Hello, at first I was considering purchasing the V500 for 35mm negatives until I realized it doesn't do 4x5. I'd rather not spend the money on a V700. Does anyone know if Epson perfection 4990 does 35mm and 4x5 with some sort of adapter? Thank you.
Hello, at first I was considering purchasing the V500 for 35mm negatives until I realized it doesn't do 4x5. I'd rather not spend the money on a V700. Does anyone know if Epson perfection 4990 does 35mm and 4x5 with some sort of adapter? Thank you.
The Epson 4990 does both 35mm and 4x5.
I bought a refurbished 4990 several years back. It comes with holders for 35mm, 120, 4x5 negatives and for 35mm slides, as well as an "area guide" which you can use if you want to scan a PrintFile sheet of negatives for proofing. You put the negatives in the holders, place the holders on the flat bed, and away you go!
It won't get much data from 35mm. It's really delivers somewhere around 1600 - 2000 dpi depending on how you measure it. By the time you get up to 2500 dpi the contrast drops considerably.
That being said, you'll be able to make nice prints from 35mm at 5x7 size and display images in the web quite nicely
Based on my experience with this 4990 scanner, Ken is exactly right. I usually print 8X10 or 11X14 with this scanner from 4X5. Try to get a few pro scans and prints in 8X10 or 11X14 and you will quickly approximate the price of the Epson scanner.
Don't under rate a really good quality 5X7 inch print from 35mm either. Take that slide or neg to a professional lab that will scan and then make a print for you and you will be surprised at how much they will charge you for that little 5X7 print. And if needs to be extensively photoshopped they will charge you by the hour. Where their scanner and printer will exceed yours is in ultimate resolution, shadow detail and of course the printer's expertise with that equipment.
The other nice thing the scanner, printer, software will do is provide a really good approximation of your vision of the image should you want a pro lab to do a high end print of one of your favorite images.
Scanning isn't fun but it can be rewarding to be able to control the photographic process from mage capture to final print.
Thanks for the help everyone. I've been told to find a dedicated scanner for 35mm but I don't see the point in owning two different ones. Does anyone have experience with the V5000? I'm comparing scans from the two online and the images from the 4990 don't seem too be far from the V5000.
For 35mm, pick up a used Minolta Scan Dual or Elite or whathaveyou and use the 4990 for medium format and 4x5. The 4990 just doesn't cut it for smaller formats, but I find it's just fine for anything 6x4.5cm and upwards as long as you don't print your medium format images larger than 2ft or so.
Minolta Scan Dual don't seem to expensive. Any thoughts on the Epson V330?
I don't have hands-on experience with it, but looking at the product page, it seems it only comes with a 35mm transparency holder. It will probably work with aftermarket/3rd party holders such as those from betterscanning.com, but it is clearly not targeted at amateurs that intend to scan larger formats, so it seems like a gamble to me. Also, given its low price, I doubt the optics are that good. I'd sooner go for a used 4990 that comes with the different media holders. BTW, I use the 4990 with its stock 4x5 (and other) holder and I experimented a bit with lifting it higher to improve sharpness, but I noted only marginal improvements. Perhaps with fluid mounting, some more data can be captured, but I wouldn't count on it. And not at all with a cheap scanner such as the 330.
Hm I think I will go with the Minolta Scan Dual III. I guess I'll just need to download Vuescan to get it working on Windows 8?
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