[good or not?] Epson Perfection 4490 Photo for medium format

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gandalfk7

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hi, i bought a medium format TLR some weeks ago and since i do not
have an enlarger that can print 6x6 for the moment i am thinking about
selling my scanner (Canon Canoscan 4400F, takes only film in 35mm format)
and buy a used Epson Perfection 4490 Photo.

i'll use it for 6x6 and also for 35mm.

but i am not so sure of that scanner and i want to hear someone who used it.
it seemed to be good to me.

now i am in queue for it and the queue lasts for 48 hours from 10 minutes ago.

can you help me?


thank you very much for the aid you provide me.

Matteo
 
I've used the 4490 for both 2x2 and 35mm with excellent results. If the price is right go for it..
 
colyn said:
I've used the 4490 for both 2x2 and 35mm with excellent results. If the price is right go for it..
Click to expand...

thanks!
do you have any sample of your scans?
a question: with "2x2" you intend 6x6 or is something else?

thank you!
 
I love my 4490 for MF. It does very well indeed.
Here are a couple of examples...from a Great Wall DF-2, a Minolta Autocord, and a Mamiya C220:


1331810054_b7ea1790bc.jpg


1173233476_a14ad44a4a.jpg


1447704255_4bd636ccce.jpg


It manages B&W fine, too (Rolleicord Vb):

1444050196_f413265739.jpg
 
I agree, it gives very good results with 6x6, 6x7, etc. Just don't expect what you'd get from an Imacon (FAR more expensive)
 
I have a few examples in "Iskra" and "Flexaret" folders in my gallery. I like it for medium format.
 
If you will be scanning a lot of velvia slides then I would opt for the 4990 instead. I do, and had a 4490, and found it lacking. But for print film they are basically equivalent, except for large format capability.

For 35mm slides, I am sorry to say that both the 4490 and the 4990 will disapoint. They are okay for generating web output but not for prints from 35mm, in my opinion.
 
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I'm scanning some 120 pics I shot yesterday as I write this. The 4490's not a bad scanner, especially for the price. I don't like the cheap, plastic negative holder which can be a pain to load, especially if you use film that tends to curl. I also don't like the Newton Rings you can get if the film happens to contact the glass plate. But overall, it will deliver pretty good results. Attached is a pic of what I shot yesterday. Mamiya 220, Agfa 25 in Rodinal.
 

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keithwms said:
If you will be scanning a lot of velvia slides then I would opt for the 4990 instead. I do, and had a 4490, and found it lacking. But for print film they are basically equivalent, except for large format capability.

For 35mm slides, I am sorry to say that both the 4490 and the 4990 will disapoint. They are okay for generating web output but not for prints from 35mm, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Keith, What was the problem scanning Velvia? Did you have the same experience with Velvia 100, 100F, and 50? How about other slide films?
 
I got one of Doug Fisher's medium format film holders for mine and it works great for 6x4.5, 6x6 and 6x9, color neg, B&W and chromogenic B&W. I was pleasantly surprinsed by how well it scanned my fuji superia 100 negs from my Contax G2.
 
Michael P. said:
Keith, What was the problem scanning Velvia? Did you have the same experience with Velvia 100, 100F, and 50? How about other slide films?
Click to expand...

Michael, with velvia 50 and 100, I was often losing shadow detail. At the time I thought I was simply going to have to adjust my exposure, even though they looked pretty good to me on the light table. I should preface my comments by saying that I do not habitually underexpose velvia ;)

Anyway, I purchased a 4990 for 5x7 and 8x10 slides, and found that the slightly better Dmax (about 1 stop) that you get with the 4990 did make a difference. With both I was using the epson software or vuescan.

I still get things drummed for the very best results with velvia, but with a bit of work and multipass scanning I feel like I can get very acceptable results all round with the 4990.

With other chromes I had no issues, I also shoot provia 100F and agfa scala. The scala challenged the 4490 a bit too but not as much as the velvia.

Can't say anything about velvia 100F, I tried a few rolls and it didn't work out for me; I now use velvia 100 almost exclusively except I still have some old 50 in the fridge.

For b&w and print films I would say it's dead even, 4490 or 4990. Print films and chomogenics scan very well. Velvia is hard to get perfectly right on almost any scanner, I feel. It's worth the fuss though!
 
4490 vs 4990

4490 vs 4990

The 4490 is great for Medium Format. The 4990 is better on the Velvia because of the 4.0 Dmax instead of 3.4Dmax on the 4490. You can still get the 4490 from Epson for $150 and in some cases $110 if they have refurb. The 4990 is discontinued new, and occasionally available as a refurb at $279. The only place I have been seeing 4990 selling is used on eBay and the prices are outrageous, exceeding $400 often. The prices of the new v700, with 4.0 Dmax and largeformat scanning are not much more.

If I were you, I would seriously look at the very new Epson V500. Good reviews and reasonable price.
 
I use the 4990 for scanning medium format as well as 35mm, and I actually like the 35mm scans it does better than what I get from my Minolta Dimage 5400, which is supposed to be the king of 35mm scanners, despite the fact that it is no longer available new.

/T
 
Hi,

I also use a 4490 for my scanning. It works rather well 35mm slide and B&W. But for color negatives, i really don't know what to say. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

Just a question to all 4490 users, how do you handle scanning color negatives? I use auto most of the time (cos I'm lazy... ha ha)

some samples of slide and B&W:

Provia 400X:
869596904_d99831739a_o.jpg


Tri-X:
2021204230_14b557b675_o.jpg
 
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