Currently I have a HP Photosmart (SCSI version) scanner that I have been using for my negs mostly. I'm looking for users who has used both the Photosmart and the LS-30 (not LS-2000) in the past or current so I know what their feeling is about the LS-30.

Here's the current issue I have with my Photosmart: It does great with negative scans, but what I want to know is that does the LS-30 perform much better in contrast and density in the slides? I have not dealt much with slides but they seem darker than usual with lack of detail when scanned on the Photosmart. Will the LS-30 perform much better?

-- Keat Lim (keatlim@my-deja.com), August 17, 2000

Answers

actually i just checked on the price of the minolta dimage elite (which also has the digital ice feature that i really want) for about 200 dollars more only... is there any major features on the ls-30 that the minolta does not have? so far it performs better with a greater dmax rating, seems to look great on the reviews from IR. what about the trays for the neg strips?

-- keatlim (keatlim@my-deja.com), August 17, 2000.

The LS30 will scan your slides better than a photosmart, no doubt about that, but i don't think it is good enough. I read this article a while back from a guy somewhere on the internet, who wrote on slide scanning with filmscanners, his conclusion was that all the midrange scanners were not really scanning slides very well the dark parts, read contrasts are simply to difficult for the ccd's.

The difference between the LS30 and Dimage Scan Elite is in the bit depth the LS 30 is 10bit rgb and the Minolta is 12bit rgb, this means that the Minolta should be the better slide scanner. In the dark parts you really need the 12bit scanners, supposing they work right.

Secondly i'am not sure if the the upgrade from a photosmart to a LS30 is worth it, i would probably choose the Minolta, anyhow i upgraded to a LS2000, and could not be happier since.

If you are really into scanning save a little bit longer and buy a LS2000, you will not regret it.

Xander

-- xander (xanni@zeelandnet.nl), August 18, 2000.

The specs for the minolta are similar to the ls200 except for the bulk film loader. Multi-pass sampling is a really important feature for getting the most shadow detail out of the slide as it does wonders in getting rid of shadow noise. Another scanner that is not too bad is the canoscan 2710 except that it lacks the digital ice of the elite and nikon scanners. If you use the vuescan software every scanner except the photosmart allows multipass scanning

-- Jonathan Ratzlaff (jonathanr@clrtech.com), August 18, 2000.