Robert, The Dual III has good dynamic range and generally it copes very well with most slides. I've scanned several brands and always got the entire range from the deepest shadows to the lightest highlights, especially if you use it's 16 bit linear colour profile. The same goes for b/w negatives - the tone range is entirely covered. On the other hand the bundled Twain driver performs so poorly with colour negative films down to the point of being almost unusable. You'll have to recourse to a third party for these. The sharpness is excellent, the focus control as well. Of course if you can afford go for the Elite as the IR channel boosts a lot the productivity (the software de-speck in Dual III driver is useless for large enlargements). As for the Dual IV it seems it only brings 3200 dpi vs. 2800. Good luck to your friend.
Servus, Alin Robert wrote: RLW> I have a friend shopping for a film scanner. He has narrrowed his search to RLW> two offerings from Minolta: RLW> DiMage Scan Dual III RLW> DiMage Scan Elite 5400 RLW> Any firsthand use/opinions from list members??? RLW> I have read photographyreview.com. RLW> The 5400 gets a 4.8 with 5 ratings.
