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View Full Version : New Epson scanners : V-750M Pro & V-700 Photo



Ellis Vener
23-Feb-2006, 07:08
My NDA with Epson expired at midnight yesterday.

Epson has officially announced two new scanners today. The V-700 Photo and the V-750M.

Of most interest to our group is the V-750M. The V-750M has two two features I think we will find useful: a wet mounting platform for medium and large format ( but I don't remember if the fluid mount platform is large enough to accommodate 8x10, my recollection of my discussions in November with epson is that it won't) for critical scanning, and improved standard film holders. The standard film holders are The wet mounting option is only with the V750-M PRO but the new standard film holders are for both of the new scanners are height adjustable in two + .5mm steps. The new film holders also look to be more heavy duty as well. this feature addresses the concerns of those who have said they had problems getting the film in focus. As of my last contact with Epson about the technical details of the new scanners, the wet mounting platform is not height adjustable.

The advantage of wet mounting is that the film is held absolutely flat. Wet mounting is trickier than just laying your film in a holder but if you are going to be scanning medium or large format and have had film flatness issues (I did with the Epson 4990) this should be a better solution. Will digital ICE work with the wet mounting?

The Epson 4990 Photo and 4990 PRO have not been discontinued. These are upgrades, not updates to the 4990.

Epson tells me that these scanners are "true 4800 ppi" scanners, and that resolution was measured by using 1st generation targets created specifically for measuring scanner and offset press resolution, not copies of the 1951 USAF target.

I don't have a V-750M PRO for review yet but should have one with in the next 2-3 weeks. I'll be reviewing for Professional Photographer and maybe Camera Arts.

Tom Westbrook
23-Feb-2006, 09:14
Figures. I just bought a 4990 after living with a 2450 for several years.

Chris S
23-Feb-2006, 09:17
Just got my 4990 as well, so I feel your pain too brother

Steven Barall
23-Feb-2006, 09:35
Any hint at the price yet???

Ellis Vener
23-Feb-2006, 09:38
The V-750M will be less than US $800.00

Ellis Vener
23-Feb-2006, 09:41
link to epson's info page for the V-750M Pro:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=63056500

Juergen Sattler
23-Feb-2006, 09:42
here's a link to the press announcement: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/02-22-2006/0004286558&EDATE=

Brett Deacon
23-Feb-2006, 09:42
Interesting development! Ellis, I'd appreciate it if you could keep us posted about your experience with this scanner.

Don Miller
23-Feb-2006, 10:07
wow
looks like another addition to my under$1000 scanner collection
I'm surprised they are still doing development on scanners. I'm always optomistic at this point (before testing), but the higher price makes me hopeful.

Rob_6274
23-Feb-2006, 10:35
It's shown in their website www.epson.com

As with all digital gadgets, good thing comes to people who wait. It's always good to become a procrastinator in digital. :)

fred arnold
23-Feb-2006, 10:52
It's often good to be a procastinating photographer. I'm sure my 203mm Ektar took a much smaller bite out of my budget than it did to its first owner back in '47.

Ralph Barker
23-Feb-2006, 11:04
Procrastination is often beneficial, but the key is still timing. ;-)

The specs on the Epson site indicate it will handle up to 8x10.

I, too, will be interested in reading Ellis' review of the V-750M pro.

Tom Westbrook
23-Feb-2006, 11:38
In the past they've discounted current scanners/printers before announcing replacement versions. They haven't done that with the 4990. Maybe they don't see this so much as a replacement as a new offering, given the $799.99 asking price (hey, it's less the $800, no?).

I'll actually be happy with the 4990 for a while, since all I do at the moment is put stuff on the web or produce small prints on my R800. Don't see a need for higher rez at this point. That's assuming there aren't some compelling enhancements.

Kirk Gittings
23-Feb-2006, 11:48
Another public notice.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/22/perfection/index.php

I for one did not see this coming. I thought that we were at the end of the profit curve for film scanner r&d. These look very promising.
Kirk

Ted Harris
23-Feb-2006, 12:29
Everything that everybody else said with one caveat, I will believe the resolution when I have tested it and resolution is far from everything you need for a quality scan. I will keep my fingers crossed that we are not reading marketing hype and that it is a real leap forward. As most know, we are working on an article for View Camera now that will include the i800, 1800f and 1000XL. I will see if I can get one of these to test in the next month so that it can be included in comparisons.

Emre Yildirim
23-Feb-2006, 13:33
Oh great, now Epson is claiming 6400 dpi resolution, as if the 4800 figure wasn't accurate enough. I seriously doubt that we will see much improvement from the 4990 (looking at the previous trends), but I REALLY REALLY hope that these scanners have at least 3200 true optical resolution. I don't care so much about wet mounting, since I usually have to sharpen the scan afterwards anyway.

Does anyone know if these new scanners use fixed lenses? It'd be interesting if someone could test them against the 4990 and the 1800f.

Ken Lee
23-Feb-2006, 13:38
"we are working on an article for View Camera now that will include the i800, 1800f and 1000X"



Any interest in the 2500f ?

