Epson V500 or V600

[Dwayneb9584]

Hey all,

I need to buy a scanner this Friday to start running some 35mm scans along with old 120. But I will be mainly using it for 35mm film. I wanted to know what you all think about this scanner. I was checking out both but leaning for the Epson V600. I wanted to know what you all think.

Thanks

 

[semilog]

I just ordered a 500 for scanning prints and for fast scanning of negs prior to wet printing or slow-scanning on my dedicated film scanner. I have a 4490 at work that I'm happy with, and the V500 is currently $149 postpaid, direct from Epson.

The 600 is claimed to have higher optical resolution but I suspect that this will be meaningless in real-world use. Otherwise speed, capacity, DMAX of the 500 and 600 all appear identical, and both have dust-removal (ICE). I think the V600 comes with PS Elements, which is not useful for me as I have full PS already.

Are there other differences that I've missed?

 

[Dwayneb9584]

semilog thanks. I just want to use it for scans for my blog to post stuff. As far as prints I will probably do from the negative if anything of mine were to get in a gallery in the near future or for my personal choice. But can I print from these scans at a say exhibition quality?

 

[semilog]

semilog thanks. I just want to use it for scans for my blog to post stuff. As far as prints I will probably do from the negative if anything of mine were to get in a gallery in the near future or for my personal choice. But can I print from these scans at a say exhibition quality?

From 6x6, probably yes. From 35mm, probably not, at least, not at sizes larger than say 8x10 in 35mm. For that I suspect you want a scan from a dedicated film scanner, or perhaps even a drum scan from a service bureau... But I have not actually tried making prints from a 35mm flatbed scan, and I would not be even slightly surprised if other RFFers say I'm wrong about this.

 

[Dwayneb9584]

So for like internet use a v500 should be fine then?

 

[tammons]

I have a V500 and its god awful.

If all you are going to do is scan some 35mm film, then I would suggest buying a Minolta scan dual IV from fleabay and sell it when you are done. You can find them for about $200.

If you have to have an Epson buy a V700

 

[oftheherd]

For internet use, almost anything should be fine. I have an Epson 4870 which is fine. In fact, up to 8x10 it prints well too. I haven't tried a bigger size. It scans 35mm, MF and 4x5 LF. No idea what it might cost anywhere.

 

[Michael Markey]

I have a V500 and am very happy with it.
In the past I was paying £10 a time for high res scans from Ilford and before I got the V500 I was concerned that it wouldn`t be good.
I was wrong ...it`s better.

 

[wblynch]

I have a V500 and its god awful.

I have an Epson 4490 and I agree.

But, the 4490 does allow me to scan old negatives in odd sizes, like 126, 127, 110 and even 70mm. So for that I'm grateful.

It also has pretty good color rendition and the digital ICE is great.

My complaint is that the scans are just not sharp and it is rather slow.

I am not convinced a 700 or 750 would be worth the extra money.

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Yea so, I'm looking to scan sharp images without resolution lost. Any recommendations for a good scanner that can do this without paying epson V700 price? Whats about the V600. Is this easily compared to the V500?

 

[Wahoo]

I have a V500 and its god awful.

They're are definitely not the best out there but for the cash, I was not disappointed.

Here's some V500 35mm negative scans using 4990 holders, also cheap and nasty.

Apologies for posting these again but they are of few that I'm sure which scanner was used -
first photo Pentax SPF (spotmatic type) and second photo Canon AE1 100mm ssc.

 

[freax]

I have a V500 too. Read the manual but I think the V500 can't do ICE in B&W work while the others can. I think it's the big difference besides the price 🙂

[]'s

 

[semilog]

I have a V500 too. Read the manual but I think the V500 can't do ICE in B&W work while the others can. I think it's the big difference besides the price

ICE works by having RGB + infrared channels, and depends on the film being IR-transparent, while dust is IR-opaque. So far as I know, any scanner with ICE will work well with chromogenic B&W emulsions (T400CN, for example), but not with conventional B&W emulsions, where the deposited silver grains are IR-opaque.

 

[semilog]

So I've now scanned 4 rolls of B&W 135 with my V500. It's perfect for making "digital proof sheets" at 1200 dpi. It's more than adequate for the web. It would *probably* make a good 4X6 print. It *might* make an o.k. 8x10, if everything were optimized. Bigger prints, not a chance.

For my purposes, this is perfect, especially for $150 postpaid.

 

[Bingley]

I've had a V500 for almost two years now. I got it so I could scan prints as well as 35 negs, and also to learn on. And I have not been disappointed. Nearly all my b&w scans (all except C-41) have been w/ this scanner. I scan at 2400 dpi. I bought glass inserts to hold the negatives flat (that was a major improvement). For web posting and for prints up to 8&10, I think the V500 is fine. As the digital part of my workflow improves, I may well upgrade to a dedicated 35mm scanner, but for now I'm happy w/ the results I'm getting from the V500.

 

[Darshan]

So I've now scanned 4 rolls of B&W 135 with my V500. It's perfect for making "digital proof sheets" at 1200 dpi. It's more than adequate for the web. It would *probably* make a good 4X6 print. It *might* make an o.k. 8x10, if everything were optimized. Bigger prints, not a chance.

For my purposes, this is perfect, especially for $150 postpaid.

Hi, I am thinking of getting the Epson V500. I have processed films that I want to scan for web purposes only, thinking of getting prints made directly from the negatives. I shoot both 35 mm and 6x4.5, almost 50/50. I have never scanned a negative before and only want to know how easy (or hard) it is to use this scanner. And are there any big issues with vista?

I mostly shoot B&W, any reason to get V600 over V500?

If you do recommend something else for my purposes, please let me know.

Thx.

 

[Darshan]

I've had a V500 for almost two years now. I got it so I could scan prints as well as 35 negs, and also to learn on. And I have not been disappointed. Nearly all my b&w scans (all except C-41) have been w/ this scanner. I scan at 2400 dpi. I bought glass inserts to hold the negatives flat (that was a major improvement). For web posting and for prints up to 8&10, I think the V500 is fine. As the digital part of my workflow improves, I may well upgrade to a dedicated 35mm scanner, but for now I'm happy w/ the results I'm getting from the V500.

Where can I find the glass inserts that you mention? And are there separate inserts available for 35 mm and 6x4.5?

 

[Darshan]

Any help? Come on guys...😀

 

[gshybrid]

Glass inserts

Glass inserts

Any help? Come on guys...😀

Better Scanning

http://www.betterscanning.com/

 

[Darshan]

Better Scanning

http://www.betterscanning.com/

Thanks for the link.

Any comment on post #16?