epson 4990 driver

[briphoto]

Hello,
I have a 2008 Mac Pro using 10.5.8, will the driver for the epson 4990 work with this or do I need a Mac G4 or G5 with Tiger?
Thanks for any help
Brian

[Ben Hopson]

According to the driver available for download on the Epson site, it is compatible with Intel Macs running OSX 10.5

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/s...ntosh&x=25&y=8

Ben

[bvstaples]

I'm running the EpsonScan on my new 27" Imac with SnowLeopard (10.6.x).

Brian

[briphoto]

Thanks for the responses, don't know why I didn't think of checking
Epson support. Probably brain dead that day. I purchaed one of the refurb units and should be receiving it today. I've been reading the user's guide at the Epson site and I'm curious about the fact that it's okay to scan 8x10 film on the glass but you need to use the holder for 4x5 film. Doesn't that put the film in different focal planes? Any one here scan 4x5 on the glass as you would 8x10. I will be scanning both sizes.
Thanks,
Brian

[Heroique]

Hi Brian,

As you continue to investigate your soon-to-arrive 4990, you'll discover that its single fixed lens focuses at one plane, just above the glass. For critical scans, it will be important to identify this "best plane of focus" (which varies slightly from model to model) and scan at this height. This will take some patient testing, and several forum threads discuss the details. (For example, I found my "best plane" at about 2mm above the glass, w/ some DOF in the bargain; I think Epson's assumption is that this DOF is sufficient to "cover" 4x5 film in the holder, and 8x10 film on the glass, though ideally, you want to scan all film at your scanner's best plane of focus.)

The Epson 4x5 film holders approximate this height, but there's no way to tell if they're accurate w/o running tests. And even if they are accurate, they're rather flimsy, cause the film to sag, and "hide" a considerable portion of the film's edges. For an alternative, be sure to check out Doug Fisher's "better scanning" film mounting station here, which is designed to address this issue. Since the station's height is "infinitely variable," you can adjust it in precise increments until its height coincides w/ your particular scanner's most suitable plane of focus. (Several threads also discuss "homemade" mounting stations.)

Good luck ... with a little testing and practice, the refurbished 4990 becomes a marvelous & reliable scanner for its price.