Thoughts on Eversmart Pro

[SeanEsopenko]

I've heard a lot about the older Imacons (flextights) but not much about the Eversmart Pro. Has anybody used this scanner and could provide their thoughts on it when scanning colour & b&w negatives? I'm looking for something for both 6x7s and 4x5s. 4x5s at about 20x24 and 30x24 and 6x7s up to 16x20. The Eversmart Pro and the older Flextights seem like good choices for the $2500 range.

I'm pretty sure it's worlds above a V700 in resolution but I'm curious if it has the bit-depth to do a good job of removing the orange mask and I'm also curious how it performs compared to an Imacon. Also I noticed it has a Rodenstock lens inside. How does this work? Is it basically a dedicated film scanner with a moveable lens instead of a lens array like a regular flat bed? Does it have focusing capabilities and will it perform OK if I put ANR glass on top of the transparency to maintain flatness?

Anybody have any opinions and information they can throw in?

update: it appears from this old thread (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=13015) that an imacon may be easier to get up & running and one person is inferring that the imacon's scan results should be similar.

[mcfactor]

I use and eversmart jazz+, which is an older version of the pro and i have access to imacons. I actually like the way the eversmart renders the grain vs the imacon. With the eversmarts you have the option to wet-mount, which gives you much smoother grain than the imacons. If both are dry scanned, and the sharpening on the imacon is turned off (-120), they are very similar.

[SeanEsopenko]

I use and eversmart jazz+, which is an older version of the pro and i have access to imacons. I actually like the way the eversmart renders the grain vs the imacon. With the eversmarts you have the option to wet-mount, which gives you much smoother grain than the imacons. If both are dry scanned, and the sharpening on the imacon is turned off (-120), they are very similar.

How are they at removing the orange mask? I'm unable to find info on the bit-depth of the eversmarts. Which software do you use with your eversmart?

[mcfactor]

I have found it much better than the epsons. i was never able to get a completely clean, balanced scan with them. The jazz+ is 8-bit, im not sure about the pro, but I have not had any issues with banding or anything that would indicate bit-depth issues (although I dont do extreme manipulations with the film). I run eversmart scan, which is essentially the same as oxygen scan. It is a little clunky, but once you get the hang of it, it is easy enough to use.

[sanking]

I have found it much better than the epsons. i was never able to get a completely clean, balanced scan with them. The jazz+ is 8-bit, im not sure about the pro, but I have not had any issues with banding or anything that would indicate bit-depth issues (although I dont do extreme manipulations with the film). I run eversmart scan, which is essentially the same as oxygen scan. It is a little clunky, but once you get the hang of it, it is easy enough to use.

The Eversmart Pro uses Eversmart Scanning application which only allows 8 bit saves. However, the analog to digital conversion is made in 14 bit so if you adjust the image in the pre-scan to get very close to what you want in the final, then convert to 16 bit before doing any manipulation of the image file, very good results are possible.

The Eversmrt Pro II uses oygen software and allows saves in high bit.

Both the Pro and the Pro II, which have optical resolution of 8000 X 3175 dpi, are vastly superior to the Epson V700/750 scanners, and better than the Imacon Flextights also. In fact, for color negative film and B&W film I find the Pro to be as good a the Howtek 4000/4500 drum scanners.

Sandy King

[Corran]

Is it at all possible to use the Eversmart Pro on a Windows machine? That's been my only qualm with it, or else I'd have bought one. I have read that it doesn't work on Windows at all.

[D. Bryant]

Is it at all possible to use the Eversmart Pro on a Windows machine? That's been my only qualm with it, or else I'd have bought one. I have read that it doesn't work on Windows at all.

If you can purchase an Eversmart Pro, it's worth buying a legacy Mac to operate the scanner.

[SeanEsopenko]

I did a bunch of reading and the pro ii uses oxygen software which works with windows, but I think thats for the iqsmarts. Plus from what I read in the brochures I found and from other opinions the windows oxygen software is heavily crippled.

Sent from my Android phone

[mcfactor]

Yeah, I had to buy an old G3 mac tower to use with the jazz+, but it was well worth it.

[sanking]

I did a bunch of reading and the pro ii uses oxygen software which works with windows, but I think thats for the iqsmarts. Plus from what I read in the brochures I found and from other opinions the windows oxygen software is heavily crippled.

Sent from my Android phone

So far as I know the Pro an Pro II scanners will not work with Windows. They were designed to work with MAC OS8 and OS9 systems. You do need a SCSI card, not included with G4 towers, but cheap to buy. Probably the best computer for this is a G4 tower with 500 Mhz processing speed. Less speeds slows down scanning operation, more is not necessary as maximum speed is limited by the logic board of the scanner.

You could also run a Pro II with MAC OSX and firewire but getting this to work may take up more time than it is worth. The best way, IMO, is to dedicate a G3 or G4 to the scanner and run it with the last classical MAC system, OS 9.2.2.

Sandy

[Corran]

That's really too bad. I frankly don't have room for a huge scanner, but if I need an additional computer/monitor/etc. it's a total deal-breaker. There's no where to put it!!

[sanking]

That's really too bad. I frankly don't have room for a huge scanner, but if I need an additional computer/monitor/etc. it's a total deal-breaker. There's no where to put it!!

Many would consider the size and weight (165 lbs) of an Eversmart scanner a deal-breaker in itself. However, scanning itself is a very time intensive activity and if you devote much time to image processing you sure don't want to have your main computer tied up with scanning.

That said, if you don't have room for a second computer you probably don't have room for an Eversmart.

Sandy

[Corran]

True enough. I'm very much looking forward to getting a house soon. Unfortunately "soon" is probably still 1-2 years.

[SeanEsopenko]

I think this is really an exploration of scanning options at around the $2500 mark. For me it needs to do 4x5 and 6x7 so the nikons are out (and they're way too over-inflated any ways).

I just talked to Robin at Genesis and he said that a Howtek 4000 with mounting station & one drum can be had for $2200 with about $700 freight, completely refurbished. A completely refurbished Eversmart Pro II would run almost double that and the freight would be the same. I don't think software was included with either and Silverfast for the Howtek would be much easier to acquire.

Robin said the drum scanner might be better for me because I won't be scanning large numbers of images while the flatbeds are more for labs that need a high output. I kind of agree and that mounting station is pretty damn cool from a video I saw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSB0aCTtLwY) :). (I already do wet mounting on my V700 using a technique Jim Kitchen showed me)

So the Howtek would be about $3000 all in with Silverfast, by the looks of it. Anybody in Southern Alberta/Western Canada that may want to pay to get their film scanned? :D