Epson V800

Does anyone here have an Epson V800 scanner with the "new" 3 Row adjustable glass negative holders. Have you found any difference between the steps on the adjustable sliders?

I would be interested in your experiences.

 

Cheers

Greg

I've left the sliders on the middle(default) position and it has worked pretty ok for me. I remember testing it out and the default position was ok if you have flat negatives.

I've had some negatives that were quite bent due to old age and there adjusting the sliders has helped. The problem is that you either have the middle or the corners of the negative in perfect focus. My five cents worth.

 

Best regards,

Linus

Thanks for your reply Linus.

 

I don't see a lot of difference between the settings. I'm not doing anything critical, just scanning happy snappies from before scanners were cheap enough and good enough to scan negs. I leave the settings on the default second from right (the setting next to the arrow mark). If I were to critically scan I would take the time to compare the settings at a much higher resolution. In the interest of time saving I am now using the non-adjustable V750 4 strip neg holder.

 

Cheers

I got the V800 3-row holder for my V750 because I had some wickedly curled negatives that had spent 50 years in a film can! Really helped get sharper results. But of course the extra surfaces require better "dust hygiene." Also, it's anti-Newton plastic, not anti-Newton glass, so be very careful not to scratch it! I store mine in a quilted bag.

 

I also have a Better Scanning adjustable film holder for my V750, which I use for 127, 116, and 122 size negatives. Doing the fine adjustment definitely had visible results. Focused correctly it resolved grain on old Verichrome and Verichrome Pan negatives. But I scanned at 2400 dpi to do the fine adjustment.

 

The differences might be much harder to see on color negative film. The dye clouds aren't as sharp as silver grain. So snap some Tri-X in to calibrate.

I don't see a lot of difference between the settings.

 

There will be a difference. I did a test while scanning some slides and the sharpest focus was the second notch from the top of the slider ramp, which means the film holder lowered a little towards the scanner glass. I've yet to test the other holders but from the scans I've done so far, the middle notch on each holder seems ok. The trick for testing is to use a neg that has an image that is in sharp focus, using an image that is already slightly fuzzy, with camera shake or slightly out of focus, will reduce your chances of a successful test. A word of warning, the sliders can be accidentally moved while handing and storing the holders. Before each use, check their position

Thanks John & kmac for your replies.

I put a strip of Adox CMS20 in the middle strip. The results are as predicted. Position 4 being the sharpest. Thanks for the heads up about the ANR plastic. I will take care of the holder to prevent any scratches. None so far. Yes those sliders do move around just loading and unloading, so I have gotten into the habit of checking before each scan.

It has been said that a film scanner will out perform a flatbed scanner. I scanned the same frames in my Nikon Coolscan IV. Its streets ahead.

Yes, my Coolscan V smokes my Epson V750 PRO. But it doesn't scan anything larger than 35mm film.

 

Only time I used Epson for 35mm was film shot in a Univex Mercury II, which is "not exactly" half-frame. Just too tedious to scan with the Coolscan strip film holder.

I got the V800 3-row holder for my V750 because I had some wickedly curled negatives that had spent 50 years in a film can! Really helped get sharper results. But of course the extra surfaces require better "dust hygiene." Also, it's anti-Newton plastic, not anti-Newton glass, so be very careful not to scratch it! I store mine in a quilted bag.

 

I also have a Better Scanning adjustable film holder for my V750, which I use for 127, 116, and 122 size negatives. Doing the fine adjustment definitely had visible results. Focused correctly it resolved grain on old Verichrome and Verichrome Pan negatives. But I scanned at 2400 dpi to do the fine adjustment.

 

The differences might be much harder to see on color negative film. The dye clouds aren't as sharp as silver grain. So snap some Tri-X in to calibrate.

 

Thanks, thought it was glass. Plastic is a dust magnet. Too bad not glass.

There will be a difference. I did a test while scanning some slides and the sharpest focus was the second notch from the top of the slider ramp, which means the film holder lowered a little towards the scanner glass. I've yet to test the other holders but from the scans I've done so far, the middle notch on each holder seems ok. The trick for testing is to use a neg that has an image that is in sharp focus, using an image that is already slightly fuzzy, with camera shake or slightly out of focus, will reduce your chances of a successful test. A word of warning, the sliders can be accidentally moved while handing and storing the holders. Before each use, check their position

 

It would be nice if the scanner had live view of sorts and a way to adjust focus on screen.

I read some reviews at BH. Some of the negative reviews say the software is hard to use. Is the software for the V800 different than previous Epson models? I never thought the Epson scan software hard at all and have had 4 of them over the years.

I purchased my V800 some three years ago after about 5 years of using the V600. I found using the V800 was a snap, as the native softwares are almost identical. I did find the V800 negative holders to be a REAL problem with the "Anti Newton Ring" covers being really Plexiglas of some other type of acrylic. As mentioned above, they are Super Dust Magnetics ! I do use the Better Imaging 6x6, adjustable neg holders for both machines. The Epson 35mm neg carrier from the V700 now is used on the V800 with ANR glass covers on top of the negatives, similar ANR covers are used with the V600 carrier.. In either machine, I scan with the emulsion facing down, just as done for years with my various enlargers. Adjustment for the Epson carriers is easy with black electrical tape strips on the carriers for height adjustment. Bill

It would be nice if the scanner had live view of sorts and a way to adjust focus on screen.

 

High quality scanners use a line (one dimensional sensor) and scan it across the image, or the image across the sensor.

 

Some cheaper scanners use smaller digital camera sensors, probably designed for smart phones.

Those can support live view, though I don't know if they have a focus adjustment.