Minolta Elite 5400 II Film Scanner, should I pull the triger?

I'm the kind of person to go wayyy overboard and buy a $5000 drum scanner off eBay but realisticly, for 35MM negtive scanning of photographs taken from 1940-today the Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 II Film Scanner should do the trick right?

I mean we're talking photos taken by my grandfather who is a pro-photographer, but the negtives haven't been stored in promo conditon. So even though the orignal image may have been top notch, after 35 dusty years I can't imagine that a drum scanned image would blow away this scanner.

Am I correct?

While I can't give a comparison of my 5400 II to a drum scanner, I will say that the Minolta is a very good scanner and I personally believe it's the best buy of all film scanners. I use it exclusively for slides instead of negatives however, so I'm not able to give a review of it's performance on negatives. I have printed 12x18s on my Epson 2200 and they do look fantastic.

Restoring old photos is a different matter, I personally know photographers who are quite good at restoring old photos of all formats in Photoshop. You'll have to consult someone else or there might even be some info on this forum.

For myself the 5400 II has worked perfectly. You may want to check between various scanners (such as the Nikons), although I do recommend the Minolta.

No.

The drum scanner will kick the Minolta up, down and across the block.
Greater capture gamut, greater dynamic range and greater resolution.
Which can be crucial if you realy want to archive those images in digital form.

However, if you can not afford a drum scanner opt for a Nikon.
Superior optics which is what it's all about when it comes to hardware.
Also if you take this route be sure the scanner-software combo you decide on is equiped with Digital ICE (scratch and dirt remover).

Good luck

Thanks for the replie, I have seen your posts on film scanning and was hoping you'd comment on my post.

Would you suggest the COOLSCAN 5000 ED?

My target price was under $1000.

If I had the balls, I'd buy the drum scanner that you have...one is on eBay right now.

Most definitely.

I was checking it out earlier.
Damn fine machine.
Both on ebay would be great deals.
If one of them came with Newcolor software they would be exceptional deals. Newcolor is $3500 with no support at all.

Speaking of Minolta scanners, B&H has the 5400 seemly discounted. B&H's stock number has an "R" on the end of it and it makes me suspicious that it's a refurbished unit. No where in the description did I find mention of being a refurb. Anyone know if the "R" designation might indicate refurb?

I can chime in on the Nikon . . . I use the 9000 and it does a great job in comparison to a Hell 3900 drum scanner. By far the greatest advantage is the mounting . . . with a drum scanner, it's nearly impossible to get a perfectly clean scan. With the Nikon, you can just pop in the 35 and the Digital ICE takes care of the dust and scratches. After some custom profiling, the color is great.

Another thing to consider: low priced drum scanners were probably manufactered some time ago, and getting these serviced is big $$$, we're talking as much as $900/day, not including parts!

Good to hear from a Nikon user.

I picked up a PEC-12 film cleaning kit and some cotton cloves so I can get the film in as good of shape as possible. Most of the negtives are in a cedar chest right now and it's very likely that I'll encounter some fungus.

It seems to me that the performace of the 5000 ED is close to the 9000 but is otherwise limited in film formats, which for me isn't a problem. I'm only going to be scanning 35MM and might have a handful of 120.

Nick

The 9000 is a wonderful machine and will produce some excellent scans.
But it will not compete with a drum scanner when it comes down to it. Even the older Howteks have greater capabilities than a 9000.
You are correct about perfectly clean scans. But with caution you can get it down to the point of only having to spend 3-5 minutes tops cleaning the image. If you are going for archival-level scans this is a small price to pay to gain the advantages of a drum scanner.

Tangos and ICG scanners are expensive beasts to repair.
But the Howteks & Screens are relastively cheap to purchase, easy to repair, parts are cheap and there is a sizeable community of operators of these scanners out there that is eager to help. Also, one of the most inovative manufacturers of drum scanners, Aztek, still services them at very reasonable prices.
All-in-all hese scanners are built like Brick-*&$%-houses.