Epson 4490/ Minolta DSIV comparison

Thanks for the review! What are typical scan times? I assume you would have mentioned any great difference there. Do you plan to check out scanning utilities like Vuescan or Silverfast?
 
Scan times are about the same, though the ease and stability of the Epson makes it faster, and you can scan 12 frames in a batch on the Epson.

I tried Vuescan, but the Epson software seems better- I prefer all the image work be done after the scan. Multi-pass on the Epson didn't add anything except time. Sort of like ICE- I don't use it on the Epson, and don't miss it on the Minolta. Way too long, and a good cleaning works as well.
 
I've heard good things about the Canoscan 8400f, and it does MF. I can get it shipped to Canada, all-in for $230 from etronics.com

Any user opinions on this one?
 
sockeyed said:
I've heard good things about the Canoscan 8400f, and it does MF. I can get it shipped to Canada, all-in for $230 from etronics.com

Any user opinions on this one?
Click to expand...

I have one, but I haven't used it a whole lot yet. I paid $150US, although $50 of that was covered by a coupon. For the price I think you get a lot. I like the 35mm carrier--it's sturdier than I expected from others I've seen, and is designed to spread the film flat as it clamps down on the edges. The scanner feels pretty sturdy, and is larger and heavier than my old second-hand Visioneer.

Now, keep in mind I don't have a lot of experience in photography or film or scanning!

It can thumbnail 12 frames in less than a minute. You can use these to set cropping, rotation, and adjust curves, levels, contrast, color balance, etc. for each frame from within the driver.

It can do 16-bit monochrome and 48-bit color, if you're willing to wait. It has infrared dust and scratch removal (FARE, not ICE), if you're willing to wait. It can scan 12 negative frames at a time, if you're willing to wait.

I harp on the waiting, but the fact that the driver crashes occasionally (in Win98) during batch scans makes slow even slower. I like the driver interface--it gives me enough control that I don't need to do much post-processing if I don't want to, on the easier negs.

By the way, to scan 12 frames at once you need two strips of 6. Everyone I know cuts strips of 5. I can get it to scan beyond the image area on three sides but not all four, which really bums me out.

On BW negs it does wonders with "thin" areas, does lousy with dense highlights. You might have to adjust your technique if this is going to be your darkroom.

Slides you just place on the glass, inside a frame. They come out soft, and rather dark. I haven't scanned any MF. I've only scanned a couple of prints, but I was pleasantly surprised with what I got.

Styling: It would not look out of place in an early Star Trek movie, as a photon torpedo perhaps, or sitting next to a recent Dell Dimension.
 
I got around to doing this-

This is a shot of Tri X (over) developed in HC110. The first shot is the Epson, the second the Minolta. The Epson scan may have had some levels work done, otherwise they're raw scans-excuse the dust please! Oversharpening the Epson scan will make it look like the Minolta.

Those are my new glasses. Time marches on.
 
I see some moire on the epson scan in the glasses, did you use a doug fisher holder on this one?

Todd
 
Oh, I was going to mention that! No, my test roll of film was curly, and it touched the scanner glass there. I should have put it in emulsion-down and mirrored, or waited 'til it flattened. Not an issue with the Minolta, obviously.
 
What, no medium format tests? Pffffffffft :p

of course, i'm just joshin ya, thanks for your time in doing this :)
 
OK, OK!

Actually, my MF "career" got sidetracked when my "new" Mamiya C330 needed a lens replacement, so the portrait below is from the Yashica 635 I gave away last week or so. I put it on the table, set the timer, and hoped the shutter chose to work. I cropped out the mess, otherwise as is including another moire pattern (which made me buy the Doug Fisher holder). Film is Fuji Portrait 160, subject me and the love of my life.

For Taffer, the second shot is near Begur, Ektachrome, Olympus Stylus Zoom 140, scanned with Epson. This is my computer wallpaper. I have another scan on the Minolta that has nicer resolution, but this one was web-ready.

I now use the Epson for all black and white, and the Minolta for all slides.
 
aad:

you said in your first post that if you use the Epson with chromes don't go any higher than 5 x 7. In your opinion is the print at this level good? I have just purchased the 4470 and haven't even unwrapped it yet! Before I do just wanted to check. Let me know if you think that this will be a problem. I don't anticipate prints larger than 5 x 7 and I shoot 35mm exclusively.

Thanks,

Scott
 
I think the prints will look fine at 5x7, especially compared to prints made from slides optically years ago. You will need to do some post processing, mostly unsharp mask, and some slide film seems easier to scan than others. I've printed Minolta slide scans at 8x10 and they were wonderful-so if you compare the two pictures in the first post, you shoud get an idea.
 
Can you make some 100% crops from the sharp part of the Tri-x picture? I think the Epson look fine at this size, except for the Newton rings.

/matti
 
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