Here's my problem. I shoot a fair amount of 4x5 (and this has been exclusivly velvia) but lately have been shooting a LOT of 6x12. I really like the 6x12 format and have been on some occasions shooting the same scene with 4x5 and 6x12 . Anyway i would like to get some of these scanned.

How much better is the Epson V700? Is the only difference that the V700 can scan 2 4x5's while the V500 can only do medium format? Should i really be bothered with the lower Dmax? I mean can't i simply scan for highlights and shadows and do a HDR?


My plan is to get a V500 (which i can get now) and scan the 6x12's while stitching the 4x5's in PS (scan twice and then merge them). I don't think this is imposiable as the register of the two images will be quite large. These scans will at most be printed as 4x5 and will go up on the web. For absolute quality i'll get the good ones drum scanned anyway.

The other option is to collect my pennies and get a V700 (x3 more than the V500). This was always my initial plan but it has gotten sidetracked b/c of my increased liking of 35mm rangefinders. I know even the V700 won't be able to match a dedicated film scanner. So i'll eventually need to get a Coolscan or something

Any thoughts are appreciated (especially if you've done the 4x5 stitching)