Epson V500 - Buy Now or Wait for Sales?

<p>I have been researching film scanners for a while now, and was pretty set on the V500. I think its the best value for the money, especially for a cheap skate like me =P However, I have seen them as low as $99 w/ free shipping, but wasn't too confident on the online seller, they had good auction ratings, but there were quite a few complaints about the company.</p>

<p>Anyway, I see the V500 is going for just under $160 at B&H, and I think its a good deal, my only question is if I should go for it now, or wait and see if there are some more holiday sales (dare I say....Black Friday?)? Do scanners go on sale around the holidays? </p>

<p>I will be scanning a lot of 35mm, and I know flatbeds arnt suited for this, however I do have an RB67, and from what I see and read this is where the V500 can shine. </p>

<p>Another question, the extent of my photoshop knowledge is basically auto tone/color/contrast and USM...would a scan that was edited in this way be able to be printed FROM THE NEGATIVE and have the same look? I am just a bit worried that a scan from a negative will be edited to my liking, but would be able to be printed form the negitive to the same standards/look as my scan...</p>

<p>I picked up the V600 recently, refurbished, directly from Epson. I believe it has updated software and a few features the V500 does not have. It lists Digital ICE for film and for prints, where the V500 doesn't specify a difference.<br>

I don't think there is a big Black Friday market for scanners but, it's not much longer to wait.<br>

As for your last question... If you could get a hold of one of Ansel Adams' original negatives, scan it in, and see if you can do digitally what he did with the wet process, you could answer the question yourself. Otherwise, it will probably start another digital versus film debates.<br>

It can be done, but it is easier and cheaper from the scan.</p>

 

<p>I have an Epson V500,and I think it does a good job on scans where you print 67 negatives/positives up to as wide as I can go on my 13" wide printer. It does have Digital Ice, which is nice, but this doesn't work on traditional(silver based) black and white. You might look at the Epson clearance center online, they have refurbished ones there - I got mine from there and it works fine. They have sales sometimes, but I don't know what the schedules are.<br>

I don't like it for 35mm film - <br>

I'm not quite sure what you mean about having the same look - but if you start from a good negative I think you can get a pretty good scan.</p>

<p>I just checked amazon.com. They have an offer from Adorama for just under $152 with free shipping. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VG4AY0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d6_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0H619942933W6HYDB8TM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VG4AY0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d6_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0H619942933W6HYDB8TM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846</a></p>

<p>It pays to shop around from reputable dealers. Sometimes a firm like Adorama will have a lower price through Amazon than the price on their own Web Site. Go figure.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses! Brooks - yeah thats why I liked the B&H deal, but it seems Adorama is a few dollars cheaper even. I guess I am just worried about buying a V500 then deciding I want something better, like a V700 or even a dedicated film scanner, but for $152, it might be worth it. </p>

<p>As far as the "digital scan" looking the same as a "film print"...what I mean is if I were to scan a negative, auto tone/color/contrast, and USM it....and get it looking nice on my computer screen, then I decide I want a print of that image....I then take the NEGATIVE to my local pro lab and have a print made...will that print look like the photoshopped scan, will it be similar, or would my scan be too modified digitally - essentially changing the image from what it really is on the negative. I just thinking that since I wont have any prints of my film, just the negatives, the scanned negatives may or may not be what I would get in a print from my negatives.</p>

<p>Hi Aaron,</p>

<p>I have my 35mm color film developed only. I scan the negatives using a Nikon Coolscan V, and process them in Photoshop. I have them printed at Costco. Why Costco? They profile their printers and publish the profiles. My prints look like the scans on the screen.</p>

<p>The bad news - Photoshop Elements will not convert to arbitrary profiles; you need full Photoshop to do that. Without the ability to convert to the printer profile, you can get close most of the time, but not exact. As for taking the negative to a lab and having it printed, the quality of the print depends upon the quality of the operator.</p>

 

<p>Thanks again Brooks, but I am a photoshop noob, and I dont really know what profiles are, or curves, or how to use them. It sounds as if you match your digital scans to the costo printer so that you get more accurate prints, is this right? I do have CS4 tho, just never got much past auto color and USM really =P</p>

