Newb advice on scanners

[Keith S. Walklet]

It seems to me that for doing wet mounting one will need an intermediate piece of glass in order to raise the film above the platen to the point of best focus. Then the film would need to be held flat using a top piece of glass on the emulsion side of the film. Is anyone doing this?

Nate, with my workflow, I wet mount a piece of 3/16" glass directly to the scanner platen, then wet mount the film on top of that. My glass is not adjustable like the custom film holders, but I found that it was at the optimum level for my particular scanner. I reasoned that by wet mounting both the glass and film, that I created a continuous fluid envelope and eliminated multiple surfaces that introduce some level of image degradation.

As I've stated in other threads, the best solution would be for the platen itself to be adjustable. Perhaps some brave soul will undertake that modification.

Something else you might want to investigate is the effect of a layer of diffuse mylar on top of the film. This idea was shared by another photographer and showed improvement in my own results, and I can only speculate why it did? Softening the light source? Introducing the appearance of grain? I'm not sure, but I could see improvement in the results.

[Bruce Watson]

The V700/V750 are pretty good scanners. To the point that the drum scan crowd is threatened by them.

Right. I fear for my masculinity anytime I get too near to one. Or is it more like light to a vampire? IDK, but it sure is threatening! Somehow. Really?

Back to the topic at hand, I find that the Epson consumer flatbeds do an acceptable job, as long as you don't print too large. Up to around 4x enlargement they are fine. I've got a 4x enlargement of one of my own photographs, framed and hanging on my dining room wall, scanned with an old Epson 2450. That one has actually sold a couple of copies, a rarity for me.

But for prints larger than around 4x enlargement, I do use a better scanner. If I didn't already own a drum scanner, I might be looking to use a professional flatbed like a Kodak/Creo/Scitex IQ Smart, or maybe a Fuji Lanovia, or Screen Cezanne, for enlargements up to around 8x. For 8x and up, I really do want a drum scan. Clearly it's worth it to me or I wouldn't own one. But as always, YMMV.

[PenGun]

Right. I fear for my masculinity anytime I get too near to one. Or is it more like light to a vampire? IDK, but it sure is threatening! Somehow. Really?

Yup. Say something good about A v700/v750 and watch what happens.

You can do searches to see if you care.

[stevebrot]

...I find that the Epson consumer flatbeds do an acceptable job, as long as you don't print too large. Up to around 4x enlargement they are fine. I've got a 4x enlargement of one of my own photographs, framed and hanging on my dining room wall, scanned with an old Epson 2450. That one has actually sold a couple of copies, a rarity for me.

But for prints larger than around 4x enlargement, I do use a better scanner. If I didn't already own a drum scanner, I might be looking to use a professional flatbed like a Kodak/Creo/Scitex IQ Smart, or maybe a Fuji Lanovia, or Screen Cezanne, for enlargements up to around 8x. For 8x and up, I really do want a drum scan. Clearly it's worth it to me or I wouldn't own one. But as always, YMMV.

I guess it comes down to the intersection of time, skill, money, computer resources, and needs. For myself:

• I seldom need more than the V700 is capable of giving
• I don't have the money for the next step up for 4x5 negatives (commercial flat bed or drum)
• I don't the time to develop drum scanning skills or to devote to the drum scan work flow
• I don't have the computer resources (hardware/software) to work with with 200+ Megapixel images

There it is in a nutshell. The first point is the most important. With the V700 I can easily support 16x20 prints from a 4x5 negative and, with care, 32x40. With 6x7cm (120 roll film), the situation is not quite as rosy, but I can still go as large as 18x22 with good technique. The day when I have a need to go bigger may come, but the number of images that will fall into that category...well, simply put, I am not that good a photographer.


Steve

[algarzai]

guys i am ever so thankful for this rich discussion!
I have concluded that Epsons will produce good quality with proper technique up to certain level which covers about 80% of my needs. It seems this is what I am going to do.