Epson Expression 1680 Pro-First Impressions

[miccos]

Canoscan 8800F

Canoscan 8800F

I just picked up a Canoscan 8800F and I have to say I'm impressed, leds top and bottom, and it also has a bracket for 120 film. For $199 it's fantastic.

 

[wakarimasen]

Aha - LEDs top AND bottom! Is this why scanning negatives on my HP machine (a standard 'all in one' unit) is so bad? It's just a standard scanner with a white background in the lid!
Which flatbeds have LEDs in the lid - all of the designated 'film' or 'photo' units?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Aha - LEDs top AND bottom! Is this why scanning negatives on my HP machine (a standard 'all in one' unit) is so bad? It's just a standard scanner with a white background in the lid!
Which flatbeds have LEDs in the lid - all of the designated 'film' or 'photo' units?

Often a fluorescent source, as far as I can see. For my old Agfa Snapscan 1200 it was an add-on replacement lid that cost nearly as much as the scanner; on my 1680 Pro, a gift from a friend, it appears to be standard.

The 1680 Pro is pretty good for MF and excellent for 4x5 and above, but I'm not impressed when it comes to 35mm: it can't hold a candle to my Konica Minolta Dimage 5400-II.

Cheers,

R.

 

[miccos]

8800f

8800f

I don't think there are many around like the 8800 with LEDs top and bottom. You remove an insert with the white background and it exposes the LED in the lid. Perhaps it's just not marketed well as it seems to do the trick quite nicely. The auto retouching did a great job on a couple of damaged negatives I had as well.

 

[wakarimasen]

Are the Epson models (4490, 500, 700 etc....) not like this then?

 

[venchka]

For a consumer flatbed scanner to scan film, there must be a light source behind glass in the lid. There are many Epson models that are designed to scan film.

Roger, the transparency adapter for the 1680 was an option. However, I believe that Epson also sold the scanner and transparency unit as a bundle. I ran across several different packages when I was researching my recent purchase. My unit came in two boxes: 1 for the scanner and 1 for the transparency unit.

 

[miccos]

Upon looking into it further, there are ones from HP and Epson that are all designed that way, and very reasonable too.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

...I love this scanner!

6x6 AGFA L ISS negative from 1969. Mamiya TLR. 80mm/2.8 lens. Scanned at 2,400 SPI. TIFF file converted to JPEG and resized for the web. This image is a bit large, but I wanted y'all to be able to see a bit of detail.

Thanks for looking!

Wayne, didn't you ask a question about AGFA ISS film some time ago? ISS stands for Isopan Super Special. Right now I am scanning some films that my late uncle made in the nineteen fifties with his Rolleicord, and he mostly used this type of film.

 

[venchka]

Thanks. I also discovered that Margaret Bourke White used Agfa ISS in the 50s also in a Rollei. Some of her negatives are in a museum/library in Oakland, CA and online. I bought the film in 1969 in Gerrmany. I should have brought a large case of it home with me. REALLY really really nice film.
The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the Mamiya lens was 105mm.