<p>Since I am considering the V500 for scanning, I wanted to avoid printing from the scans, since the scans would not match up to a Nikon dedicated film scanner, but it wouldnt hurt to try, esp. with Costco's prices. Now I am just wondering if there will be any holiday sales with someone selling the V500 for $100 or less in the next month or two haha. Thanks again for all the responses. </p>

<p>Photoshop is a great program. I recommend you get a few books, so you can start to use some more of the features. You paid for them; it's time to start using them. You can start here to lean the basics of color management:<br>

<a href="http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/color_management.htm">http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/color_management.htm</a></p>

<p>You can think of profiles as color correction files. Your computer specifies a certain shade of a color, but the monitor dispalys a slightly different shade. In the case of a monitor, I use the Spyder 3 system to profile the monitor. The Spyder program tells the computer to display a shade; the Spyder sensor reads the color actually displayed. The program then generates a correction. The program displays another color and the sensor reports the color displayed. The program takes all the readings and builds a correction table which is loaded into your display card which makes corrections on the fly. Profiling a printer is the same except the sensor used to read the printed out is different and you apply the correction table by Converting to Profile in Photoshop. You download the profile for the printer you will use (for Costco you get them from <a href="http://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/">http://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/</a> ), install the profile on your computer, then open Photoshop, Open your image and in Photoshop click on<br>

EDIT > CONVERT TO PROFILE . Select the profile for the printer you will use. Save the image as a JPEG and upload it to Costco. Be sure to select NO AUTOCORRECT on the Costco site when you order your prints. Be sure to use CONVERT TO PROFILE not ASSIGN PROFILE. The two are entirely different functions.</p>

<p>Happy reading and experimenting. You will find that Photoshop can be addictive. Don't be afraid to get started or intimidated by the program. You do not need to use all of it or even half of it. As long as you have a backup of the image you are using in Photoshop, you cannot hurt or lose anything. It's only bits.</p>

<p>As for a valid sub-$100 V500 new, I doubt it. But prices will get better as you get near the Holiday Season. Me, I think I buy myself a V600 for Hanukkah.</p>

<p>Best of luck with the scanning and Photoshop.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I've been very satisfied with the V600. It does take a bit of experimenting to find the right scan setting for negatives, but I've since scanned 35mm, 6x6, 6x4.5, and 6x9 negatives using the included adapters. By turning off the thumbnail in the preview I can even scan half frame 35 and get good results.</p>

<p>Re "As for a valid sub-$100 V500 new, I doubt it."</p>

<p>Here I bought a V500 "on sale" at Office Depot on their "fire sale" table. That was 3 ? years ago; it was about 90 bucks and was a floor model.</p>

<p>I have bought 6+ different Epsons like this from them; thus the purchase was not risky. They have the software; holders and cables in a pouch that was never kept on the floor. I also bought an Epson 1250U, Epson 1250, Epson 2450, a 3200 and 4800 dpi ; iand a 600 dpi unit 12 years ago too.</p>

<p>In all cases my cost was less than any mailorder place; even with sales taxes; or even an Epson refurb.</p>

<p>The biggest risk is that one gets all the goodies; ie power supply; holders. Sometimes they further drop the price at the checkout; or even more if there is no software, which one can download anyway.</p>

<p>Once I got one way discounted because they had no holders; which did not matter since I already had the same exact model; and just wanted a spare.</p>

<p>UPDATE: I just noticed at B&H they have $30 instant savings (through 10/31/10) on the v500 with free shipping, total comes out to $124.95. For a brand new unit, thats cheaper than the referb one on Epsons website. The v600 is $169 at B&H, I dont think the v600 has any added features other than ICE for prints and a different holder, which I dont think is worth an extra $45. Plus I have read that there is no real difference in scan quality between the two. Could put that extra $ towards a better scanning holder/ANR glass.</p>

<p>Looks like waiting a few weeks paid off I am going to order a v500 today =]</p>