I Just Got Me a Film Camera

[Jorgen Udvang]

Here's a reviewer that, apart from writing a good review, goes through a lot of factors that influence the scan quality of a V700/750:

EPSON V700 review

 

[GaryAyala]

Gary, I have a V750. It works well. Film curl is a bit of a pain, but nothing that can't be cured with a flat heavy book. I did buy a third party medium-format holder. Knowing how to run the software is important and setting up the scan right. Then you make the final image in Photoshop. The scans can basically be printed to any size you want. I would not worry about this scanner not making good scans. Sure, there are better, just like there are better bank accounts than mine...

Thanks Shashin. I'm quite please with the Plustek I have for 35mm. It probably makes sense to go for the 120 Plustek if the workflow is quicker and easier. Nice to know that the v700 - v850 works well also. For me if the difference can only be seen on a computer ... then there isn't any difference at all.

 

[GaryAyala]

Here's a reviewer that, apart from writing a good review, goes through a lot of factors that influence the scan quality of a V700/750:

EPSON V700 review

Thanks Jorgen. I'll check it out.

 

[Mammy645]

What I like about the Epson is the cost is about equal to 43 rolls of custom lab processing and a medium scan. If figure that 43 rolls is about a year of shooting. The Plustek extends my break-even point to two years.

I'm not sure I'll like the camera that much.

Why were you unimpressed? What the difference between the two? Could the difference be easily corrected/compensated in PhotoShop? Up to a 16x20 is there a significant difference in quality?

Gary

PS- Happy Thanksgiving.
G

I found it lacking in resolution and sharpness. For small prints it's ok, but it can't hold a candle to dedicated film scanners. You might be happy with it, or like me you might get frustrated knowing the negatives are capable of so much more than the scanner can handle. Either way, have a couple of good labs scan the film for you before you decide, it will give you time to reflect on your needs, and it will give you a good baseline to compare with once you scan them yourself.

 

[Shashin]

I found it lacking in resolution and sharpness. For small prints it's ok, but it can't hold a candle to dedicated film scanners.

That is odd. Did you adjust your film holders? I also have a Nikon LS 9000 medium-format film scanner, and while it is a bit better, it is not that much better.

 

[Mammy645]

That is odd. Did you adjust your film holders? I also have a Nikon LS 9000 medium-format film scanner, and while it is a bit better, it is not that much better.

Sure did, I performed pretty much every test and adjustment imaginable to get the best out of the Epson over a period of a year or so, but finally sold as it didn't deliver the results I was after. I'm a bit surprised you think the Nikon and the Epson are in the same league, it's pretty common knowledge that the LS9000 has almost twice the actual resolution of the Epson, maybe there's something wrong with yours?

 

[Shashin]

Sure did, I performed pretty much every test and adjustment imaginable to get the best out of the Epson over a period of a year or so, but finally sold as it didn't deliver the results I was after. I'm a bit surprised you think the Nikon and the Epson are in the same league, it's pretty common knowledge that the LS9000 has almost twice the actual resolution of the Epson, maybe there's something wrong with yours?

Mine is fine.

 

[Mammy645]

Mine is fine.

If you think they are comparable why wouldn't you sell the Nikon? At least before the Plustek 120 they used to fetch insane prices on eBay, haven't really looked lately though.

 

[Shashin]

If you think they are comparable why wouldn't you sell the Nikon? At least before the Plustek 120 they used to fetch insane prices on eBay, haven't really looked lately though.

Because it is part of the equipment in my imaging center. Actually, it might be illegal to sell.

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Sure did, I performed pretty much every test and adjustment imaginable to get the best out of the Epson over a period of a year or so, but finally sold as it didn't deliver the results I was after. I'm a bit surprised you think the Nikon and the Epson are in the same league, it's pretty common knowledge that the LS9000 has almost twice the actual resolution of the Epson, maybe there's something wrong with yours?

The Epson requires different post processing from the Nikon. The Nikon is still better, but not nearly twice as good. I've seen some very impressive results from the V700.

The prices of the Nikon seem to have fallen lately, now hovering between $2,500 and 4,000, and they should. Good alternatives like the Plustek and the Braun have appeared at around $2,000 and nobody knows for how long parts will be available for the LS 9000.

 

[250swb]

A long time ago I decided that I wasn't looking at the same thing in comparing my Minolta Multi Pro (Nikon 9000 equiv.) scans with those from the Epson V700.

I always got the impression that while the Multi Pro was very sharp it was also scanning a layer of grain and not the depth of grain, unlike the V700. And while the V700 isn't as sharp, it does to my mind represent the film more accurately. This can cause confusion because some films do scan better than others anyway, but generally I like the 'deeper' scans of the V700 and just pay more attention to micro contrast and careful sharpening.

I'm happy to report that the Plustek 120 seems to be the best of both worlds, representing the grain beautifully and being much sharper than the V700 (even better than the Multi Pro).

Steve

 

[GaryAyala]

I want to thank everybody for posting and helping me out. I have repeatedly read every post and researching my options. I have found all this information invaluable.

Thank You,
Gary

PS- Keeping 'em coming.

G

 

[MikalWGrass]

The price for the Nikon Coolscan ranges that high? It may be time for me to eschew film all together, get rid of the M6, and then sell the Coolscan 9000. Nah. Love film too much.

 

[GaryAyala]

First attempt. While I am not very happy with the results, I realize that I am very low on the scanning learning curve.

#1

Fujifilm 680III w/ Tri-X @ ASA 400 scanned with the Epson v850.

Gary

 

[Mammy645]

Yeah, that doesn't look right at all, way too contrasty and lacking in detail.

 

[GaryAyala]

I think I need to play with exposure/development to get a neg that will behave well with SilverFast. I gotta get a spot meter.

 

[Mammy645]

Have you figured out if the problem is with the negative or with your scanning process? If not, have a pro lab scan it for you. That way you know where to start troubleshooting. It's pretty hard to mess up the exposure itself, especially with B&W film.

 

[chrism]

Any progress, Gary? I'm sure I'm not the only one looking forward to seeing what you can do with the 680!

Chris

 

[mathomas]

I found Silverfast a pain to work with. I moved over to VueScan. That may or may not fix your issue, since picking the right profile and basic scanning settings is really important (I just found it easier with VueScan). Unfortunately, that's more software to buy and maintain.

Anyway, I think I landed on actually doing a color neg scan even on B&W film. I can't remember what specific settings, but what I always went for was a very flat scan that I could then "pump up" in PP. In other words, don't try to make your scan come out perfect -- leave that for the tools that are good for that purpose, like Photoshop, Nik Silver Efex, etc.

 

[Shashin]

First attempt. While I am not very happy with the results, I realize that I am very low on the scanning learning curve.

#1

Fujifilm 680III w/ Tri-X @ ASA 400 scanned with the Epson v850.

Gary

Work in curves or levels to get the scanner to get the entire negative density range--look at both the input and output range sliders in levels. It may look a bit flat in the scanner, but if you are scanning in 16-bit, you should have plenty of information to get it looking nice in Photoshop or wherever you are processing this. In scanning you are really looking at optimizing the information out of the film and then finishing in post.