epson 4990 scanner

[Ted Harris]

There is a second issue related to "movement during multisampling (or multiscans for that matter) and that is the accuracy of the stepping kotors in the 4990 and the similar machines from Microtek and Canon. At the $500 price point they just do not ahve the engineering for the rigid percision to keep the scanning array 100% perfectly aligned from pass-to-pass. Good enough that it works some of the time or even most of the time, sure since we are talking about very small measurements but all of the time, no. In fact, one of the things you pay a lot more money for in the higher quality scanners is the added precision of the stepping motors achieved through both mechanical and firmware differences with the lower priced units. It's somewhat like we used to say in the television broadcasting industry 35 years ago .... a quad (broadcast video) recorder is $50,000 - to $100,000 worth of recording equipment with an additional $300,000 to $400,000 of error correction mechanics and electronics attached. A lot of that applies to scanners as well.

[Ed Richards]

I agree with Ted. I decided that one pass, one sample gave the least room for error, and that offset the the value of multiple samples. I might make a different call with color where noise is much more of an issue, esp. with chromes because of the high density. B&W negatives are really not much of a challage, even for a consumer scanner.

[Kirk Gittings]

Multi-pass is useful when you are getting allot of noise which it reduces. The Vuescan single pass is superior, but as a scanning program it is really inferior to the controls available from SF AI 6. I have been using both lately and SF wins hands down for overall control. I have also been extensively using a 800 series Imacon which is a good scanner but would greatly be improved by SF software were it available.

[Gregg Cook]

I am a fan of scan RGB and convert to b and w.

If you use channel mixer as a ps adjustment layer you can get the max out of each channel really easily. Just check monochome and use sliders until it looks best.

Simple.

[ajkiwi]

hi all,

just how much diffence is there between drum and a v700 pro wet mount?

[Chris Strobel]

Make sure that an air conditioner is not blowing directly on the scanner.

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I'm curious, why would this make a difference?

[paul stimac]

This goes against what everyone's saying but I usually get better black and white scans with the epson software. ????? Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Silverfast beats epson hands down for color though.

[Zach In Israel]

anyone know how well this one will work with a mac? I've been thinking of getting a 4990.

[ljb0904]

Kirk, I've been using a 4990 with Vuescan for that last few months. I've only been scanning E6. How does Silverfast make scanning better? Does it actually get different raw bits out of the scanner than Vuescan? Is there something about Silverfast that makes it different from scanning with Vuescan and tweaking curves in PS?

Zach, I use a 4990 on a Powerbook G4 and have no problems. I use Vuescan as I've said.

[PMahoney]

Paul-
I've tried a variety of scanning methods with B&W output on my 4990 and consistantly come up with better B&W and Color-to-B&W scans with the Epson software as well. Then again, I don't have the upgraded Silverfast or Vuescan software which might offer a greater degree of control, but comparing the standard Silverfast with the epson software, epson comes out on top in my workflow.
Peter