Epson F-3200 Review

[Scott Rosenberg]

hey y'all... for those of you like myself, seeking a desk-top scanner capable of 4x5, Vincent Oliver has finished his review of the Epson F-3200 (http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Scanners/Epson_F3200/page-1.htm).

I'll ruin the punchline for some of you by saying that he finds it comprable to the 4870.

[Frank Thomas]

I was sort of thinking about this scanner to replace my 3170 which doesn't do 5x4" but looking at his review, I might hang on for the new Epson which looks like it might be a better bet.

Frank

[Scott Rosenberg]

frank...

the Epson Photo 4990 is due outin january. the initial press release claims a dmax of 4.0... isn't that getting pretty close to the 4.2 of drum scanners today?

[Frank Thomas]

That's what they are claiming for the beast - I have my doubts as to whether or not it'll actually fulfill that.

My only reservation with the flatbed is that when I scan polaroid prints, they are not as sharp as they could be hence me wanting something that will scan slides at 5x4"

No doubt someone will review the thing soon enough and then we will see.

[Scott Rosenberg]

well, if it's not what the spec claim it to be, the 4870 is one heck of a scanner that will do 4x5. once the 4990 comes out, that'll probably mean a price drop on the 4870.

[paulr]

I don't think that drum scanners, when measured in a way that makes sense to anyone, even reach 4.0.
Tests I saw showed the very best flatbed scanners (pro ones costing $$$) came in at well under 3.0.
The published numbers might tell us something about the ambition level of the marketing department, but I doubt they're worth much more than that.

[John Latta]

Yesterday at the CompUSA store here in Spokane I noticed the Epson 4870 scanner was priced at $399.99 after rebates!

[Ken Lee]

"I'll ruin the punchline for some of you by saying that he finds it comprable to the 4870."

Based on his sample images, I'd be surprised if there were any difference at all between the internals of both machines.



Perhaps the requisite number of months had passed in the product cycle, and they decided to repackage the same thing... as a "dedicated film scanner", since reading forums like this, they recognized that everyone prefers dedicated film scanners..

[Franz Hümpfner]

I tested the epson 4990 flatbed scanner. Look at http://www.franzhuempfner.de/tests/contents2.html (http://www.franzhuempfner.de/tests/contents2.html)

[Scott Fleming]

This reviewer did not like the scanner.


http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Scanners/Epson_F3200/page-1.htm (http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Scanners/Epson_F3200/page-1.htm)

[buzzardkid]

Fast forward one decade.


Wondering if anyone is using this scanner to scan 4x5" negatives?

I used to have one (must be 5, 6 years ago now) and while I still was in my small-format box-speed days, the scanner still did a pretty decent job with the crap I fed it.

Now I'm considering one for 4x5" negatives so I'd be interested in anyone's opinions on how it fares with that.

[joselsgil]

I use one, primarily just to scan the smaller formats.

You can scan 4x5 format, but just at a lower dpi. If you try to increase the image quality, it takes forever with my computer. Sometimes, my computer goes to sleep, as the scanner is just too slow.

I can't complain tho, as I paid under $50 USD, for my scanner.

You get what you pay for :)

[buzzardkid]

I use one, primarily just to scan the smaller formats.

You can scan 4x5 format, but just at a lower dpi. If you try to increase the image quality, it takes forever with my computer. Sometimes, my computer goes to sleep, as the scanner is just too slow.

I can't complain tho, as I paid under $50 USD, for my scanner.

You get what you pay for :)

Jose,

interested in the scanning quality you can get without the computer going to sleep? If it is enough for my needs I might just get one whenever I bump into it. These scanners still are around EUR 300 in the Netherlands though...

[Doug Fisher]

I would look for a used 4990 flatbed or newer versus buying a used F3200, especially at that price. The F3200 was a bit of smoke and mirrors by Epson where they packaged flatbed components in a shell to make it seem somewhat like a dedicated film scanner. It wasn't any better than the flatbed and was less versatile. It was a case of "more show than go."

Doug