Time to replace scanner?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maris V. Lidaka Sr.
  • Start date Start date
M

Maris V. Lidaka Sr.

I have the (original) Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400. The 2 photos at

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=523564

were scanned today - the film is not scratched, so I don't know where all
the lines come from. The green color cast of Penguins 1 was also there in
Penguins 2, which I adjusted with Photoshop Levels. I used Fuji Superia
200, and the color cast is there whether I select Fuji HG 200, Generic, or
use the Advanced Workflow Suggestions.

Both images were scanned using VueScan 8.2.35.

What might be the cause of the lines and the color cast? Is it time to
trash this scanner? I last used it about 6 months ago, and it worked fine.

Maris
 
Maris V. Lidaka Sr. said:
I have the (original) Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400. The 2 photos at

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=523564

were scanned today - the film is not scratched, so I don't know where all
the lines come from. The green color cast of Penguins 1 was also there in
Penguins 2, which I adjusted with Photoshop Levels. I used Fuji Superia
200, and the color cast is there whether I select Fuji HG 200, Generic, or
use the Advanced Workflow Suggestions.

Both images were scanned using VueScan 8.2.35.

What might be the cause of the lines and the color cast? Is it time to
trash this scanner? I last used it about 6 months ago, and it worked fine.

Maris
Click to expand...
Hi Maris

I had a similar thing happen a couple of years ago to my Acer Scanner. The
lines would generally happen at the top 10-20mm of the picture. It would
often go away after the first or second pass. But it continued to get
worse.

It turned out to be the flexible ribbon to the moving carriage being
fractured where it made a tight turn into the connector on the carriage.
This happened at the top of the scan when the ribbon was tightest. Another
10mm in lenght would have avoided the problem. I managed to cut and join
another piece of substitue ribbon to the "cable" making it just a bit longer
and that cured the problem.

So it may be your ribbon or just the connectors being loose. Checking the
connectors isn't too difficult, but a bit of skill and tools are needed to
repair the ribbon.

However just disturbing the ribbon and or its connectors should produce a
change in what you're getting if that's the problem

Regards
Barry
 
Per Maris V. Lidaka Sr.:
What might be the cause of the lines and the color cast? Is it time to
trash this scanner? I last used it about 6 months ago, and it worked fine.
Click to expand...

I just had a similar experience with my Epson 2450: some months of disuse, fired
it up, got the lines.

Posted here. Consensus seemed tb some sort of hardware failure.

Donated it to the dumpster last week.

Replaced it with a Canon Lide 500F.

Don't know how good/bad the Canon is as a scanner, although it's 100% acceptable
to me for what I use it for - which is scanning text and photo prints at 600 dpi
or less.

The attraction of this scanner for me is it's portability:
- Extremely light weight,
- Less than 2 inches thick,
- No AC power brick needed (it gets it's power from the USB2 connection)

Seems like the ideal thing if/when I want to tuck it under my arm, take it to a
work site, scan a few docs, and then take it back home.
 
I believe VueScan calibrated it before allowing the scan, but I'll
double-check on that tomorrow.

Maris
 
Haven't tried it (in fact I've never learned the Minolta software - I give
it a go today or tomorrow).

Maris
 
Aaaaargh! I must have been asleep - I know to calibrate it, and VueScan
even reminds one with an on-screen note.

I must not have calibrated yesterday, because today I made sure to and the
image comes out fine.

Thanks for the reminder.

Maris
 
I have the (original) Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400. The 2 photos at

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=523564

were scanned today - the film is not scratched, so I don't know where all
the lines come from. The green color cast of Penguins 1 was also there in
Penguins 2, which I adjusted with Photoshop Levels. I used Fuji Superia
200, and the color cast is there whether I select Fuji HG 200, Generic, or
use the Advanced Workflow Suggestions.

Both images were scanned using VueScan 8.2.35.

What might be the cause of the lines and the color cast? Is it time to
trash this scanner? I last used it about 6 months ago, and it worked fine.
Click to expand...
No, the problem is Vuescan. Try your Minolta software and see what
happens. Vuescan and Minolta scanners should never be used together.

--

Hecate - The Real One
(e-mail address removed)
Fashion: Buying things you don't need, with money
you don't have, to impress people you don't like...
 
I have to disagree - I've now posted today's scan (adjusted Levels and
sharpened only) - same URL, Penguin 3 (the far left photo). You can click
"Larger" at the bottom to see it at 1280 X 840 pixels. I'm very satisfied
with the scan (though the photo itself could have been better).

Maris
 
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