Epson V500 4x5 Scanning?

[Ern453pm]

Hello all. I'm considering buying the Epson V700, which will scan 4x5 negatives, although it's quite a large amount of money. So I was also thinking about buying the Epson V500, and then purchasing a 4x5 film holder. At my school they have several of the lower Epson scanners, as well as various film holders (including 4x5), that can be checked out to use with these scanners. Would that work? I was thinking it might be a good option for me, but I want to get some advice before I make any purchases.

[Jon Middleton]

The V500 will not scan 4x5 in one pass. The opening for film scanning is less than 3" wide. I found that out when I unpacked it. I returned it for the V700, which will do two 4x5's at a time. You could scan 4x5's in two sections, then stitch them together with the V500, but that's a lot of trouble.

[picker77]

The V500 will not scan 4x5 in one pass. The opening for film scanning is less than 3" wide. I found that out when I unpacked it. I returned it for the V700, which will do two 4x5's at a time. You could scan 4x5's in two sections, then stitch them together with the V500, but that's a lot of trouble.

Stitching is not all that bad to do. Here is a 4x5 two-pass lo-res scan from my V500 (I think I did it at 800dpi) and a 100% crop from it. Takes about 60 seconds in Elements 6.0 to do the stitching, and Adobe's algorithms are good enough that I have never been able tell the results were stitched. The detail is plenty good enough for my home-use printing purposes. I can get better detail at 2400 dpi, but the little Epson is very slow above 1000 dpi, and I don't have the patience to wait for it.

That being said, I'll admit I'd like to have a V7xx or whatever would scan 4x5's in one pass--but not at 2.5 times the price. :)

[Aender Brepsom]

Did you consider buying a used 4990? It is not much worse than a V700, scans 4x5 and should not be more expensive than a V500.

[mrladewig]

Did you consider buying a used 4990? It is not much worse than a V700, scans 4x5 and should not be more expensive than a V500.

Except that they've become rather difficult to find as their owners (like me) do not want to get rid of them.

[Gerry Miller]

Stitching is not all that bad to do. Here is a 4x5 two-pass lo-res scan from my V500 (I think I did it at 800dpi) and a 100% crop from it. Takes about 60 seconds in Elements 6.0 to do the stitching, and Adobe's algorithms are good enough that I have never been able tell the results were stitched. The detail is plenty good enough for my home-use printing purposes. I can get better detail at 2400 dpi, but the little Epson is very slow above 1000 dpi, and I don't have the patience to wait for it.

That being said, I'll admit I'd like to have a V7xx or whatever would scan 4x5's in one pass--but not at 2.5 times the price. :)

What did you use for a negative holder?
Gerry

[ignatiusjk]

Just buy the V700 and spend the money.I have one and like it alot,no problems just me getting to know how to use it.Plus it will last for at least 5-7 years before another model comes along. If you shoot 4x5 why buy a cheap scanner/printer your defeating the purpose.

[picker77]

What did you use for a negative holder?
Gerry

Sorry so slow in response, I need to pay more attention...

I didn't use one, Gerry. Just laid the neg on the scanner glass, scanned one side (about 3/5 of the neg), scanned the other side, merged the two files. Worked for me, probably not sharp enough for the experts, but puts out a heck of a nice 8x10 on my inkjet. With such a large overlap the software nails the merge perfectly, it's impossible to tell it's a merged file.

I haven't seen an Epson 4x5 holder. Unless it's a layered glass setup of some sort, I can't imagine the film flatness would be anywhere near consistent. It seems to me putting the neg directly on the scanner glass is better for flatness than some sort of suspended-in-the-air holder. My Anti-Newton glass for MF might make things work even better during the scans, but I haven't tried that yet.
Jerry

[RogerM]

I have been using a V500 to scan the family 35mm archive over the last couple of years and have been very pleased with the results. However, I have found some 3.25" x 2.25" B&W negatives from around 1915 which don't fit the slide and negative carrier. I've tried just laying the negatives on the glass but I get a "Please remove the document mat and/or close the document cover". I've tried using a home made carrier cut to size but get the same result. The only way I can get a scan is to use the 35mm carrier which artificially restricts the size of the result. I don't want to shell out for a V700 for about 100 negatives. Any ideas please?

