which epson to buy

<p>I own a Plustek 35mm scanner, but recently getting into MF. I want to go out tonight to buy a flatbed scanner so that I can scan my MF negatives, both color and black and white. Enthusiastic hobbyist, will be unlikely printing greater than 8X10 or 11X14 or so, ever. Question: is the Epson 4490 enough for me, or should I cough up an additional $75 for the V500. It looks like the only difference, as far as I can tell, is scan resolution, correct? Thanks.</p>

 

<p>I just bought the V500 a few days ago, but haven't had a chance to develop some medium format film yet. I've scanned in one roll of 35mm, and am happy with it since I don't have the budget at the moment for a good dedicated 35mm scanner. The major difference I think is that the V500 uses an LED lamp, which doesn't require a warm-up period so it scans faster, other than that I think they are almost identical. I bought mine refurbished for epson for $135 with free shipping. It came with everything with the box if you want to save some money, they probably have the 4490 for even cheaper.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?oid=63076139&ref=r0302DRGPH">http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?oid=63076139&ref=r0302DRGPH</a><br>

Here's a link to photos from my first try with the 35mm, I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of results I can get with medium format film this weekend.<br>

<img src="file:///C:/Users/Trevor/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /><br>

<a href="http://trevormartin.smugmug.com/gallery/9191319_njRRZ">http://trevormartin.smugmug.com/gallery/9191319_njRRZ</a></p>

 

<p>I don't know about V500 but I do know 4490 is as good or better than my 3200, which with focusing carrier from <a href="http://www.betterscanning.com">www.betterscanning.com</a> resolves as well as an enlarger from 120, certainly larger than 11X14. A studio professional told me his 4490 is plenty good with standard carriers for 11X14, maybe larger from 120, for routine purposes (ie maybe he'd have a drum scan done if he planned to print bigger). </p>

<p>Trevor - scans and images look impressive. One question - there appears to be a flare/reflection in the lower left of each horizontal image [upper left for verticals]. Is that a consistent fault in the negatives or is that scanner based?</p>

<p>The V500 is an excellent scanner. It's a current model. And, cheap at $170 at Amazon in the US. Beware, the resolution on these flatbed scanners is roughly 2000 dpi, not the quoted 6400 dpi "optical" resolution. In my experiments, I'm getting 120 scans with roughly 1800 dpi or 3600 LW/PH. I think the image quality is roughly equivalent to a 4000 dpi Coolscan V scan of 35mm or to a 10 MPx DSLR. These scans should produce good 8x10 or a little larger. To get a lot better image quality, in my opinion, you'll need a much better scan. Facing your choice, also new to MF, I bought the V500.</p>

<p>The problem with the so-called optical resolution is that they just quote the pixel pitch of the pixels on the CIS sensor, but omit to mention that the optics in front of the sensor are just not very good, fixed-focus lenses at best, pinholes at worst, and certainly no match for a Coolscan 9000. I don't see the point of scanning beyond 1600dpi on my V500.</p>