Upgrade to Epson V850 Scanner?

[neil poulsen]

Thanks for all the input. I'm reassured by the input that an 850 could be in my future at some point. But, not quite yet.

[Alan Klein]

Hi Neil

We just purchase a Epson 850 for our Lab use, I also own an Imocan and a Creo Eversmart Supreme. We thought it was a great device to do film contact sheets from old photo archives (which we do a lot of) and of course it works perfectly, but I had a lot of 4 x 5 and old 4 x 5 polaroids that I wanted to scan so we gave the 850 a go and to my amazement the files are incredible and from this size original I am making 16 x 20 gum over palladiums without feeling I have lost something... I can highly recommend this device.

I did a comparison between my V850 and another's Howtek 8000 drum scanner and they compared favorably.
https://www.largeformatphotography.i...ghlight=howtek

[bmikiten]

Interesting. I left him a message and will consider this as an option. I'm assuming (but will check) that SilverFast 9 supports most of these and the the interface issue can be resolved by adding an adapter.

Brian

[bmikiten]

Quick update to those following this. I purchased a piece of museum glass (2.50mm) and used a .060 shim (cardboard for the test) on both sides of the glass and got great full frame 8x10 negative scans. I used the Betterlight glass I use for 4x5 and measured from a granite base to the surface of the glass as I knew that it was perfectly in focus for my scanner. I then produced shims to move the museum glass to exactly the same plane above the lens. No issues at all and I can wet or dry mount with great clarity. This was much less expensive than any of the other methods (special printed or cut frames, etc) I tried and the entire assembly is less than $50.00. (cross posted in another thread as well)

[QT Luong]

Funny, I have been wondering the same. Mark Segal did an extensive review of the V850 at Luminous Landscape:
https://luminous-landscape.com/wp-co...nner-Final.pdf
He stated the V850 is "very good" (esp. for reflective) while the 4870 "isn't a bad scanner".

[jnantz]

Funny, I have been wondering the same. Mark Segal did an extensive review of the V850 at Luminous Landscape:
https://luminous-landscape.com/wp-co...nner-Final.pdf
He stated the V850 is "very good" (esp. for reflective) while the 4870 "isn't a bad scanner".

I am on the fence whether to get a new to me 850 ( who knows maybe epson clearance? ) or a used off of ebay 4870 to have in the wings for when mine completely pushes daisies ..
I've made some enormous prints from the 4870, and it was worth every penny paid (clearance epson like 15 years ago )... good to read it gets a pass!