Epson Scan assistance

[Heroique]

When using a V850, do you know if the scanner still uses the better film holder lens if you checked "film with area guide" rather than "film with film holder" ? Or does it revert to using the more inferior glass platen lens as when you scan 8x10 film.

Here’s how I understand EpsonScan works with the V7xx/V8xx models, which have two scanning lenses: the lower resolution lens, and the higher resolution (SHR) lens.

Selecting “Film (w/ Film Area Guide)” activates the lower resolution lens. The so-called “film area guide” is a cheap piece of flat plastic Epson wants you to lay on the glass, so you can position the 8x10 film on the glass in the right place. You must select this option for 8x10 film – well, unless you want to scan just a portion of it with the higher resolution lens (below).

Selecting “Film (w/ Film Holder)” activates the higher resolution (SHR) lens, which scans a smaller area than 8x10. BTW, I understand this lens scans at a wider aperture than the lower resolution lens.

The two lenses will have two different optimal scanning heights. One should do some testing to determine the ideal scanning height for each lens!

Note: Epson 4990 users, like myself, must also choose the “film guide” vs. “film holder” option – but since the 4990 has only a single, fixed-focus lens, it doesn’t matter which option is chosen. The single lens will behave the same way for either option. I suspect this is also true for the 4870.

[Heroique]

Just to add, here's a quick summary of what I remember people reporting here:

The lower resolution lens of the v7xx/v8xx gives an effective resolution very similar to the 4990's fixed lens, right around 1800 dpi.

The higher resolution lens of the v7xx/v8xx (the "SHR lens") gives better effective resolution than the 4990 – and it's more significant, up to 2300 or 2400 dpi.

These are real-world resolution measures, not the extravagant ones claimed in Epson’s literature.

[Alan Klein]

I scan at 2400 on both my v600 and v850. I checked with higher resolutions and they don't seem any better.