Whats the BEST setting for the Epson V700 to achieve maximum IQ?

So I am using the Epson V700 with the Epson Scan software. I have Vuescan and SilverFx but of all 3 I find the Epson is

simplest to use with their machine.

I am scanning MF film, my current setting is 600 DPI at 6000 X 6000, with medium dust removal checked, unsharpen mask,

Gamma 1.8 with medium auto exposure. That setting seems to get the best average exposure, then I make further

adjustments in Lightroom.

 

I know its been said that you cant get the advertised DPI that Epson claims. Am I setting the DPI too high?

I want the second lens to kick in.

 

Im attaching a screenshot

<p>I don't use Epson's Sharpen feature. Sharpen as a last step in your imaging software, some variation of Unsharp Mask or other sharpening algorithm. I don't trust one-button sharpening.<br />I don't like Epson's dust removal; I find it is destructive to the image. I use Digital Ice in the Speed setting. You might have to go after big dust specs with the clone tool. <br />Use Gamma 2.2 if you are on a Windows machine. Isn't 1.8 for MAC's? Be sure you're getting a high bit image to work with in Lightroom, so that what you do is less destructive to the Image. THEN, convert to 8-bit.<br />Try 1200 PPI and see if it looks any better to you.</p>

<p>Jon,<br />The most important thing (re sharpness) with the V700 is to establish the correct height for the holder. Epson allows heights of 2.5 mm, 3.0 mm and 3.5 mm. Test yours to see which provides the sharpest scan. Many find it worthwhile to move up to the Better Scanning Holders which are continuously adjustable. The optimum is 3.7mm on my particular unit.<br />As above, turn off Sharpening & Dust removal.<br />The V700 is reported to be optimal at 2200 dpi. I scan at 2400 dpi with output size set to "original" not a pixel size.<br>

Scanning 2.26 inches @ 600 dpi give an image size of only 1356 pixels. Presumably, Epson Scan is interpolating up to 6000 dpi ???</p>

<p>6000 X 6000 is way to high ! I have the Epson V750 and hardly ever go over 2400 X2400. I scanned images at lower resolutions than that, with no apparent difference in resolution. There is a sweet spot that you need to use, that will get you optimum results without over-scanning. I wish I could tell you what the formula is but unfortunately I'm not sitting infron of my desktop computer right now. I also think the Epson software is great and I tried Vuescan and Silver Fast 6.5. </p>

<p>I hope and suspect that the OP is scanning his MF film to a total size of 6000 x 6000 pixels, meaning that he's scanning at 2666 ppi and showing this on screen at 600ppi . The latter is irrelevant until you come to print. Scanning at 2666 ppi is probably a little more than this scanner is able to deliver and the scans will be a little faster and the resultant files less bloated if he scans at something closer to the V700's useful resolution of around 2000 ppi and settles for a smaller file - about 4500 x 4500 pixels - with the same amount of useful information. <br>

Getting the best results from the V700? Two points. First the flatness of the film when scanned and the ability to get the film into sharp focus. I also use a third party holder with continuously adjustable height and a glass insert to keep the film flat and I tested the results at various height settings ( as the instructions recommend) before finalising the height.</p>

<p>Second, my expectation from a scanner is that it will give me something that contains all the detail of the original subject to its real (not claimed) resolution limitations. I do not expect to get am output that is ready to use and I accept that there will be a need to adjust and sharpen the scan in PS or LR. You will not IMO improve the "quality" of a scan by fiddling around trying to get the colours, contrast, sharpness etc perfect and I find the tools available in other software to do that are better. What you do have to do however is check the preview histogram and ensure that you are not clipping highlight or shadow assuming that this is possible. Any information you lose from clipping is gone forever. If you can't avoid clipping then make sure you're choosing whether to clip highlights or shadows or both according to the needs of the image. Bear in mind that the ability of all consumer flatbeds to handle contrast- and in particular shadow detail- is limited. It is probable that you are going to scan images where it is unlikely that you can reach all the shadow detail contained in the original.</p>

<p>Jon,<br />Your scanning resolution is set at 600 dpi, yet you are enlarging the digital image 4.42 times, ie to 10 x 10 inches. The dpi of your image file is then 600/4.2 = 135 dpi, good for Monitor Display only. To get a 4.2X image file @ say, 300 dpi for printing, you need to scan at 10 x 300 = 3000 dpi. This is above the V700 true optical resolution (about 2200) so I suggest you scan at 2400 dpi. This is fully explained in the on-line Manual. As above, I find it easiest to keep Output Size equal to Original and scan at 2400. In Post Processing this will give prints at 300 dpi of 8X original. i.e. up to 12 x 10 for 135, 18 x 18 for 6x6 and 40 x 32 for 4x5.</p>

Thanks for all the comments! I am having issues getting sharp images. Im not seeing how you adjust the

height of the holder?

Am I missing something?

 

I do plan to invest in the BetterScan Holder soon though.