Scanning Huge Archives - Help!

[Pere Casals]

Hello! My mother was a long-time professional film photographer who traveled all over the world and published about 12 books. I inherited her huge photographic archive consisting of everything from B&W negatives, 35mm color slide, 120, 645, 4x5 color transparencies. 90% of her work are color transparencies. Her best work is on 4x5 color transparency.

I am just beginning the process of archiving her library - and, I must say, it is a stunningly beautiful body of work. I am very excited about preserving my mother's legacy and I appreciate her on a whole new level as a photographer and artist.

I also inherited her old Epson Expression 1640XL scanner which has the capability to scan all of the above formats. I tried the VuScan software with it and it works perfectly with the scanner.

I am also a long-time film and digital photographer, but scanning is a relatively new process for me. Especially at any sort of professional level. Is this old 1640XL an adequate scanner for this purpose? I would like the best scans possible for creating large prints at some point. It's a huge undertaking and I'd prefer not to waste my time using inferior equipment that will only end up with mediocre results.

I cannot afford a drum scanner (!) and I don't know if the newer Epson v800 is up to the task. My head is spinning with all the various resolutions, dpi, DMax. I was just about to sell the 1640, but then thought better of it when seeing that so many of the resolution claims by Epson were inflated anyway. Thoughts? Your input would be so helpful to me. Thank you!

The V800 and V850 are very competent scanners, I strongly recommend you acquire one for that job.

As you are to scan transparencies take the V850 as it includes Silverfast Multiexposure feature that it is very interesting for very deep shadows in the tranparencies http://www.silverfast.com/highlights...posure/en.html

If you take the V800 you may purchase separately a software upgrade to have the Multi-Exposure.

For 4x5 and 120 the V850 will deliver lots of image quality that may exceed what you need or what film had recorded.

For 35mm I would recommend a dedicated 35mm roll film scanner perhaps a Plustek, the 35mm 8x00 series is cheaper than the 120 that makes MF.


As the format is larger you need less optical performance, first because a large format scan have lots of image quality even at lower dpi, and secondly because small format lenses have more optical performance and in some cases (tripod used, sharp film and ideal aperture) a higher optical dpi performance makes a diference, also in smaller formats grain structure can be much important in the aesthetics, so a higher optical resolution make also make a difference because that.

It can happen that you find some transparencies with very deep shadows, it the image is worth and the very deep shadows are important in that image then you may use a drum scanner service for that specialized job. I know a good photographer that had a V750 and a top notch drum, he used the drum for 5% of the images, and he said that half of those times it was not clear if it was worth.

If you had a scanning business the V850 it would not be the ideal flatbed, for the same reason a restaurant won't normally use the same microwave oven than the one I've have at home, but I would cook the same if having one or the other. Also V850 for personal usage spares a budget that can de used for drum service for the few cases a flatbed comes short.

Other flatbeds may not be in production, can have repair service problems and may lack drivers for modern operative systems. With the V850 you have 1 year warranty, official service and drivers for Windows 10.

Another thing is that V850 optimizes less the digital result so a bit of sharpening and curve trim is always effective in Photoshop, while some Pro flatbeds tend to be more intelligent, digitally cooking a bit the image to its best, but presonally I pefer a very raw scan, and perhaps I would apply a different sharpening strategy for the eyes than for the cheek in a portrait.

In short, I don't know a better choice than the V850 in the new gear market, in a budget, used pre-press gear is risky, and you may complement with a 35mm dedicated Plustek.

Another choice is buying a Hasselbald X1 and selling it when you finish, this is the luxurious way.

You can read this:

https://petapixel.com/2017/05/01/160...s-500-scanner/

[SuzanneH]

The V800 and V850 are very competent scanners, I strongly recommend you acquire one for that job.

As you are to scan transparencies take the V850 as it includes Silverfast Multiexposure feature that it is very interesting for very deep shadows in the tranparencies http://www.silverfast.com/highlights...posure/en.html

If you take the V800 you may purchase separately a software upgrade to have the Multi-Exposure.

For 4x5 and 120 the V850 will deliver lots of image quality that may exceed what you need or what film had recorded.

For 35mm I would recommend a dedicated 35mm roll film scanner perhaps a Plustek, the 35mm 8x00 series is cheaper than the 120 that makes MF.


As the format is larger you need less optical performance, first because a large format scan have lots of image quality even at lower dpi, and secondly because small format lenses have more optical performance and in some cases (tripod used, sharp film and ideal aperture) a higher optical dpi performance makes a diference, also in smaller formats grain structure can be much important in the aesthetics, so a higher optical resolution make also make a difference because that.

It can happen that you find some transparencies with very deep shadows, it the image is worth and the very deep shadows are important in that image then you may use a drum scanner service for that specialized job. I know a good photographer that had a V750 and a top notch drum, he used the drum for 5% of the images, and he said that half of those times it was not clear if it was worth.

If you had a scanning business the V850 it would not be the ideal flatbed, for the same reason a restaurant won't normally use the same microwave oven than the one I've have at home, but I would cook the same if having one or the other. Also V850 for personal usage spares a budget that can de used for drum service for the few cases a flatbed comes short.

Other flatbeds may not be in production, can have repair service problems and may lack drivers for modern operative systems. With the V850 you have 1 year warranty, official service and drivers for Windows 10.

Another thing is that V850 optimizes less the digital result so a bit of sharpening and curve trim is always effective in Photoshop, while some Pro flatbeds tend to be more intelligent, digitally cooking a bit the image to its best, but presonally I pefer a very raw scan, and perhaps I would apply a different sharpening strategy for the eyes than for the cheek in a portrait.

In short, I don't know a better choice than the V850 in the new gear market, in a budget, used pre-press gear is risky, and you may complement with a 35mm dedicated Plustek.

Another choice is buying a Hasselbald X1 and selling it when you finish, this is the luxurious way.

You can read this:

https://petapixel.com/2017/05/01/160...s-500-scanner/

Holy moly! This was incredibly helpful! Thank you for your generosity in sharing all this information. I have decided to go ahead and keep my old 1640XL as a second scanner. At the very least, I can use it to scan her old b&w negatives that I will not be making into large prints. I can actually run two scanners and two computers at once, and this will speed up my workflow. It makes sense to purchase the v850. Then, if there are images that just need that extra *umph*, I can always send out for a drum scan. It's all coming together for me now. I almost purchased the v800...but after your post and doing some more research, I think the v850 is the way to go. THANK YOU!!!!

[Pere Casals]

It's all coming together for me now. I almost purchased the v800...but after your post and doing some more research, I think the v850 is the way to go.

The V800 and the V850 are nearly the same hardware, single difference is that V850 has internal lenses coated, this can make some difference in some particular conditions, but the most important difference is bundled software, V800 includes Silverfast 8 SE while V850 includes SilverFast SE Plus, if you purchase V800 then you also can Upgrade to SE Plus version, here explains it:

http://www.stockholmviews.com/epson_...850-page3.html ... and the SE Plus version suports Multi-Exposure. The other included software, EpsonScan, does not include Multi-Exposure...

Silverfast Ai is the top versión, but find it not better to me than SE Plus.

V850 also includes "Two sets of film holders means you can prepare a second set of orginals for scanning while the first is still scanning." https://www.scanyourentirelife.com/e...r-differences/


Both the 800 and 850 uses a LED illuminator that does not need pre-heating, so it never delays starting an scan, and may require no calibration over time becuase LEDs are stable, the previous 750/700 model had a cold lamp...