Tong Family

DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 | KONICA MINOLTA. Well I finally sprung for a 35mm and slide scanner. The price got right and the features too.
Haven’t really given it a full workout, but there are a bunch of quirks about this machine that don’t seem to be documented anywhere. So here are some of the things to know. This is *not* a device that you can just plug in and use I think.
* Don’t just jam the film holder in with brute force. This just means the holder jams deep inside the thing. Amazingly, it has no way to extract it that I can see if you push it not hard, but firmly. To get it out, you have to unscrew eight screws so that you can get at the insides and while the power is out take the slide holder out. So beware.
* You don’t plug in the scanner until you install the software. Another bizarreness of Windows and it seems backwards, but put the CD in first and then plug in the scanner into your computer.
* Start up for the device is very strange. The little green light just blinks on and off. So you think lets slam home the slide holder and you are off to the raises. The machine actually spins against you trying to eject it!
Here instead is the exact startup sequence for this thing:
# Turn on the power of the scanner. YOu should see the green light blink and blink and blink. Neither the scan nor the eject button will work.
# Don’t even think about slamming home the slide or 35mm holder. Against every natural instinct, this is wrong and the machine will actually spin against you trying to push the holders out.
# Now start the scanning software and wait and wait. It will take about 2 minutes for the software to mysteriously spin and spin the drive of the scanner. After about 2 minutes, the light goes green and you get a startup screen on the computer.
# Only now should you insert the slide or 35mm holder. Do this super gently. There is something about inserting it into a mark on the holder. Ignore that, you are actually about 1/2″ out. The machine will resist you. You have to actually just place it loosely inside.
# When you choose scan from the Dimage software, only then will the holder be sucked into the bowls of the scanner and processed.
Go figure. The scans look good to me, but you have to be aware of this startup sequence.
If you don’t do it exactly the way stated above, you’ll either jam the holder deep into the machine or you will have the machine fighting