Minolta Introduces DiMAGE Scan Elite II Film Scanner for 35mm and APS

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (September 25, 2001) - Minolta Corporation introduces at Seybold 2001 today the new Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite II film scanner. Easy enough for amateurs to use yet powerful enough to please demanding advanced amateurs and professionals, the new DiMAGE Scan Elite II provides an economical and versatile way to scan, digitize and quickly restore 35mm and Advanced Photo System (APS) film.

The new Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite II is a multi-format dual interface (USB and IEEE 1394 "FireWire"), compact film scanner featuring high-resolution 2,820 dpi scans with 16-bit A/D conversion and a 4.8 dynamic range that accurately preserves subtle tones and details in scanned images.

"The new DiMAGE Scan Elite II builds upon the success of its predecessor, the Dimâge Scan Elite, by adding features that we know our customers want," said Jon Sienkiewicz, vice president, digital imaging products, Minolta Corporation's Consumer Products Group. "By incorporating ASF's Digital ICE3 technology into a high-quality, high resolution Minolta film Scanner, the DiMAGE Scan Elite II provides the superior level of scanning accuracy and quality required for a variety of applications."

Designed for both novices and advanced users, the user-friendly DiMAGE Scan Elite II driver software offers flexible scanning control. Minolta's Easy Scan Utility will allow new users to fully automate the scanning process, while advanced image manipulations can be achieved step by step. And users at all levels will appreciate the bundled Adobe Photoshop Elements software.

With Applied Science Fiction's Digital ICE3 (pronounced Digital ICE "cubed") technology incorporated in the Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite II, users save time and money by producing professional-quality images without resorting to time-consuming digital retouching, or by hiring outside digital service bureaus. This technology eliminates scratches on photographic film or slides, restores faded colors and improves on a photograph's overall appearance by minimizing grain, quickly and automatically, during the scanning process, saving hours of manual work.

And speaking of Minolta DiMAGE film scanners, our friends over at Imaging-Resource have just posted their Minolta DiMAGE Scan Multi Pro review. This is Minolta's top of the line film scanner and handles 35mm, APS and Medium format. Dave concluded:

"The previous Dimage Scan Multi model offered the capability to scan a variety of film formats, but suffered from reduced resolution when scanning medium-format film. The new Dimage Scan Multi Pro totally eliminates that limitation, and in fact sports the highest resolution we've yet seen on a desktop scanner. At the same time, Minolta has greatly improved the electronics and made incremental enhancements to the scanning software. The net result is an exceptionally powerful scanner that is capable, fast, and easy to use. Image quality is first rate in every respect: This is a scanner that takes a back seat to no one in image quality..."