My NDA with Epson expired at midnight yesterday.

Epson has officially announced two new scanners today. The V-700 Photo and the V-750M.

Of most interest to our group is the V-750M. The V-750M has two two features I think we will find useful: a wet mounting platform for medium and large format ( but I don't remember if the fluid mount platform is large enough to accommodate 8x10, my recollection of my discussions in November with epson is that it won't) for critical scanning, and improved standard film holders. The standard film holders are The wet mounting option is only with the V750-M PRO but the new standard film holders are for both of the new scanners are height adjustable in two + .5mm steps. The new film holders also look to be more heavy duty as well. this feature addresses the concerns of those who have said they had problems getting the film in focus. As of my last contact with Epson about the technical details of the new scanners, the wet mounting platform is not height adjustable.

The advantage of wet mounting is that the film is held absolutely flat. Wet mounting is trickier than just laying your film in a holder but if you are going to be scanning medium or large format and have had film flatness issues (I did with the Epson 4990) this should be a better solution. Will digital ICE work with the wet mounting?

The Epson 4990 Photo and 4990 PRO have not been discontinued. These are upgrades, not updates to the 4990.

Epson tells me that these scanners are "true 4800 ppi" scanners, and that resolution was measured by using 1st generation targets created specifically for measuring scanner and offset press resolution, not copies of the 1951 USAF target.

I don't have a V-750M PRO for review yet but should have one with in the next 2-3 weeks. I'll be reviewing for Professional Photographer and maybe Camera Arts.