J
Jerry C.
I've bought an SE5400 used a couple of days ago. I downloaded the
latest Dimage software from Minolta's web page. The first day it worked
fine for perhaps a dozen or so slides -- recent Velvia and Ektachrome
VS. The second day (today), some10 year old Ektachrome slides were
problematic. The slides looked fine to the eye, but when scanned, the
50% of the image that was lighter was blown out as if a hundred flashes
had gone off. The colors on the darker part of the slide was also
washed out to a lesser degree. I tried auto-exposure and
manual-exposure, different resolution settings, 8 and 16 bit, ICE and no
ICE, auto-focus and no auto-focus etc. (I know focus obviously had
nothing to do with this, but I was getting desperate.) I tried all
variations to no avail. An atomic bomb had apparently gone off in front
of the subject rendering much of it white. Subsequently, later slides
proved to be excessively dark, rather than blown out. Excessively
meaning that 50% of the slides were nearly black with no detail visible
and the rest was dramatically darker than it should be. Again, to the
eye and on a lightbox the slides are fine.
OK. Time to try negatives -- some old Kodak Gold 400. The index scan
results in the all of the negs being totally black except for the outer
1% or 2% of the border, which just barely hints at a little of the color
that is supposedly hiding within. I'm guessing this is NOT a software,
slide, or negative problem. Could I have bought a unit with a defective
or worn out light source (fluorescent tube)? Could this be a CCD sensor
problem? Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Jerry C.
latest Dimage software from Minolta's web page. The first day it worked
fine for perhaps a dozen or so slides -- recent Velvia and Ektachrome
VS. The second day (today), some10 year old Ektachrome slides were
problematic. The slides looked fine to the eye, but when scanned, the
50% of the image that was lighter was blown out as if a hundred flashes
had gone off. The colors on the darker part of the slide was also
washed out to a lesser degree. I tried auto-exposure and
manual-exposure, different resolution settings, 8 and 16 bit, ICE and no
ICE, auto-focus and no auto-focus etc. (I know focus obviously had
nothing to do with this, but I was getting desperate.) I tried all
variations to no avail. An atomic bomb had apparently gone off in front
of the subject rendering much of it white. Subsequently, later slides
proved to be excessively dark, rather than blown out. Excessively
meaning that 50% of the slides were nearly black with no detail visible
and the rest was dramatically darker than it should be. Again, to the
eye and on a lightbox the slides are fine.
OK. Time to try negatives -- some old Kodak Gold 400. The index scan
results in the all of the negs being totally black except for the outer
1% or 2% of the border, which just barely hints at a little of the color
that is supposedly hiding within. I'm guessing this is NOT a software,
slide, or negative problem. Could I have bought a unit with a defective
or worn out light source (fluorescent tube)? Could this be a CCD sensor
problem? Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Jerry C.