Epson 4870 or new V500

[Drago]

Hello. Thinking about these two. Price about the same, ofc the V500 will be brand new. Plan to scan 120 film only. The 4870 has better Dmax of 3.8 and the V500 3.4, which should produce better tonal range and shadows right ? On the other hand i guess the V500 should give better sharpness. Which one would you choose and is worth to purchase the older model vs brand new. Thks 🙂

 

[gb hill]

I bought my V500 refurbished from Epson at a good price & it works very well for me. I use it mostly foe 35mm b&w & the only 120 I have done was shot with my Holga, but was well pleased with the results I got. One thing I found out is my V500 came with Adobe PS6. Other people have stated that their V500's came with a different editing software & that I was fortunate. This might not be a big deal for you but I find using a good editing software a + in the game.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

V500 is how much new now?
I paid something like 160 couple years ago.
If old one is 60, makes sense.

 

[ray*j*gun]

another vote for the V500..... excellent results in both 35 and 120 and especially like the B&W scans.

 

[Drago]

It's still available in Europe for about 200 euro. It'll be used for B&W medium format scans.

 

[robert blu]

Cannot say about the V500 but I bought half an year ago a V600 to scan 120 neg both color and B&W and I'm satisfied.
robert

 

[Highway 61]

Plan to scan 120 film only.

I'm in the very same situation, and have to replace my 3170 which causes me banding with not perfectly exposed 120 B&W negatives (yes I have tweaked the cover light source for transparencies so that I've got rid of the uneven illumination problem well known with the 3170 for long - banding is another issue and seems to be caused by a capacitor having aged somewhere in the electronics).

Not wanting to pay through the nose for a flatbed (I have an LS-4000 for the serious 35mm scanning job) I have been looking for second hands 4490, 4990, 4870... then looked at the V500, V550, V600 from new eventually...

Result : got a second hand 3200 for... $40. Now in the postal system. 😉

A very good machine it seems :

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Scanners/Epson_3200/page_1.htm

 

[xvvvz]

A 4870 and V500 will produce scans that equally as sharp IF they are both in good working condition. At this point, you will definitely want to open up a 4870 and clean the underside of the glass to remove the built up hazing that happens over time. If you can find a good 4870 for a great price, that certainly is a viable option.

If you plan to go the V500 route, do as the other poster mentioned and look at the clearance center on the Epson website for your country and see if they have any refurbished V500/600 scanners available (stock/availability changes daily).

Doug

 

[Highway 61]

At this point, you will definitely want to open up a 4870 and clean the underside of the glass to remove the built up hazing that happens over time.

Seems to happen with all Epsons ; my 3170 has some but a friend's V700 has even more of it...

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

I don't know the 4870. But, I get good scans of 120 from my V500. I like a sharp print, and I'm satisfied with prints 6x to 8x the linear dimension of the scanned film. See my postings in this thread and here's a sample image ready to print at 12x18".

FWIW, here's the same sample image at screen size:

 

[Highway 61]

Very nice scan !

IMO there aren't bad scanners when it comes to scanning MF and larger. Besides its film illumination and electronics problems my cheapo 3170 could floor me in that respect :

Bottom line : keep in mind that most of the Epsons will actually scan up to an actual value of 1600dpi (older models) to 2400dpi (V series). Over this, the scanner software interpolates the raw data coming from the machine - not good (PhotoShop will do it better if necessary).

 

[Particular]

Bottom line : keep in mind that most of the Epsons will actually scan up to an actual value of 1600dpi (older models) to 2400dpi (V series). Over this, the scanner software interpolates the raw data coming from the machine - not good (PhotoShop will do it better if necessary).

I'm not sure this is correct. I think the Epsons do scan their stated hardware resolution, but are limited by the lens, mirror, glass plate and don't achieve much practical resolution over 2000dpi. The upper limit depends mainly on the skill of the operator.

I used to have a 4870 and now have a 4990, which is a little faster. I'm not sure about the v500, but, being newer it may also be faster. The advantage of the 4870 is the larger scanning bed (for transparency) which will allow you to scan a larger batch at once. I don't think the Dmax makes much difference unless perhaps you have a lot of kodachrome or very dense technical pan. Careful scanning will still be the largest factor in image quality.

 

[Highway 61]

Valid points, sure, plus where the focus plane is (which is often unknown with flatbeds). Also : the lamps (in the scanner base and in the cover lightbox) play an important role, too.

Careful scanning, nitpicking post-processing.

 

[Drago]

Thks for the responses. I guess a V500 would be my choice