mori_insinger

<p>I recently purchased large format Canon (iPF 6100) which is probably more printer than you are looking for, but after a lot of research and testing on a range of printers (incl. Epson and HP) I can definitely recommend the Canon lineup. The Epson 3800/3800s that others have recommended are definitely good too--and I originally researched smaller printers adn was leaning toward the Epson--but ultimately decided I wanted to be able to print on a roll, as well as have larger ink tanks (and ones that don't necessitate worrying about black ink swapping as with the Epson 4800). The Canon 5100 has larger ink tanks than the 3880 and is also a pretty frugal ink user from all I've experienced and researched. The quality of Canon's inks (LUCIA, w/pigments) are also well-regarded for gamut as well as durability over time, seemingly on par with Epson's K3 inks. The Canon is larger than the comparable Epson, but they're definitely workhorse machines, and that may be part of it...a tradeoff I easily made. Canon also does have some great specials on now, putting the 5100 in the same price range as Epson's 3880 even though it also handles roll media. <br /> From what others have written, Canon's PIXMA printers may be a good smaller and cheaper alternative. I don't know those as well as the iPF line, but the 9500 uses the same pigment ink as the bigger models and would be worth looking into. <br /> Lastly, I'd really recommend consulting with and buying from a reputable dealer. I found that the folks at <a href="http://www.colorhq.com">ColorHQ.com</a> provide phenomenal customer service, both before and after purchase, and I haven't hesitated to recommend others give them a call. They're friendly, helpful, knowledgeable, and have great products and pricing. And they do carry many lines, including Epson and Canon, so they can tell you a lot from their first-hand knowledge as you consider the many strong options that are out there....<br /> Good luck in your printer search!</p>

<p>After a lot of discussion with Epson Customer Service over many months (where I found the techs were very sympathetic and nice to deal with), and a lot of trial and error testing with subsequent discussions with Espon Support, it seems that this banding issue is inherent to the way the scanner operates. It's not a software issue, and no hardware fix is on the way soon. It may just be a problem inherent in flatbed scanners, or at least the ones that use the high-quality dual scan optics as on the Epson V700/750. The better news though, is that it's an otherwise decent scanner, and some things can be done to minimize the banding/streaking problem.<br>

Basically, the ghost banding occurs when the clear edge of the film (color and B&W) is visible--and scanned--and shows up most prominently when the clear film edge directly adjacent to an area of the image area which is dense, such as a bright sky. The banding also is more visible on an even image area/subject like the sky much more so than a busy part of an image, where there is a lot of value change and the subject isn't as bright (such as grass, trees, etc.). In short, it's mostly bright and even tone areas that show the streaks. The streaks also tend to be most prominent the further away from the center of the flatbed/glass one scans. That means that scanning with the 35mm film holders, the streaks are widest in slots 1 or 4, and less wide in slots 2 or 3, closer to the middle of the glass. Additionally, if one rotates the film 180 or 90 degrees depending on where on the image the sky or dense area is, then the streaks can be further minimized and sometime eliminated. When doing this, one needs to rotate the film so that the sky is toward the center of the scanning bed, as opposed to the outer edge.<br>

In sum, putting the film toward the center slots on the film holder and then rotating film so that the sky is toward the center seems to give the best results. Not always perfect, but better.<br>

(And with 120 film may need to be rotated 90 degrees if it's shot with tops of images toward one end of the film or the other, as opposed to 35mm where the images usually run "left to right" more horizontally in relation to the length of the film strip. Thus, I've adapted my film holder to sit perpendicular to the length of the flatbed glass, by cutting it in half. This allows me to have the film in the holder, rotate it so that the sky in a landscape is facing in toward the center of the flatbed, and still close the scanner lid completely.)<br>

The only other fix that Epson now has is to use a modified film holder, which has narrower openings for the film. This simply crops the edge of the film so the clear edges are not visible to the scanner. This stops the problem of banding pretty effectively, but I found it unsuitable because I want to print the full image without any cropping at all. (In theory the smaller film holder opening could correspond perfectly with the edge of the image area on a strip of film, but I've found that there is always a little bit cropped from my image.) And sometimes I do want to be able to print the "black border" around the image, which was what I liked about the flatbed scanner in the first place.<br>

Overall, I find the quality of the scans on my V750 to be quite good, especially for the cost of this scanner compared to dedicated film scanners. The banding problem persists, and unfortunately this means that sometimes one just has to hand correct (remove) the bands in PS or other software. On some images the banding isn't as apparent at first, but temporarily adjusting levels (going darker) or darkening highlights helps make the streaks more easily visible if they are there. Then one can go figure out the worst areas and go to work....<br>

Hope this is helpful!</p>

Arthur, I've recently found the same problem on my Epson V750 scanner, which is very similar to your V700, but supposedly has an extra anti-reflection coating on the flatbed glass. Unfortunately, even with this coating, I'm having the same problem as you. I agree that it's not dust, nor the software, and I'm also not sure it's a reflection from the negative holder. (I have the problem with color and BW negs, 35mm and medium format, and with Epson Scan as well as SilverFast, the pro software with the V750.) I also find the same streaking using the film holder, and when scanning without it by placing my negatives directly on the glassﾗand rotating the film 180 degrees simply produces streaks on opposite sides of the imageﾗsame location in relation to the scanner. It seems to be something about the way a very dark (clear film) area is read by the scanner, and it becomes more pronounced the further the film is placed from the center of the flatbed/lightsource. In my tests, I've been using a medium format image that is almost all sky and I find that when the negative is placed in the center of the glass, there are narrow streaks along both sides of the image. (The light sky makes it easier to see the streaks, as with the image you've shown, and darkening the image in Levels makes it even easier to see.) But when the negative is moved toward one side of the glass or the other, the streaks become wider and seem to only be on the outer side/edge, away from the center. Thinking that it might be some sort of "light leak" from scanning the very dark edge of the film (just outside of the image area), I have tried cropping my images more tightly into the image area (in preview) and find that streaks are still there. Iﾒm attaching a sample test image, where you can even see the double notches in the streak (from a Hasselblad film back) suggesting the streak is a ghost of the image edge and not a reflection of the film holder. And to further confirm my fears, in another test I've found the streaks even in the middle of the image area, when the there is a very dark object in the image, such as a tree. So there is definitely a problem with a ghost-like streaking from any very dark (under- or unexposed film) area being scanned. I wonder if having a film holder that actually masks off everything outside of the image area (thus blocking out all unexposed film along the edge) might be a solution, as the scanner would not ﾓseeﾔ and react to that area and thus not ghost it? I wrote Epson Customer Service yesterday, but have yet to hear back from them. I'm hoping they (or someone) will have a solution to this problem. Hopefully itﾒs a malfunction of an occasional individual scannerﾅor else it would seem to be a serious design flawﾅ.<div></div>