Comments on the Epson 4180

[Byuphoto]

Considering buying one. Any comments pro/con?

 

[Per]

I have the 4180 since 6 months. First scanner ever so nothing to compare with.
I started to scan through a lot of old slides and I´m pretty satisfied. Sure quality suffers on the way from slide to pc to inkjet print but less than I expected.
Now I mostly scan B&W negs and it works OK. I scan them straight (48 bit color) and work them in PS. I have also tried some c-41 b&w anc compared neg to print scan. See no difference.
Most annoying have been scanning of mf-negs. The Epson mf-holder makes me go crazy. I have ordered Doug´s mf holder and expect an easier life.
I have turned to straight scanning without adjustments pre-pc, otherwise the scanning takes oh so much time. A 35 neg with dust reduction, unsharp mask and color fixing can take as much as 10-15 minutes!
A b&w neg, no adjustments, 48 bit color, max resolution 3-4 minutes.

All in all, it´s cheap, delivers ok scans but, scanning, and this is not against the 4180 but in general, is the boring, boring side of photography

 

[dominicLF]

I was considering this one, but only because it seemed like a cheap, good quality way to do Medium Format scans. Can you say more about why this is a problem? What is “Doug’s Adapter”?

Thanks!

 

[Per]

It may just be me that is clumsy but I the original epson mf film holder is not friendly with me. I am supposed to lay the film in the holder and then fell down a transparant lock over the film. The lock will spread the light over and.. lock the film in the holder. Well it just don´t work for me. Medium format negs are not totally flat so either the stripe will not sit on the supposed edges in holder or will be locked in a not optimal place, hard to adjust.

I have my hope on this one
http://home.earthlink.net/~dougfisher/holder/usingholder.html

The mf negs I have been lucky to scan are satisfactory to me.

 

[doubs43]

All in all, it´s cheap, delivers ok scans but, scanning, and this is not against the 4180 but in general, is the boring, boring side of photography

Amen! Scanning IS boring which is why I keep a supply of good books and magazines handy when I'm scanning. I also use the time to clean lenses, cameras and other photo items.

I like my 4180 with one maddening exception. There are times when a negative will cause the scanner to narrow the area it covers - a shot of the moon is a good example - and not return 100% of the image. Sometimes I can re-scan using 48 bit color and it'll give me a full scan but sometimes nothing will work and that's aggravating in the extreme. I use the "Professional" mode and set the controls for a full-frame scan but it automatically reverts to the smaller format. That's something that Epson needs to resolve if they ever hope to sell me another scanner.

Walker

 

[Per]

Yeah, that is an annoying thing. Sometimes, not always, a light or dark streak down the neg makes the scannes think that this is the place between two images. This is totally random and makes life worse for a while.