Epson V750 going back

[rdenney]

35mm can scan well on a flatbed scanner if the scanner has a 35mm film holder.

Only if your intentions are small. The 750 will provide only half the resolution and not nearly as much tonal separation (at least without wet mounting) as my Nikon film scanner. Nominally, the 750 is no better than a six megapixel DSLR, but in practice it is not nearly that good because of generational losses and other issues. For snapshot-sized prints and web displays, it's acceptable. But I would prefer finding a used dedicated 35mm film scanner if I was intending to do much with that format. The 35mm scanners are not that expensive (the film scanners that accept medium format are another matter).

I have had to clean the glass on several flatbed scanners, but had my new 750 been dirty out of the box, I would have sent it back.

Rick "thinking there is not enough contrast to sacrifice any to haze" Denney

[tbeaman]

Even on the web, I like to display my 35mm scans at a resolution of 1024 pixels (sometimes cropped to 8x10, so an even bigger enlargement), and a flatbed's flaws become very apparent at that size. As Denney says, it's also not just a question of resolution. I think the differences are noticeable at smaller sizes too, it's just less obvious.

But hey, something is better than nothing. If I hadn't found a good deal on a Minolta Scan Elite II (still only 2820ppi), I'd be using my 4990 for 35mm. Worse than that, I should post some scans I made once on an HP Scanjet 3970!

[rdenney]

But hey, something is better than nothing. If I hadn't found a good deal on a Minolta Scan Elite II (still only 2820ppi), I'd be using my 4990 for 35mm. Worse than that, I should post some scans I made once on an HP Scanjet 3970!

You may only get 2820 spi on that Minolta, but the pixels produced by those sensors are better pixels. They are more accurate, and less influenced by their neighbors. You just have to worry about grain aliasing with very fast films that have large grain.

Rick "who used to get excellent 35mm scans from a Minolta Multi II at the same resolution" Denney