Eric Brody
23-Feb-2006, 14:44
Ted, can you tell us when the View Camera article will be published?

Thanks.

David Karp
23-Feb-2006, 15:05
Thanks Ellis.

Ted Harris
23-Feb-2006, 18:09
Eric, the May-June issue

John Brownlow
23-Feb-2006, 18:42
My $500 Polaroid Sprintscan 45i still blows any consumer flatbed out of the water! And it was a lot cheaper than the $7000 the original owner paid for it!

Stephen Willard
23-Feb-2006, 19:23
Correct me if I am wrong (I am not a digital guy), but its is my impression wet mounting hides dust and imperfection of the film along with increasing Dmax. I have adapted wet mounting technology to work with my 8x10 enlarger. It has been extremely beneficial for doing big 60" prints. The dust goes away. The colors are brighter and richer. And the deep shadows and extreme highlights have more detail (increased Dmax).

From all the reading I have done if you get half what Epson claims then your doing good. I would divide their specs by two and that would probably be very close to the truth.

Kirk Gittings
23-Feb-2006, 21:57
John,
I'm glad you are so proud of yourself for owning the Polaroid. Its true that the Polaroids were good scanners, but there are not enough of them available to even scratch the surface of the demand that is out there for decent affordable scanners. So the rest of us must deal with what is available or coming down the road. These new releases and our testing of them is vitally important to our work.

paulr
24-Feb-2006, 11:04
"Correct me if I am wrong (I am not a digital guy), but its is my impression wet mounting hides dust and imperfection of the film along with increasing Dmax. "

Those are definitely some of the claims made about it. I've been wet mounting black and white 4x5 film on a flatbed scanner for the last year, and can't say that I notice most of these benefits. It may hide dust on the emulsion side of the film ... but not the new dust that gets on the wet mount assembly. It probably hides scratches, although I haven't been working with scratched negs. I don't see the d-max or tonal improvements (but I also haven't looked for them in any scientific way).

The reasons I do it are film flatness, ability to find the point of best focus, and ability to do all this without fear of newton's rings. Pretty pedestrian, but all good enough reasons for me to go through the hassle.

Michael Rosenberg
24-Feb-2006, 14:23
I also upgraded to the 4990 just 10 days ago. Sigh. I guess in the near future I may own two scanners..... I would be very interested in a review, and whether it is a significant advance compared to the 4990 in scanning of 4x5.

Mike

Henry Ambrose
24-Feb-2006, 15:12
Kirk wrote:

"John, I'm glad you are so proud of yourself for owning the Polaroid."

Watch out John - Kirk sounds jealous of your scanner!

; >)

Rich Voninski
24-Feb-2006, 15:33
I upgraded my 4870 to a Howtek a few weeks ago and am delighted. Be interseting to see if these numbers are real or regular Epson hype.

RichieV

Ed Richards
24-Feb-2006, 15:56
Just getting to an honest 2400 would be a terrific step. Added to a non-Rube Goldberg wet mount system, and it might let us make a nice 5x print.

Michael Chmilar
24-Feb-2006, 16:02
My $1800 Screen 1030ai drum scanner blows any consumer flatbed out of the water! And it was a lot cheaper than the $40,000 the original owner paid for it!

(Of course, it is no longer supported and parts/service will be prohibitively expensive, and it only communicates with Mac OS9, but as long as it keeps functioning life is good.)

:-)

Matt Powell
27-Feb-2006, 14:01
This is excellent news. I was just about ready to break down and order a 4990 Pro or 1800f depending on what I could get the best deal on. Looks like I ought to wait just a little bit longer.

Ellis Vener
1-Mar-2006, 06:54
Ywesterday I saw a preview of the V-750M Pro at PMA 2006 . It won't be in retail channels until early May. In the "flesh" so to speak it looks very solidly made and the film carriers are definitely much improved. You'll be able to scan at least up to 5x7 with the fluid mount tray, possibly two 5x7 at one time.

Ed Richards
1-Mar-2006, 08:18
Photo-I has some scans:

www.photo-i.co.uk/News/Feb06/Epson_V700_scanner.htm (http://www.photo-i.co.uk/News/Feb06/Epson_V700_scanner.htm)

Kirk Gittings
1-Mar-2006, 09:16
I saw the Photo I test. He says that the V scanner out performs the 4990 by a wide margin, but offers no side by side comparisons yet. So this review shws me very little of use yet. Maybe he will expand it.

Don Miller
2-Mar-2006, 09:03
Vincent didn't put up a review on photo-i, just some quick samples from a V-700. I too could not decern how the posted scans demonstrate a better scanner.

Note that the more expensive model, the V-750, comes with better optics that the V-700. The difference is not just an upgraded software package and wet-mount. I'm betting on a microtek killer here, but I've been wrong before.

The two lens spec on these new models is interesting. Perhaps there was a significant tradeoff between speed and resolution.

tim atherton
2-Mar-2006, 09:09
So does it look like the wet mounting WON'T work for 8x10...? bummer

Ellis Vener
2-Mar-2006, 09:26
Tim,
I'm just going from memory and eyeballing the FMT. I could be wrong.