I did not, but Roger Smith has. He went to a Minolta Dual Scan II.
Rather than try to speak for him, perhaps he will comment if he is around.
I can tell you that Roger showed me some comparison scans. The main
areas I saw for improvement were:
Cleaner shadows with more detail, helped by Vuescan long scan provision.
Overall more detail.
Increased problems with surface defects and grain.
Personally, as an owner of the Minolta Dual II, I would not suggest this
upgrade path. Depending upon your budget, you might consider the Canon
FS 4000. Another person on this list did buy a FS4000 (Howard). He can
also speak for himself.
In our correspondence, his complaints were that he was unhappy with the
shadow noise, didn't like the Canon software (since updated and somewhat
improved), and found the scanner slow.
I saw some of his sample scans, and it is a definite move up from the
FS2710, and also has an IR cleaning program.
Howard ultimately moved to a Polaroid SS4000+, which is a scanner I also
have used.
To me, the SS4000+ is one of the best compromises, as all scanners are.
It is more costly than the FS4000, by a fair amount (at least it was,
possibly prices are down). It doesn't have an IR cleaning hardware (has
a software process that is good, but not up to what ICE can do, and it
is still not ported to Mac) but is also less required due to the
diffused lighting. It is also the same basic unit as sold as the
Microtek 4000tf. The firewire connection is very fast.
For a lower price, and slightly less clean shadows, but otherwise a very
good machine, consider the SS4000 (rumors have it limited quantities
have become available as used refurbs with full Polaroid warranties and
Silverfast 5.5 at a fair price) or if you are not comfortable with
Polaroid, consider Microtek's 4000t, which is the same model, which may
still be available new in some places. The SCSI II connection is not as
fast as the Firewire, but is still no slouch.
I have not used Nikon scanners, which I suppose are your only other
options as an upgrade. There is the Coolscan IV (LS40) which is 2900
dpi or the LS-4000 which is 4000 dpi. These are the more costly models.
They do have IR cleaning, and several other "features", which some
people call defects and others call things to be worked around.
Primefilm has a new 3600 dpi scanner, and also made the Kodak RF 3600
(also 3600 dpi). Neither seems to have made a major impact in the
market, so far. I understand the main complaint with the Kodak was
software which has been updated.
Art
Ken Durling wrote:
> I'm curious if there are list members who made the step to upgrade
> from the FS2710 and to what. I'm overall quite pleased with the 2710,
> and feel that I've put in a lot of time learning how to get the most
> from it. I'm sure others probably experienced the same thing.
>
> I'm interested to know what exactly, but empirically, you noticed
> different after the upgrade. Did anyone go from the 2710 to the 4000?
>
> The area I'd most like to see improvement in is shadow noise, but an
> overall higher resolution sounds attractive, notwithstanding the
> larger files. I'm curious how much real-world difference this higher
> res makes, and in what circumstances it's most noticeable.
>
> I'd also like batch scanning, but that's a seperate question.
>
> Thanks for your time.
>
>
> Ken Durling
>
> Visit my new easier-to-browse PhotoSIG portfolio:
>
>
>
>
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