Need help with V700

[mcblue]

<p>Hi, I just purchased the Epson V700 and need a little help. So far, I've spend a couple of nights using Epson Scan using the "profiessional" mode. I saved at 3200 dpi TIFFs (80+ MB for b&w and 100+ MB for color negatives).</p>

<p>The black and whites actually looked great (Tri-X and Ilford Delta 400). Nothing to complain about.</p>

<p>The rolls of Portra NC that I scanned looked really bland -- I'm not sure if that's just the nature of the film. Post-processing didn't help much to bump saturation. The long exposures with Portra actually do look very saturated. Still, with the scans, I'm actually disappointed with color. I used Rollei and Yashica TLRs, and I could have done much better with my Nikon digital equipment. I was contemplating giving up on medium format film last night (I'm a film newbie).</p>

<p>The one roll of Kodachrome that I scanned didn't look too good (but I read that Kodachromes are difficult to scan). I'm going to try scanning another roll tonight (100GX, I think).</p>

<p>Anyway, I have a ton of questions:</p>

<p>1. Are there specific settings for Epson Scan that I should watch out for?</p>

<p>2. Is it true that scanning Fuji Provia would yield much better results (a B&H guy told me this)? I really like the slides I shot but I'm really disappointed with the scans.</p>

<p>3.Is it worth it to get either Vuescan or SilverFast AI? I ran Silverfast SE and couldn't even figure it out. Ditto with a trial version of Vuescan. I just went back to Epson Scan again. The nice thing about Epson Scan is that it automatically detects the six frames of 6x6 negatives on my film holders. Should I try again, and just scan one negative/slide at a time with either Vuescan or Silverfast?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance. Scanning is tougher than I thought.</p>

 

[peterbcarter]

<p>First, scanning *is* a black art. There are soooo many little things that can make a big difference, and sometimes not at all. Epson scan is a pretty basic tool that some use; but the results are basic.</p>

<p>Here are some Portra NC scans. http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterbcarter/sets/72157616780620040 . They were scanned with Vuescan, but could just as easily be done with Silverfast.</p>

<p>Silverfast is like EpsonScan, in the since it can give you great results with a minimal amount of effort. It goes well beyond the capability of EpsonScan. I find Vuescan simply amazing but a lot more manual. When you need control, this is your toy.</p>

<p>Everything about scanning is a learning curve so hang in there. You should not give up on film. You just have some new skills to learn!</p>

<p>Enjoy!</p>

 

[david_henderson]

<p>There's nothing much the matter with Epsonscan IMO. </p>

<p>Certainly in the professional mode there are all sorts of tools clearly visible to control contrast etc. The preview lets you see the effect of those tools. You need to play with those till you see something like the apperance you want.</p>

<p>That said, the controls on a scanner- and not just a flatbed- are not really fine enough to give you the sort of control you might want over the appearance of the scanned image. I think the right way to do all this is to use the scanner controls to get things pretty roughly right and fine tune in Photoshop. If you expected that scanning would automatically give you a file just like your transparency I'm afraid you are doomed to disappointment- it does take a bit of work, a bit of experimentation both in setting up the scan and afterwards. </p>

[mcblue]

<p>Thanks guys.</p>

<p>I played around with Epson Scan again at various resolutions (1200 to 6400 dpi). I used 48-bit color, made adjustments on Epson Scan's autoexposure setting, saved in TIFF, etc., and I'm actually satisfied with the results. Just uploaded some scanned Kodachromes (100GX, 100VS) one color negative (Fuji Pro 400H) and some black and whites (Tri-X and Delta Pro).</p>

<p>http://www.flickr.com/photos/marvincarlos/sets/72157619138263817/</p>

<p>They're really sharp and I'm really impressed. I'm happy for now. Will re-scan the negs I messed up yesterday. :)</p>

<p>One problem is curling, especially slides. I think some of the skyline pics didn't curve because of parallax. I think it's because I scanned curled negatives. The black and whites look more straight (the b&w negatives laid flat on the slide holder while the slides really curled or even waved.).</p>

<p>One other unavoidable problem eventually will be disc space, I guess.</p>

[yoshio]

<p>Marvin</p>

<p>I found the advice on this fellow's <a href="http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2008/10/epson-3200-more-optimal-scans.html">blog page</a> worked well when I was adjusting my scans on an Epson 4990. His point seems to be don't do what the Espon software does with negatives even in professional mode. I get much nicer results with my negatives this way. It makes sence as it is all in the adjustment of levels.</p>

<p>Like you I prefer how my slides look on the light table but I now prefer what I can capture in a picture with a negative film like Portra or Fuji 160.</p>

[paulh]

<p>They're quite nice aren't they! Results like that should give you plenty of encouragement.</p>

<p>Don't forget to work out the optimum height for your film holders - you adjust this with the feet.</p>

<p>For curly negs, you can do one of two things - stick them under something heavy for a couple of days, or get a piece of anti-reflective glass from a picture framer. Get it cut so that it is the same size as the film holder's film channels. Unclip the Epson holder's "clip" from the film holder. Lay the negative in the holder, then lay the glass down on top of the negative. I find it easier if I orientate the negative strip so that it curls up in the middle. You should lay the glass with the "rough" side down, so you don't get newton rings.</p>

<p>It takes some time to get your scanning technique sorted. Keep going back to the same negatives as you learn new things, try rescanning them and compare them to previous results. Another area to experiment with is your sharpening technique - capture sharpen (from scan), creative and output sharpening.</p>

<p>BTW, I find EpsonScan just fine.</p>

[mcblue]

<p>Thanks Yoshio. I'm leaning on just sticking with Epson Scan since I found Vuescan and SilverFast baffling, but I'll check out the blog link. Will also test Fuji Provia for slide shooting. I like the colors on Pro400H for skin tones (not on Flickr) but it seemed grainy. After Provia, I'll go back to Portra (and possibly try Pro160) and then try taking portraits next time.</p>

<p>Thanks PC. I'll try rescanning with the feet in reverse later. I'm pretty happy with the results since the slides came out ok and I read that Kodachromes are particularly troublesome. And I saw how sharp and detailed Peter's scans are so I'm sure I'm still have a lot of technique refining to do. Will definitely try the anti-reflective glass suggestion later (I think I read about that somewhere).</p>