Flatbed Scanner Reviews

[another view]

One of these days I'll get my 35mm neg scanner back up and running, but at some point I might try a medium format camera again - or even a 4x5. I took a look for flatbed scanner reviews and didn't find much. Any recommendations on something decent that will do 4x5 - figuring if I were to have a good sized print made it would be sent out anyway?

And if you do have a recommendation, how about doing a review on it? :thumbsup:

[Xia_Ke]

Well, mine doesn't do 4x5 but, if you want to do medium format, I don't think you can beat the Epson 4490 Photo Scanner. Scans up to 4800dpi, has ICE, and it's only $98.10 with free shipping right now if you buy it refurnished direct from Epson's website. Comes with 1 year warranty too :thumbsup:

[walterick]

Yes, I have the Epson 4990. It is excellent. All of the film pics you've seen from me in the past 2 years have been direct 35mm/120 film scans from the flatbed 4990. It also does 4x5 and 8x10, though I haven't tried either yet. I paid over $500 for this maching so to hear that it is only $100 now is a little unnerving Can't recommend highly enough. The only reason I haven't reviewed it yet is I have been wanting to make 8x10 prints from a 35mm slide scan and look at the results, and just haven't done it yet.

[Xia_Ke]

Yes, I have the Epson 4990. It is excellent. All of the film pics you've seen from me in the past 2 years have been direct 35mm/120 film scans from the flatbed 4990. It also does 4x5 and 8x10, though I haven't tried either yet. I paid over $500 for this maching so to hear that it is only $100 now is a little unnerving ...

Don't be unnerved, I have the 4490, not the 4990 :thumbsup:

[reverberation]

I have a Canoscan 4400F. I get 3600 x 2400 pixel scans from my film. The problem I have is that old film freshly developed seems to curl waay worse than fresh film developed ever did. Dust still mocks my life. I think the devil is made of dust. Insubstantial but so annoying. The most common corrections I make to my scans are for dust and hair. Most of the time tha is all I do besides the size change.

[walterick]

Ah, read too fast. That makes me feel better

[GB1]

I paid over $500 for this maching so to hear that it is only $100 now is a little unnerving

Don't feel too badly - I paid about 2k for my Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 (!) :aureola: I like it a lot though.

[Orgnoi1]

I have been running a Canon CanoScan 8400F for a while now... it does 35mm and medium format... but no 4x5 which since I bought a 4x5 camera kinda sucks... but I also havent used that camera enough to justify another purchase *yet*... the Canon 8400F went for around $130 when I bought it but its about 2 models old now...

Here are a couple Agfa Scala scans...

35mm:
http://nerrphoto.fotopic.net/p45653474.html

Medium Format:
http://nerrphoto.fotopic.net/p45653467.html

[another view]

Thanks for the replies, where my brain is headed now (frightening thought, isn't it?) I need to stick with something that'll do 4x5 fairly well. Looks like that will mean a 4990 or newer V750. I'd love to go for a Coolscan 9000 but have a few other purchases to think about so that one's out for now.

Lots of deals on the Epson site right now but nothing on the V750 other than free shipping. Ooooooh - that'll make me jump!

[Xia_Ke]

a_v have you checked out the Epson V700? Same as the V750 except it doesn't have the big software bundle. Several of the reviews I read on the V750 said the software wasn't worth the extra price. I'm assuming you already have Photoshop, so I would just opt for the V700 to begin with. If you want better scanning software, you can always get the new version of VueScan. The V700 is only $499.95 from NewEgg and the Professional version of VueScan is only $79.95.

[another view]

Great - thanks for the info. Haven't done much research on it but I did see both of them at Epson's site and wasn't quite sure what the difference was just yet. I think they did the same thing with the 4990 but they called it the same number, one more software. V700 + VueScan will be it.

I'm working on the camera first because it'll take awhile before I have anything worth scanning!

[Xia_Ke]

I'm sure you won't have any problems coming up with shots worth scanning :thumbsup:

[beverly_k]

nice read.