EXCLUSIVES

Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 Digital Film Scanner

By Scott Dewbre
July 2004

A question for all you die hard 35mm photographers out there: What if you could keep your beloved 35mm camera and still have the convenience of digital image handling and storage?

If we've peaked your interest, check out the DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 ($1,099, Konica Minolta), a digital film scanner specially designed for transferring 35mm images from film to digital format.

Priced on par with the "prosumer" high-resolution digital cameras on the market today, the Scan Elite 5400 combines high quality optics with advanced image enhancing technology and a high-speed interface. For photographers looking to keep their film equipment and create high quality digital images, the Scan Elite 5400 may be just the thing.

5,400 dpi resolution, 16-bit A/D conversion
The "5400" in the name of the scanner is no doubt based on its impressive input resolution of 5,400 dots per inch (dpi). This level of resolution allows the Scan Elite 5400 to create a 24-inch photo quality print from a full-frame 35mm image.

The nerve center of the Scan Elite 5400 is a 5,300 pixel, 3-line charged coupled device (CCD) image sensor working with an optics system of eight lenses in four groups. The scanner is designed so the CCD remains in one place while the film passes in front of it. A manual focus control on the scanner allows for finer focus adjustments than possible with auto focus alone.

Equipped with 16-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion, the Scan Elite 5400 can distinguish between 65,536 gradations of tone for each color channel. Color depth is 8-bit and 16-bit per channel.

The scanner can accommodate a 6-frame strip of negatives or four mounted slides at a time using specially designed film holders. To accommodate large scale image conversions, the Scan Elite 5400 has a batch scan feature, allowing for multiple scans using identical settings without having to stop and restart the scan controlling software.

The Scan Elite 5400 has many tools to improve the quality of the scanned image, including a grain dissolver, pixel polish, and Digital ICE. Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 2.0 is included with the scanner to allow for post-scan image tweaking.

Big, beautiful scans
The Scan Elite 5400 comes with two connection options - FireWire® 400 and USB 2.0. Considering the size of the scanned images, not to mention that our test Mac® has the slower USB 1.1, FireWire was our unanimous choice. Otherwise, we'd still be waiting on our first scan.

We were a little apprehensive about using the bundled scanner controller application because a lot of good scanner manufacturers aren't very good application builders. Dumping bundled apps in favor of acquiring the image directly in Photoshop is a common procedure. However, Minolta really won us over with the DiMAGE Scan Utility, which accommodates a rank beginner as easily as an expert photographer.

As we scanned negatives and slides, we quickly discovered just how much detail the Scan Elite 5400 picks up, particularly on slides. We also discovered that a lot of that detail is not the sort of thing one wants to see, like dust, scratches, and too much grain. So, it was time to see if the scan enhancing tools could help.

We fell in love with Digital ICE the first time we tried it out. Pixel polish and grain dissolver are good for certain situations, like a faded negative or minor graininess; but Digital ICE is amazing for removing scratches, dust spots, and other blemishes. From now on, we'll be asking for it by name whenever we review film scanners.

Overall, the image quality was even better than we'd imagined. We even compared prints of the scanned images to one-hour photo prints made directly from the same negative and couldn't tell the difference. The high resolution of the Scan Elite 5400 captured subtle details that we just knew would be lost, like dust motes illuminated by sunlight streaming in through a window.
About the only complaint we have with the Scan Elite 5400 has to do with its film holders. The negative and slide holders are made of plastic and are slightly flexible. Over time, that flexibility could lead to film slipping out of place or not being held perfectly flat, which could lead to fuzziness toward the outer edge of scanned images. Metal construction would have made the film holders much more rigid and sturdy. Considering the scanner's hefty price tag, this seems like a pretty reasonable request.

Bottom line
The Scan Elite 5400 is not a small investment, so it is definitely not for everybody. Someone who comes across a box of old slides in the attic is probably better off taking them to a professional photographer or printer and paying to have them transferred to digital format.

However, the Scan Elite 5400 is an excellent choice for the serious amateur photographer who wants to move their image collection from film to digital or who simply wants to continue with traditional film photography and enjoy the convenience of digital imaging. Organizations with large archives of film negatives and slides, such as schools, libraries or newspapers, should also consider the Scan Elite 5400.

Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 > Konica Minolta > Price: $1,099.99 MSRP > konicaminolta.us > Pros: 5,400 dpi scan resolution; built-in Digital ICE > Cons: Slightly flimsy film holders