[Tom Monego]

A MD I worked with who was using me for a lot of scanning decided to buy a V500, complained every day to me about how bad the slides were. I suggested she buy a V700 (what I was using) instead. A couple of weeks later she said, "one of my better purchases. Now my scans look almost as good as yours," I smiled and asked her if she wanted to pay for a class in fine tuning a scan. " Not after paying $600 for a scanner" was the reply.
BTW, I was moved into and analyst position, no scanner, bought my own V700 from New Egg the prices was $539. Epson who had refurbed V700 for $445 of course didn't have any when I wanted to purchase the machine. Now I'm trying to optimize the height of the film.
Go for the V700 just a better scanner.

Tom

[Thebes]

You gotta stitch to use it. A 4990 would be vastly preferable. But that said, its not the end of the world to have to stitch it... adds about 5 or 10 minutes of work and processing time to my workflow per 4x5 scan. If you are on a student budget you might consider stitching and saving the money for other gear or supplies.

I don't use a holder with my 4490 (which is to the v500 what the 4990 is to the v700). I use some small nylon washers to sit the film onto, and place a black object in the upper left corner to trick it into thinking there is a film holder. Given the abysmal quality of my 120 Epson holder, I can't really consider this part of my work flow a problem, it might well be an improvement over a stock Epson holder.

RogerM, please note my trick about a black object tricking the scanner, I think it probably works the same way with a v500. I think in my (earlier and probably poorer version) Epson Scan I also had to unclick some thumbnailing option and change around some option with the film size too. I know that I've read of ppl stitching with the v500, its just not straightforward... fwiw I use the wrapper from my zeiss optical wipes to trick the scanner, about 1 1/2" x 3 inches I think and mostly black.

[Alan S]

Roger
I am sure that the V-700 would be superior for med format as well as 4x5. However, I have gotten good results on the v-500. A couple of things on the v-500. Make sure that the plug that goes to the lid is adequately plugged in. It will work loose with repeated opening of the lid and give you an error message! For large negatives I have used just a matte board 'holder' and place the neg emulsion side up. Use the professional setting and un-click all the auto stuff as well as the thumbnail box. worked for me. Oh, also be sure your holder/negative is at least a half an inch from the back edge of the glass. Works for me.
Alan S

[footoograaf]

I modified epson V500 top lid, so scanner (hardware) is able to "see" whole 4x5 area (see attached photo). The problem is how to make software to see same area. If anyone have answer, please help.

best,

Mladjen

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/936/epsonv500modified.jpg

[Thebes]

Mladjen,
Does the light adequately cover the negative in your mod?

I suppose you might try some of the third party drivers / software for it. I also thought there was a linux scanner driver which was primitive, but that might an option if its open sourced and will drive a v500.

Would LOVE to hear if this is successful. I had presumed the light wouldn't cover and never even thought it might be hacked.

[glenglenn]

I have been using a V500 to scan the family 35mm archive over the last couple of years and have been very pleased with the results. However, I have found some 3.25" x 2.25" B&W negatives from around 1915 which don't fit the slide and negative carrier. I've tried just laying the negatives on the glass but I get a "Please remove the document mat and/or close the document cover". I've tried using a home made carrier cut to size but get the same result. The only way I can get a scan is to use the 35mm carrier which artificially restricts the size of the result. I don't want to shell out for a V700 for about 100 negatives. Any ideas please?

Hi, I have the V600 and had the same problem. I mounted (laid the 3.25 neg into the large neg carrier which has a long window with a door and the negative fills that space but does not get locked by the door. it sort of falls through to the glass but still fills the window from side to side. (Black and white film, 16-bit grayscale). Anyway, I could not get the document size fo stay put with me entering in the manual measurements, 3.25x2.25, it would snap back to the smaller size. I previewed it anyway and it gave me two thumbnails, top and bottom of the neg. Frustrated, I tried clicking on the preview panel to the right on "Normal" instead of "thumbnail". That gave me a raw look at the scanner on the entire pass, i.e. the entire neg carrier with the full neg showing on part of it. I then manually drew a marque around the full neg, and voila! I captured the entire neg. Hope this helps somebody.

[Michael Cienfuegos]

I used a V500 with the betterscanning.com holder, but still had to stitch the scans. It isn't worth the effort, I bought a V700 form someone on Craigslist, it works quite well. I use the VueScan driver and the betterscanning ANG holders. I am a much happier camper.

[toprock03]

I just bought a V700 refurb from Epson. Set me back about $420 with free shipping. I think its worth going that route.

so far im happy with the results but i have some more trial and error on my part as I am new to scanning