First of all Vista has some fatal flaw that should give anyone who is doing serious photography and image editing pause before upgrading to it. The main color management flaw is not likely to be fixed until the first Service Pack is issued and that's probably near a year away.

Second, I was never able to get a Minolta Scan Elite 5400 II to run on Vista using the Minolta driver issued with the scanner. However Lasersoft SilverFast Ai 6.5 will work with the scanner.

And third, if you can find a good 5400 II if eBay is any indication you will have to pay about $1100 for it.

Tks EFX or info. Are there third party agencies who produce drivers for products that become discontinued so that they function with software upgrades/new platforms etc.

Anyone used a Plustek 7200i to scan Kodachrome/BW Negs?
Comparison between the quality of 5400II and Plustek scans?
Where is it made?
Has not yet upgraded drivers to Vista?
Require a scanner that is equal to or better, not less than the scan quality of the 5400II.
Bob

Bob,

If you want a good driver that will produce professional grade scans with many better quality but discontinued scanners I recommend getting Lasersoft SilverFast Ai 6 software, available often in several levels and costs. Some use VueScan but I again tested their software recently and found it grossly inferior.

http://www.silverfast.com

I have just finished testing the Plustek 7200i. It is very good for a $399 scanner and is provided with a SilverFast driver and iSRD infrared auto dirt and scratch cleaner. Great results with color negative film scans, acceptable to good results with E-6 films, poor shadow detail with Kodachrome.

Minolta Scan Elite 5400 II remains the best consumer 35mm dedicated scanner that has been made and sold in the US. Send a letter to Sony to put it back in production!!!!.

Most scanners available today are manufactured in Taiwan.