Epson 4990 Pro

[Emre Yildirim]

Allen,

Are you sure it doesn't support CMYK? I thought Gimp was CMYK compatible since 2000. Have you tried one of the bleeding edge versions (like Gimp 2.3.6)? I have it installed on my BSD machine at work, but I never use it for heavy editing purposes.

[Allen Quinn]

Emre,
I've got 2.2.9 installed and don't think CMYK is enabled. Perhaps next weekend I'll compile the latest edition and see if this feature has been incorporated. What I really wish is that Adobe would port PS to Linux.

[Kirk Gittings]

John, I will email him. we have lost touch over the holidays.

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

I have the 4990. I didn't get the pro version as I already have that color management program. I did however spend the extra for the silverfast full version upgrade. So in the end I only saved about $50.00. If you don't have color management especially, the pro version is the only way to go.

[Ed Richards]

While Kirk had some problems with the Canon 9950, I think these may have been software related. The canon software is not very good for LF. Ed Hamrick has tuned Vuescan for the 9950 and the current version does a terrific job. (I am rescanning my stuff done before the Dec release, and those scans were already good.) As Paul B and I found (with the old version of the software), scans from the 9950 and the Microtech 1800 are comperable, with the microtech having an edge on noise, and the 9950 on resolution. I think the new software might have helped the noise. While I do not have a 4990 to compare, I think the 9950 may do better, and it certainly works well with Vuescan, which is part of your workflow.

[Henry Ambrose]

Paul, I'm very pleased with my 4990. I get really nice 8x10 prints from 6x7 film scanned on the 4990 - I think your 4X enlargement factor is reasonable. 4x5 film to 11x14 is great and 8x10 film scanned on the Epson and printed at 16x20 is just amazing. So there's a range of 2-4X enlargements that IMO give complete safisfaction.

I'm not a fan of additional scanning software as I find the Epson software gets the job done just fine. Others have different preferences from their own experiences. But if money is an issue at all pass up the Pro version and go with the standard model. I don't think you'll miss anything.

[Paul Coy]

" Paul, yes I have been through a boat load of scanners, but we do a ton of scans. These are amazing pieces of equipment, but not really built for the paces we put them through (50 scans a week, week in week out). I bought a new Epson 4990 a week ago. I paid for it in 2 days with commercial scans......I currently run one 4870 (at my assistants house) and at the studio, two 4990's, a Nikon 8000 and a Microtek 1800f. We are scanning fools "

Kirk,

Since you are the scanning fool, I was just about to buy the 4990 tonite but stopped and thought about obsolecence. Do you know if Epson is coming out with the next flavor anytime soon? I haven't seen anything about new models and wonder if I should hold off?

Anyone else have an opinion?

[Kirk Gittings]

My opinion (and that is all it is) is that we will see a slow down in the R&D of film scanners. Where the industry (Fuji anyway) is going is towards color negative films designed specifically for scanning only (i.e. no mask). Some new scanner developements may chase that film, but not right away. Right now all scanners are really designed primarily to scan color transparencies. Epson has pretty well saturated the sub $500.00 pro scanner market with three models released quickly in a row. Not much more they can do unless the price of higher quality chips comes way down.

[Paul Coy]

Kirk,

I did notice that they had quite a few models there. That's why I figured that they would continue with subtle changes to existing models. That seemed to be the history.
I guess waiting is not conducive to anything and the point is to get the work scanned.

Thanks for your input.

[Frank Petronio]

Everybody who needs a scanner has already gotten one, and super fussy and critical users spend more to get an Imacon or whatever, so I don't predict they'll be any radical improvements from Epson or Microtek or Canon.

I'd just like them to improve their quality control. The scanners are pretty amazing when they work properly, which seems to be every other one at this point (I'm on my second "new" one).