Raúl Sá Dantas has provided an Epson V750 Pro scan for the scanner comparison page.
Raúl Sá Dantas has provided an Epson V750 Pro scan for the scanner comparison page.
Leigh Perry
www.leighperry.com
Wow, looking at any scanner I am likely to own vrs. the Tango is very depressing. I know it won't matter *that* much for smaller print sizes, the difference in quality is extremely striking. I was surprised though how well a 949 does; not that I can afford one, but finding services that use one for lower priced scans is a lot easier.
Leigh, thanks again for such a wonderful tool for comparison.
I am really struck by the improvement of how well the shadow detail is captured with the V750 compared to the 4870. In fact, the shadow test results are very similar to how my raw scans look, since my workflow now involves boosting the gamma to 2.0, and setting the black point to 0. I bring all those values back in line in Photoshop.
Yes, I omitted that. Thanks a million, Leigh, it is extremely useful and enlightening. My V700 is on its way to replace the 3200, and I see that my expectations w.r.t. shadow detail should be borne out, with some increase in sharpness too. But now I want a Tango
Paul, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the Epson V700. Even my 4870 gave my drum scans a run for their money. Since it is a CCD rather than PMT capture, the look will be softer initially than the drum scan, but if you handle the file carefully (ie. judicious sharpening), the results are amazing.
Paul, there are a number of fine scanners out there. Heidelberg, the maker of the Tango's has closed that division. Going forward that means less parts and less support. The Tango has a serious flaw when dealing with color negatives that need to be scanned at a flexible aperture. For chromes and b&w neg, they are fine machines - and I am not here to diss anyone's machine. I've seen some fine scans, many folks have learned to make that machine really deliver. But we are talking about a new purchase.
I would go with a Howtek, or Aztek Premier (for those who can afford it). There have been a number of Howtek 8000's out there lately for very reasonable prices, which would be a superior machine to the Tango - in the area of color neg, and would match or exceed it in the other categories.
There are also Colorgetters, ICG's and a few other drums that would satisfy the need for a drum scanner with a settable aperture....
Lenny
EigerStudios
Museum Quality Drum Scanning and Printing
Jukka Vuokko
Flickr
Well for the price , the ease , and the availability , the epsons are a good choice . If they would release an update that had a focusable lens then it would be great. I'm happy with my v700 . The detail advantage from a Tango is offset by it's price and lack of availability , and the same for most of the drum scanners . The flatbed is just too easy to ignore for the small difference in quality , and I've found the files sharpen very well.
Well, that's it isn't it.... your perception is that there is a small difference in quality. My perception is that the difference is huge. I wouldn't consider a consumer flatbed.
For folks who think the difference is small, they should probably go with a flatbed. For folks who think the difference is large, they should look to other choices... like a drum...
Lenny
EigerStudios
Museum Quality Drum Scanning and Printing
Well, Lenny pretty much nailed it. If one is not able to see the difference between a scan made with a drum scan and an Epson V750 it would be a waste of time to spend the money on the drum.
I don't have a drum, but I do have a fairly decent high end flatbed, a Scitex Eversmart Pro, and an Epson 4990. I have made numerous comparisons of prints of 4X magnification made from scans of both scanners, and I can definitely see a difference in image quality. With some prints the difference is subtle, with others quite dramatic, but always with advantage to the Eversmart.
And if one looks at the original scans on a monitor, the Epson scans are clealry so much inferior to those of the Eversmart one would have to be totally blind to not see the difference. Frankly, if anyone has compared a drum scan with a V750 scan and concluded that there were fairly equal in quality, you need to do the comparison again, or get a new pair of glasses. Folks, on the monitor it ain't even a ball game. The V750 scans might be a tad better than those made with the 4990, but in IMO the difference is not enough to amount to a hill of beans when the other comparison is a drum or high end flatbed.
Sandy
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