a craigslist 4990

[Robert Vigurs]

I have owned the Epson 3200 now for a week, and have been learning its' use. Yesterday on craigslist, I noticed a 4990 for sale. Having read the positive opinions here on the forum, I decided to buy it this morning. The woman had upgraded to the V750. It appears very clean, and once I found the lock/unlock mechanism, it seems to work well. The cost was $108. I have never posted a photo on a site, and hope you folks don't mind my trying. Here goes...........

[Robert Ley]

That sounds like a great price. Did it include all the negative holders and the rest of the gear that comes with the scanner. If so, that is a great price for a very nice scanner.

I have had mine for about two weeks and really like it for my purposes (web) and archiving.

Good luck and keep us posted with some new images.

Cheers,
Robert

[Robert Vigurs]

Yes, it did include four holders, and also a fifth for an 8x10 negative it would appear. I can tell I will be putting some time in learning to use it to its' full capabilities. That whimsical little statue was a scan of a print I made in my darkroom last week using Ilford 100. I am impressed by the clarity of image it sees in some of the MF Velvia I've scanned. I tend to like to underexpose Velvia, and therefore get greater color saturation. It seems to be able to get right into the darker areas and pick up detail. I don't saturate the color with effects, It's brilliant and deep as scanned. My first love however, is black and white. I really like Jon Shiu's images.

[venchka]

Find Ken Lee's Epson Scan+4990 tutorial at his web site. It made all the difference in my scanning.

[Brian Ellis]

Yes, it did include four holders, and also a fifth for an 8x10 negative it would appear. I can tell I will be putting some time in learning to use it to its' full capabilities. That whimsical little statue was a scan of a print I made in my darkroom last week using Ilford 100. I am impressed by the clarity of image it sees in some of the MF Velvia I've scanned. I tend to like to underexpose Velvia, and therefore get greater color saturation. It seems to be able to get right into the darker areas and pick up detail. I don't saturate the color with effects, It's brilliant and deep as scanned. My first love however, is black and white. I really like Jon Shiu's images.

If the 8x10 "holder" you mention is the thing that comes with the 4990 when bought new, it actually isn't a holder, it's a guide for placing the film on the glass. I found that it was more trouble than it was worth - not that it was a lot of trouble to use but it's easy enough to see where the film should be placed without using the guide.

I never had much luck scanning 6x7 b&w film with the 4990 with prints larger than about 8x10. But for 4x5 and 8x10 it's a great scanner.

[venchka]

Brian,

You must be a lot more picky than I am. I sold a 16x20 frmo a 6x7 scan. It looked good enough to me to offer it for sale. The buyer certainly liked it. It's all relative.