is negative holder necessary?

[richard_wrede]

<p>I'm looking at an Epson V200 on eBay but it has no negative tray, are they really necessary or just an aid tool?</p>

[peterbcarter]

<p>Not really necessary, but is an indicator of the capabilities of the scanner. You need a light hood and the sensor has to focus above the glass to scan film properly.</p>

<p>You need to move on, if you want to scan film.</p>

[richard_wrede]

<p>It is capable of scanning film and negatives, it just is missing the "film holder", anyone familiar with the Epson V200 know if I need that tray or is it just an aid to keep the film straight? I can get a holder but it is an extra 25$<br>

What do you mean by "I need to move on?"</p>

[peterbcarter]

<p>I had the V350 and ultimately proved a big waste of my time. It was out of focus and the real dpi was too low to be useful. It's one thing for scanning pictures, it's another to extract anything from a negative.</p>

<p>Try looking on epsons site for a 4490, if you are limited on funds. Sometimes they have a refeerb unit for around 125-150. This will give you something near a V500 performance.</p>

<p>Actually I just checked, and there is a v500 for $99.</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Some people have had good luck, but generally flatbed scanners do a so-so job of scanning film, definitely not as good as a film scanner, even if you have the proper film holder. The alignment of film in any type of scanner has to be very good precise, so I would consider the holder important if scanning film is what you're trying to do. Bottom line is I would take a pass on this one and at least find one with the holder. Better yet go with a film scanner.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>If you want to make 4x6 prints from your negative scans, the V200 will do. If you want to make 8x10 prints, you really need V500, V700, or V750. If you want to make larger prints, you have to compete with everyone else on eBay for Nikon Coolscan V or equivalent -- the prices are insane.</p>

 

[lachaine]

<p>Well, you need something to hold the piece of film above the glass. You can't just lie it flat on the glass because you will get Newton rings, if it works at all. I suppose you could always jury rig something out of cardboard, but the thing is, film is quite fiddly in terms of keeping it flat.</p>

[richard_wrede]

<p>I'm not sure how the Epson V100, V200 etc.models work as they don't have a "back light" , yet people rave over the results. How does it work anyway (without a backlite) I suppose that may be a reason for the brackets?</p>

[frank_skomial]

<p><em>"I'm not sure how the Epson V100, V200 etc.models work as they don't have a "back light"</em> - all scanners that have slide scanninng capability, like V100, V330, etc. have back lighting built in the scanner top cover.<br /> See an electric cable connector that goes from the scanner base to the top lead. It does feeds the power and control to the back light.</p>

[richard_wrede]

<p>Cool, it's so thin (the lid) I assumed it was some other way it worked.</p>

[richard_wrede]

<p>One came with the scanner I got. Yay! it wasn't mentioned in the auction so I thought I might have to get one separate. there was a holder on eBay for $25, more than I paid for the scanner, glad it had one.</p>