Comparison of Howtek 8000 Resolve to Epson V850

Since I decided to move to a drum scanner, my first step was to obtain scans of negatives that I have scanned with my Epson V850. These two images are one example. The Howtek scan was down at 4000dpi while the Epson was at 6300dpi. Focus was set on the Epson best I could at the time the scan was made. It was wet scanned while the Howtek was a dry scan (currently getting a wet scan of another neg for comparison of wet vs wet)

Right off the bat, you can see the differences in the scans. From my perspective, the Howtek wins hands down. The Epson is no slouch by any means and does a fantastic job especially for a cost of 1/8 that of the Howtek and I would say that if you were to display your work side by side of both scanners of the same images, no very few would be able to see the differences. But having spent quite a bit of time scanning and photographing and knowing my images, the differences (all positive) are unmistakable.

I performed the identical conversion from neg to positive, ie, all settings were identical. I did no post processing at all on either image, no curves adj, sharpening etc. Both were 100% quality jpgs using Bicubic only and both are identical in size (3686 x 4688 pixels)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5c3394c9_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...02f0e1b7_b.jpg

Howtek 8000 Left Epson V850 Right

Conclusion, the Howtek 8000 will be well worth the investment, especially as I start to do astrophotography and science with large format film

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The one on the left is higher contrast. With such an image, people will favor the higher contrast. This is just like comparing audio components. Unless the loudness levels are equal, people will tend to favor the one that's louder, even if it's only by a very small amount.

True. But when starting with a better foundation it is easier to build a better house. That is what this was research was about. What gives me a better foundation to start with. My other scans I had done also support that drum scanner provides a better starting foundation.

Peter,
Once I get settled into my new place, I will continue my film testing if your still willing to help.

ps,
It is Friday, thought a little scanner war/discussion would be fun. :)

Nice. I can see the better separation in the shadows in the one with the higher contrast.

Of course, Steven. I'm glad to help.

Here is a positive. Fuji Provia 100F. As before these are both just raw linear scans with gamma set to 2.2 after brought into PS, no adjustments, etc. One thing is the Epson Scan has a magenta cast. Something I have been fighting with a lot of my epson scans that are color. Which is an odd thing given they are are all linear raw scans that have zero manipulation with the scan software. Ie, wysiwyg.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5639db34_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bd2f6187_c.jpg

Howtek 8000 Left Epson V850 Right

Since you specifically mentioned resolve (resolution?) I will ask, why are we looking at ~4600 pixel wide images from a scan original of almost 20k pixels (4000 DPI at 5 inches)?

I don't doubt the Howtek is vastly superior to the Epson, in many ways, but if you are showing that you should pull up a 100% crop and do a side-to-side comparison of a small area of the film (with the resolution matched).

A drum scan is only as good as the operator and I would guess you haven't mastered the scanner yet having just got it, so that's another consideration.

No scanner war needed, btw. I'm happy to have my Cezanne chugging through 3 rolls of film while I type, instead of mounting film on a drum, but that's just me and irrespective of any resolution/DMax considerations.

Actually the name is 8000 Hiresolve. Well, I posted the full images here simply to be able to see the full scans side by side. I can certainly post 100% crops, but sometimes we get focused on a tree and not the forrest. The old saying, "can't see the forrest for the trees". Looking at the Provia images, a 100% crop would only show part of the story and not the rest of it. My intent here is just a high level observation and then we can dive down into the finer details.

ps,
I have put a down payment on the scanner so I won't get it for a while as I am on a waiting list. The Howtek scans were done by the company that restores and sells these scanners. Tomorrow, I will make 100% crops of the images for everyone to peruse.

I was being facetious on the scanner wars. These kinds of threads always bring out the best in everyone.

I have probably 500 plus rolls of 35mm film and even more strips of 35mm film to scan in. Was thinking of the the Nikon LS-8000ED. What scanner would you recommend for scanning large quantities of 35 mm film. Color neg, slides, bw.

Some of the smaller Nikon scanners designed for only 35mm have auto-feed scanning ability - I think it's the Coolscan V and 4000 models that have that? There's also the popular Pakon scanners, but the cost of those scanners has skyrocketed in the past couple years. Of course you could buy one, and then resell once you go through such a huge archive.

No reason to spring for the 8000 - that one does up to 120, so if you are only looking at 35mm that's a worse option as I don't think it has any autofeed attachments.