4990 or v700: what's the practical difference?

[msbarnes]

if any?

I have 4490 with stock holders and I'm thinking of upgrading. The most apparent improvement is having the ability to scan six 6x6 negatives instead of three (well two currently with the stock holders but I was also thinking of going betterscanning too which supports more) and the ability to scan large format.

My questions:
1) Is there a difference in scan speeds between the 4490, 4990 and v700?
2) Is there a difference in image quality improvement between those three models?

 

[Mudman]

definitely scans faster and has a faster start-up time. I think I've seen a difference in scan quality, but I dunno. I was using the original Epson software with the 4990, and I use VueScan with a friend's V700. I think the color is better on my V500 compared to some of my old 4990 scans, but then again, I have a lot more experience now.

 

[XFer]

The V700 has a dual-lens setup.
One lens covers the whole glass bed (about A4 size), has the focus point on the glass surface and can only resolve up to about 33x50 line pairs/mm.
The other lens only covers a central portion (150 x 246 millimeters) of the area, has the focus point at about the height of the film in the film holder (so a few mm above the glass surface) and can resolve up to about 40-42x60-62 line pairs/mm.

While the first figure (first lens) is about on par with the 4990, the second lens gives a nice resolution advantage to the V700.

The V700 is relatively well built, has a good noise floor and decent color accuracy.

I published a review in Italian; I know, not an easy language to understand, but figures and samples should be interesting nevertheless:

http://www.effeunoequattro.net/htdocs/freecontent/FC_ProvaV700/index.htm

 

[cabbiinc]

You can compare a V750 and 4990 side by side at http://www.largeformatphotography.info/scan-comparison/

Keep in mind that they are likely from different users who may or may not have known what they were doing and may or may not influence the results more.