Is Agfa DuoScan T2500 worth the trouble?

[Lenrick]

Hey

I might get my hands on an old (15-20 years?) Agfa DuoScan T2500 scanner. It has not been in use for many years and no one knows if it is working properly. Since it use SCSI interface (and not USB or firewire) I need to buy a SCSI card just to try if it works. Does anyone here have an oppinion if it is worth the trouble, or shuld I just buy a new scanner?

It seems like a very nice machine, and I guess it would work with VueScan.

Thanks
/Filip

[Corran]

What OS are you running?

I would say if it's in working shape and you can get it to run on your machine, it's absolutely worth it. Mine is so much better, and faster, than the Epson offerings, and similarly better than the Microtek M1 I picked up to replace it, since it wouldn't work on my Win7 64bit machine anymore.

Its biggest issue is lines on the scan from dust on the sensor. Someone posted an excellent how-to on cleaning it so if you need to give it a good cleaning I can find that and link it.

[Peter De Smidt]

I have a manual and the film holders. I bought a used T2500 years ago, but there was a problem with the main board, and it would've been too expensive to fix. As a result, I junked it. Let me know if you'd want me to ship them to you.

[Lenrick]

Corran:
What OS, hardware and such would you recommend? I think I can get the computer guy at work to help me put together a computer just to run the scanner, using parts not in use anymore.

Also, what SCSI-card would you recommend? I need to buy one of those.

If you can find that link, it will probably come in handy.

Peter J. De Smidt:
Thanks, it is good to know that there are some spare parts out there. At the moment I have everything I need, but thanks.

[Corran]

Here is that link:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?94950-How-Good-are-the-Microtek-Scanners&p=933127&viewfull=1#post933127

Mine ran beautifully with an old Win XP box with 4GB of RAM, with a PCI card to add SCSI. I honestly could not tell you which SCSI card I put in that computer. I need to pull it out of my current machine, as it doesn't work in it, and sell the scanner and everything. If you were in the USA I would offer it to you but it would be cost-prohibitive to send it overseas due to the weight I would expect.

...Now that I think about it, it MIGHT have been an Adaptec 2906. But maybe not. There are some old threads about this scanner here that I researched to get the card, but still ended up buying several cards trying to find the right thing.

[Tyler Boley]

I loved mine, problem was software and New OSs. Finally scrapped it... great scanner though

[Lenrick]

I just did the first test scan on the Agfa DuoScan T2500, and it works beautifully. I have it connected to an old computer running Windows XP which is only used for operating the scanner; when I'm done scanning I simply transfer the files to my iMac for image processing.

You can tell the scanner is old, the rubber feet are hardened and broken, but they still keep the springs in place though, so thats ok. Moneywise: I spent $80 (USD) on the VueScan Pro but thats it, everything else was either a gift or on loan (indefinitely). Not bad for a good scanner.

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions

[Peter De Smidt]

I'm glad it's working out ok!

[Rowat]

@Lenrick. I got mine working under Win7 64 using an Adaptec SCSI Card 29160N. Adaptec has drivers for this card in Win7 and the card itself I found on ebay for $20. Post here: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?26151-Agfa-DuoScan-Which-PCI-SCSI-Card/page5&highlight=agfa+t2500