Should I Drum Scan, X1 Flextight Scan, or use the Epson V850 w/Aztek Wet Mount Kit?

[Pere Casals]

I have tried scanning on a couple Epson's and my experience has always been negative. Total pain in the ass and the scans are crap. I own an Epson and I only use it for scanning prints for the web. Mostly I scan negatives on a FlexTight in NYC

Problem is not the scanner. But the man in NYC knows how to edit color, as many Pro scanner operators.

See here how Pali K nails exactly the same colors in a side by side of two Creos, a Scanmate 11000 Drum and an Epson V700 https://www.largeformatphotography.i...=1#post1478033


Epson and Flextight are both IT8 calibrated machines:




Both have to nail exactly the same calibrated RGB values for each particular patch, and they both do, colors in the target are quite a wide range to ensure a perfect color calibration.


What's the difference?

The man in NYC is everyday, all day long, playing with color !! Are you ? (Now you have a clue about what happens)

If you spend a full month with an image playing with balance, contrast, saturation, curves, etc you won't match his color edition because probably he used a 3D LUT transformation that cannot be emulated with your tools.


Want to control color? empower your self.

First calibrate your Epson with the included target, if it is a V700/750 the lamp changes over time, the LED illuminated V800/850 are totally stable.

> Get the best color edition tool and master it: 3D LUT Creator.

> Get a battery of good presets (for Ps or standalone) and explore it well to solve with 2 clicks many of the shots.

We probably will never reach the level of a good Pro colorist, many they are true artists, but if you are creative and if you enjoy color edition you will be able to customize your images in a superior and personal way.


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If you want, post (dropbox) the Epson scan and X5 scan, (16 bits/channel) and I'll show you how color can be matched with little effort, 3D LUT Creator feature makes a conversion 3D LUT in two clicks.

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PD: Color is like a trials bike, with the same bike I don't do the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQFIkz202c0

PD: Scan 16 bits/channel, save in tiff, take all histogram for a dull initial image having all range.

PD: color enhacement is a post scanning science that has been critically important in the industry, it was used in digital minilabs and today it is used in the smartphone cameras. Best choice is having the scan as raw as possible an later using the dedicated software tools you prefer.