Epson v500

[Photo_Smith]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I've been using the V500 for several years and have never figured out how to "correctly" set the black, white and middle gray points for each scan. Simply moving them to each end of the histogram results in a horrible scan. Please explain, thanks.

You will get a flat scan with all the info, which then goes into photoshop, follow this link:

http://photo-utopia.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/scanning-with-epson-v500.html

 

[Photo_Smith]

Thanks for that, I didn't realize that the scanners were just interpolating information above 2,000 dpi, especially since one of the selling points of the v500 was it's 6,400 dpi capability. When I got the scanner, I figured the 12,800 setting was the one to avoid for that reason, not anything higher than 2,000. Hmm.

It's not that you can't get higher resolution, just that with the standard scanner film holders and without some sort of hight adjustment the tolerance just isn't there.
In tests my V500 did about 1800 with the standard holder.

Resolution, like Dmax is often theoretical rather than actual practical use.

The Imacons might get 6000 but i somehow doubt the V500 is in that league, beware of 'technical' specifications!😀

 

[Dana B.]

You will get a flat scan with all the info, which then goes into photoshop, follow this link:

http://photo-utopia.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/scanning-with-epson-v500.html

Smith, Thanks for the link. I'm scanning some MF negs as we speak. I'll try your method. Cheers, Dana

 

[jordanatkins]

It's not that you can't get higher resolution, just that with the standard scanner film holders and without some sort of hight adjustment the tolerance just isn't there.
In tests my V500 did about 1800 with the standard holder.

Resolution, like Dmax is often theoretical rather than actual practical use.

The Imacons might get 6000 but i somehow doubt the V500 is in that league, beware of 'technical' specifications!😀

Wow, now I feel like a dummy thinking that this scanner was all I needed.

So far I've only used it for scanning old family photographs and about 1,000 slides to make a DVD slideshow of my grandpas photography from the 1940's-80's a few years back. It did great for those, but I didn't go over 2,400 for the slides because it took too long.

Now that I graduated from college and don't have a real darkroom to work in anymore, I was planning on using this scanner to make digital prints of my work, but I'm going to need a scanner that can give me large output because that's how I print!

Guess I have some shopping to do...

 

[jordanatkins]

Smith, Thanks for the link. I'm scanning some MF negs as we speak. I'll try your method. Cheers, Dana

This is exactly my method that I was trying to describe earlier, the article just does a better job. You set the black and white points at the edges of the data (where the histogram begins and ends), and move the result into photoshop. Sometimes when I don't want to mess with photoshop (like when I was doing my grandpas slide scans), I just set the output at 8 for black and 244 for white, then went back to the histogram and slid the gray point until it looked good to my eye, just for a quick and dirty adjustment with absolutely no clipping and a good place to start for print output.

 

[wblynch]

Jordan, don't be discouraged. The Epson V500 gives perfectly usable scans. You can make prints all day long from the scans it gives.

May people are obsessed with pixel peeping (looking much finer that realistically necessary).

I think if you print 35mm at 8x10 or smaller you will be very pleased.

Back in the film days, 'common wisdom' was you shouldn't print 35mm larger than 8x10 anyway.

If you need a sharper low-cost 35mm scanner for slides I can also recommend the Canon FS2710. They are old and unappreciated. You can get them for $50 to $100 and they will scan a color slide in about 15 seconds.

Wow, now I feel like a dummy thinking that this scanner was all I needed.

So far I've only used it for scanning old family photographs and about 1,000 slides to make a DVD slideshow of my grandpas photography from the 1940's-80's a few years back. It did great for those, but I didn't go over 2,400 for the slides because it took too long.

Now that I graduated from college and don't have a real darkroom to work in anymore, I was planning on using this scanner to make digital prints of my work, but I'm going to need a scanner that can give me large output because that's how I print!

Guess I have some shopping to do...

 

[Dave Jenkins]

Kirk Tuck uses the V500 for almost all his scanning. His technique is worth reading.

http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/06/window-light-in-early-evening.html

 

[Stuart John]

Just thought I would add a few 35mm V500 scans to this thread.

 

[whitecat]

Good work!