Epson

Hello, I apologize in advance if this question has already been answered in

one way or another. I have a lot of 120 645 negatives that I would like to

archive. I know there is a lot of information about scanning and scanners on

the forum, and I've been trying to slowly educate myself. My question is

this. I've been using a lab to scan my negatives, without knowing much about

what I was doing. All I knew was that I was getting the "high-quality" scans

on a Noritsu dedicated scanner. I've been considering purchasing a used Epson

scanner, something affordable like one of the 4XXX models (preferably 4180 or

4490) for scans that I could use for proofs at home. These seemed to be the

most affordable/most referred. I'm not really interested in spending the

money for a dedicated scanner, so I thought I'd send in my favorite negatives

a few at a time to the lab, and collect them over time. As I've been reading

up though, I realize now that the lab was sending me 24 bit, 72 DPI, 15-20 MB

files, for about 2 dollars, which are low resolution and not really the high

quality that I thought they were. And, if I understand correctly, good

archival scans which could later be used for enlargements, are more around 100

MB and 20-30 dollars on average.

 

So, again, I'm a little embarrassed by my ignorance here. I know there are

limitations to purchasing a flatbed scanner, and I know that a dedicated

scanner gives better quality than a flatbed scanner. But am I right to assume

that if I purchase a used flatbed scanner for producing large (100mb) 300 DPI

files, that the scans will still be much more appropriate for archiving and

enlargements than the 15 MB dedicated scans that I've been getting from the

lab?

 

I know this is probably a no-duh question. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't

missing something.

 

Thanx!

- Scott

AnEpson 4990 is a good choice. what you want to be concerned about is the total number of pixels high by the total number oof pixels wide notthe ppi (which what you mean by dpi) number. To makeit easy on me I'm goign to assume a square format. An image that is 3600 x 3600 pixels wide is either 10" x 10' at 360ppi, 12" x 12" wide at 300ppi, or 50" x 50" wide at 72ppi, but the amount of information in the scan is still the same --all youare doing is changing the scale. here's another another analogy: 1 yard = 3 feet = 36 inches.

 

File size in megabytes can also mislead you but in a different way. A 16 bit per channel (48 bits) digital image will be twice as large a file in as measured in megabytes as an 8 bpc, but going with a 16bpc bit depth only makes sense if you are creating the scan using a moderately large (Adobe RGB(1998)) or a large (Pro Photo) color space.

 

The best thing you can do with any scanner but especially flat bed types is to ensure that the film is held flat and in the exact plane of focus for that individual scanner.

Well, durrr, I guess that does make sense. I don't understand why the file properties in Windows said 72 dpi. But height and width were 5810 and 4648 pixels, so if understand, then these would probably make enlargements up to 16x20 (290 ppi). Does that sound right?

 

Thanx for your help!

Yes, it does. 290ppi is a respectable resolution. You can drop to 200ppi with a good continuous-tone printer before reaching the threshold of softness.

I know that you said that you didn't want to buy a dedicated scanner, but have you considered the V700 flatbed from Epson? It's around $500 new, and produces _excellent_ scans - probably better than any other flatbed out there, and better than many 'dedicated' film scanners at twice the price (IMO). To be honest, I've found that I get a lot better quality out of it than I did w/ "professional" scans, primarily b/c I could tweak and re-scan to my heart's desire. You'd spend over $500 real fast doing "professional" scans of your images at a shop. If you really want an oil scan, the 750 also does fluid scanning - although for a lot more.

 

!c

Scott: Results of a similar undertaking as yours are shown in http://www.wetmounting.com/Scans3-BW.html

 

These scans were made by fluid scanning on the Epson 4990. Fluid scanning can be done on the V700 as well as the V750 and for that fact any flatbed scanner. Users seeking professional results use fluid scanning but opt out of the basic gadget provided with the V750.

Julio

www.scanscience.com