Lars
Active member
The simpler flatbeds usually have a 45-degree mirror under the scan light path, and a fairly simple lens group in front of the sensor. The sensor strip usually is about 2 inches wide or so....I don't even know what kind of lens is used in the V750 or if there is even one :ROTFL: ... the Imacon/Hasselblad scanners use Rodenstock lenses by comparison....
-Marc
One of several major problems with scanning film on a flatbed is that the light source covers the entire width of the flatbed so there is a lot of light bouncing around.
Another problem is cooling - usually the scan mechanism sits in an unventilated box under the glass - to keep dust out. This means that the box heats up over time. My Microtek 1800f was (is) particularly bad in this respect - scanning an 8x10" transparency at high resolution with multi-sampling yielded a bright green blackpoint towards the end of the 1-hour scan. This is of course less of a problem with a shorter scan time for a MF scan, but it's a good idea to keep the scanner ventilated if working with it for several hours.
Another issue - especially with Epson scanners, it seems - is softness. As several posters above have commented, Epsons never seem to deliver nominal optical resolution in the final scan. Set your expectations accordingly.
An upside with the V700 series (and many other scanners) is that wetmounting is really easy and should be considered if scanning images with high density.
It can also be worth the effort to do some custom masking using black tape, to minimize stray light.