Epson 700 vs 750

[Petewit]

Is there any difference in scan quality between the two. I believe the 750 incorporates fluid mounting. Is this really worth having?
Any thoughts?

Pete

[Jiri Vasina]

I think there is no significant difference between the 700 and 750. The results will probably look similar.

Is the fluid mounting worth it? I bet a lot of people will tell you that it is. I have not tried wet scanning, have not personally seen any real comparison, and most of all, am not enlarging so much to notice the quality difference.

(I have the V700, scan 13x18cm/5x8" negatives, and print mostly 18x24cm-30x40cm, only rarely larger).

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

For an, IMO, excellent test of the V700/750 look here: http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Menus/reviews.htm

I have the V750 myself and only scan fluid mounted. It does improve scan quality.
Film holder quality on the 700/750 is a shame. Normal holders will buckle the film. Holders are not able to be sufficiently corrected in height (positioned in actual plane of focus). The fluid mount accessory will disintegrate with the use of Kami scanning fluid. I do not know what happens with other brands, but do not suppose it will be any better.
I upgraded to Doug Fisher's Better Scanning Holders. Excellent quality. Recommend.

[Walter Calahan]

I use a V750 mostly because it came with a better (in my opinion only) software package.

I use 'Better Scanning's' holders instead of what comes with the scanner. Haven't tried wet mounting, 'cause I scan mostly 8x10 negatives. For them I simply use a piece of anti-newton ring glass to hold the film flat.

[Scott Knowles]

At the time I bought my V750, the V700 didn't come with the Silverfast software. The V700 now has the basic Silverfast package and the V750 with the upgraded package, or last I checked. This is significant if you plan to update or upgrade the software, which was necessary with the upgrade to Apple's Leopard.

I haven't tried the fluid mount yet, but I found the Silverfast software pretty good at editing non-photo images, especially stitching halfs of old maps into one image. But in the end, you get what you pay for and you pay for what you need or want.

[Bjorn Nilsson]

Fluid scanning is nice. But if you buy any of these scanners, do get the BetterScanning film holders. They really makes a difference. I wet mount 5x7" on the BetterScanning MountingStation with very good results.
The difference in between the scanners is mostly in the included software.

//Björn

[Paul O]

I'll second the recommendation to upgrade to Doug's BetterScanning Film holders - easy to calibrate to your particular scanner and makes a world of difference to scanning process/quality.