slides (Very light sky and very dark foreground) did not even register with the Epson, but the Minolta coped fine and produced usable images. I have found that with Velvia slides, there can be a slight colour cast, but this is easily removed from within the scanner software. The lack of scratch/dust removal is not too much of a problem, dust can be carefully be removed with a good quality air blower or an anti-static brush. I have found the film and slide holders to be sturdy enough for regular usage without fear of breakage.
I find this scanner is perfect for consumer/enthusiast level with good quality images for slideshows/dvd slideshows and A4 sized prints. If this is your level, then you dont need to spend twice as much cash on a more expensive model, as this one withh suit your needs perfectly.

Strengths
Good price
Good focus
Good colour accuracy
Compact Size
Easy to use scanner software

Weaknesses
Lack of dust/scratch removal (but this would obvoiusly increase price)

Similar Products Used
Epson perfection 2400 Photo

Customer Service
Not used

Review Date
December 14, 2003

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
4.17 of 5, 6 votes

Reviewed by
JDE , Intermediate

Price Paid
$299.00 at B&H Photovideo

Summary
I've found this scanner to be a good value for making preview scans to put on CD-ROMs and submit to photo editors (then they let me know what transparencies to submit for drum scanning at their pre-press house), but haven't tried making any prints with it yet, so I can't comment on that application. Lack of dust and scratch removal technology means that it isn't really suitable for archiving 35mm film or professional use, and I don't have the time to mess around with dust and scratch removal software, or spend hours in Photoshop Elements fixing things. Minolta's terrific intuitive software makes scanning as quick and easy as it can be (I use the advanced ("DS 3 Utility") mode, although I often have to rescan a transparency to remove dust I didn't brush off completely with an anti-static brush. (I use a microfiber cloth to remove fingerprints from careless photo lab or pre-press staff as needed). Minolta scanner software loaded and ran quicly with no problem on my Pentium 4 PC using the Windows XP operating system and USB 2.0 (fast) port once I figured out I had to be in the "Administrator" account to install the software(Minolta's installation instructions neglected to mention this).

Strengths
Inexpensive and a great value for non-critical consumer work.

Includes Photoshop Elements 2.0

Intuitive, easy-to-use software (even the advanced "DS 3 Utility" mode).

Weaknesses
Lack of true dust and scratch removal capability limits this scanner to non-critical consumer use.

First unit smelled like electronics were burning up, so I returned it. Second unit had autofocus inconsistencies, so I sent it in to Minolta for check and calibration and came back somewhat improved, but still find it sometimes requires manually setting calibration point.

Often underexposes transparencies, but as another reviewer noted the brightness can be adjusted (either using the Minolta scanner software or later in Photoshop Elements). Ability to set AE point not yet implemented in software (Minolta says this will be included in next version).

Lately sometimes won't scan the far right-most portion of some frames...is going back to Minolta for repair.

Similar Products Used
None

Customer Service
Great, but I had to e-mail them from their website to get their 800# to call in for verbal troubleshooting before sending in. Scanner came back within 2 weeks.