5x4 choosing a scanner

[james silverman]

I was wondering if anyone could offer advice.

I was looking into buying a scanner for 5x4 and even though i would like an Imacon it is not affordable.

So the only option i have heard about is the Epson Perfection 4870 Photo

my question is..to shoot and present to magazines and clients to make A3 size prints- scanning from Neg and tranny would it be of sufficient quality ?

Can it handle Negatives is the important question ?

does anyone have any samples i can view..

I live in Sweden and they have to be ordered in specially so i can not test and can not view anything either.

all advice welcome

James

[Stan. Laurenson-Batten]

Hello James.

I have been using a Cano Scan D24U for the past two years. It cost a reasonable £350.

It is used for all formats from 35mm 120/6X9 to 5X4 and all types of film plus print scans.

The results - I am unable to fault, suffice to say, I enlarged to 40X30 inches from a 5X4 trans.

There is little point in unloading an example - as the resulting loss of detail would be self defeating.

There are other models now available since the Cannon came on the market, I am confident they too will perform to your requirements.

[Kirk Gittings]

All the testing that I have done and a few other people that I have corresponded with agree that the Epson 4870 is the best under$1000.00 flatbed scanner available. I use it for all my commercial work for prints up to 16x20.

[james silverman]

how about negatives with the Epson 4870 ?have you scanned or just transparencies?

[Ed Pierce]

The images on my website (www.edpiercephoto.com) were made by scanning 4x5 negatives on a "remanufactured" Epson 3200. Works fine and didn't cost much.

[james silverman]

looks decent scans on your site ..nice pictures..

what about colour negs just as good in the shadow areas aswell..?

I have an older epson not comparable at all Epson 1240u flatbed adapter..the colours are over saturated and shadow details are lost negative scanning s terrible . this is my only comparrison..but totally non commercial.

[Ralph Barker]

Here's a sample scanned with the Epson 3200, the 4870's predecessor. The scan is of an Ilford FP4+ 4x5 negative from the group's recent Mare Island excursion, scanned for 11x14 output @ 300DPI, and then reduced in Photoshop (a higher-res scan could have been done):




Here's a clip at 100%:

[Ted Fullerton]

James,

I've been very happy with my 4870 for color transparency and B&W and color negative scans. I've printed at 8x10 with scans originating at 600 dpi with great results. I've scanned several transparencies to 1200 dpi for resizing to 16x20 and, though definately not drum scan quality, the scans produce nice highlights and shadows without blockyness.

I'm pretty value-conscious and I'm happy with the quality for the price.

I have negs and transparencies scanned with the 4870 at
http://www.tedfullerton.com if you'd care to view samples.

-Ted

[Jim Rice]

While not germaine to the topic at hand, once again I admire Ralph's wrk.

[Shilesh Jani]

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2478442

4x5 Fuji Provia scanned on a 4870 for grayscale16 bit grayscale output at 2400 dpi.