Epson v500

[Ronald_H]

Hey Roland, thats great. How large have you printed with this scanner and 35mm negs? I have the V600 and am trying to get the best results that I can get out of it for prints. Can you share your scanning technique?

Thanks
Joe

Hi Joe, I never printed 35mm scans from the V500, as I have a Nikon Coolscan V for that. But looking at the trial scans I did with the V500 you should be able to make good 30x20cm prints. With 120 I had some 50x50cm prints made from scans from 6x6 negatives.

My scanning technique is nothing special. I use the Epson software as I am comfortable with that. I use IR dust reduction and an unsharp mask at the ´low´setting. 48bits color output at 2400dpi. With a correctly exposed neg very little PP is usually needed.

Hope this helps.

 

[wblynch]

I have the 4490 (precursor to the V500) and use it for 110, 126 Instamatic, 127 and 120.

It works pretty good for all those. (and 110 negs are tiny ~16mm)

I have a better scanner for perforated 35mm and mounted 35mm slides that's much faster, but the 4490 can do those too.

But the Epson does a fine job. I have printed 126 up to 8"x8" square with fine results.

I use the Epson software always at 2400dpi and start with auto exposure and color correction off. Then I play with the settings a bit to get a good basic scan.

All my scans go to Photoshop for final touch up and corrections. Some films scan very well and require few corrections, other films just want to be more difficult.

I think a profile target would be helpful.

When you get used to it, the process is very simple and you don't spend much time at all. My complaint is setting the crop frames. That's the biggest pain.

 

[Joe AC]

Hi Joe, I never printed 35mm scans from the V500, as I have a Nikon Coolscan V for that. But looking at the trial scans I did with the V500 you should be able to make good 30x20cm prints. With 120 I had some 50x50cm prints made from scans from 6x6 negatives.

My scanning technique is nothing special. I use the Epson software as I am comfortable with that. I use IR dust reduction and an unsharp mask at the ´low´setting. 48bits color output at 2400dpi. With a correctly exposed neg very little PP is usually needed.

Hope this helps.

Thank you.

Joe

 

[charjohncarter]

This is off topic, but I recently went to the Cindy Sherman exhibition if San Francisco. She used a 35mm camera in her early days, and (enlarger) printed to 8x10. The show had many of these. They were not what most would say (today) were sharp, sharp. But their presentation, and feeling had that classic B&W (TriX) 35mm punch. I hope that scanners (any scanner without the hours of post) some day will give us that.

 

[gavinlg]

Careful with the Epson flatbeds and their infamous 'line' issue. Over half the 35mm negs and at least some of the 6x7 negs I scanned with my brand new v600 ended up having this godamn purple or green line going in a perfectly straight line right through the scan - it's really hard to see until you magnify it, and then suddenly you see it on every scan and it becomes really obvious. It has something to do with dust on the scanning LED lamp and it's basically impossible to tell when it's going to do it, and when it isn't. It also seems most if not all of them have this problem.

Personally I'd buy a canon equivalent just because of this. Epson are in my naughty books big time.

 

[camperbc]

Wow, I'm dumbstruck that an Epson V500 costs $300 in Australia! (would hate to think what a car or house must cost in your country!) I just paid $164.99 for a V600 here in Canada, plus it came with a $20 mail-in rebate, which brought the price to below that of a V500.

I'd think it would make some sense to purchase your scanner from Canada or the USA; even after the hefty shipping fees you'd likely still be way ahead of the game.

Gavin, that line disappears as soon as you wipe down the glass to remove the dust that causes it.

Glen

 

[charjohncarter]

Careful with the Epson flatbeds and their infamous 'line' issue. Over half the 35mm negs and at least some of the 6x7 negs I scanned with my brand new v600 ended up having this godamn purple or green line going in a perfectly straight line right through the scan - it's really hard to see until you magnify it, and then suddenly you see it on every scan and it becomes really obvious. It has something to do with dust on the scanning LED lamp and it's basically impossible to tell when it's going to do it, and when it isn't. It also seems most if not all of them have this problem.

Personally I'd buy a canon equivalent just because of this. Epson are in my naughty books big time.

That is very easily fixed of the V500 by removing 4 screws and cleaning the INSIDE of the glass.

 

[gavinlg]

That is very easily fixed of the V500 by removing 4 screws and cleaning the INSIDE of the glass.

I couldn't see any visible screws on my v600, and they all pretty much do it. If you search 'epson purple line' on google you'll get a multitude of hits. If you're dissembling it you're likely to void the warrantee too.

 

[hathi]

I'd like to add a couple more questions about the Epson v500, for the knowledgeable. I've been learning to process B&W film and scanning at the university library, but their scanner is frame by frame and it takes forever.

About how long does it take to proof scan a roll (say 36 shots at ~2000 dpi) on the Epson? Can one scan multiple frames at once?

 

[charjohncarter]

If you're dissembling it you're likely to void the warrantee too.

How would they know?

 

[Argenticien]

About how long does it take to proof scan a roll (say 36 shots at ~2000 dpi) on the Epson? Can one scan multiple frames at once?

Like wblynch above I'll speak for my 4490 which is nearly the same animal. The OEM frames hold two strips of negatives. I think they can be 6 frames each, but I cut mine to 5 to fit negative holders, so that's 2 x 5 = 10 frames per scan; so to scan 36 frames (35, 38, whatever you get out of a roll) takes then 4 batches. Time varies tremendously depending on whether you use dust removal, ICE etc. I should say I'm using Epson's own software. If in the preview it finds the 10 frames properly and you can just rotate those that need it and click Scan, then that batch might take 10 minutes. You then walk away and fetch a pint. 🙂 If your camera has spaced the frames very closely (as e.g., my Vitessa does), and/or the photos fall off to near-black at their edges (as any night shot might do), then the preview/thumbnail tool will often not find the frames properly; you then must then muck about manually selecting the images (either in the preview; or scan each strip as one big file and carve it up in Photoshop) and that adds non-negligible time.

--Dave

 

[hathi]

Dave,

Thanks. That sounds like a much simpler workflow. The scanner in the media lab at work is pretty pokey, but I think it would be useful if there were 1 or 2 frames that I really wanted to print large or scan into a huge file.

I should just order the Epson and get to scanning. I've got quite a backlog. I should probably also go grab a pint while I'm at it. 🙂

 

[kanzlr]

This is new territory for me .. is the V500 suitable for scanning 6x6 negs do you think, as well as 35mm?

I use the 4490, the V500 predecessor for 6x6. For 35mm the resolution is not high enough.
I get 7 MP out of 6x6 slides, that would mean some 2-3 MP for 35mm I think?

Invest € 200,-- and buy some used Reflecta 2700 for 35mm.
Of course you CAN use the V500 for 35mm. But why would you...

 

[gavinlg]

How would they know?

Sometimes companies put special stickers on opening parts from the inside so they can tell when they've been opened. Also marks on screws etc.

 

[Michael Markey]

That is very easily fixed of the V500 by removing 4 screws and cleaning the INSIDE of the glass.

Thanks for that John ...I assume that you are ref to the four screws in the lid ?

Michael

 

[Pherdinand]

plenty good for 35mm too, just dont exaggerate with print size.
Come on guys.. forget it for 35mm?? is THAT your personal experience??

 

[Pherdinand]

I'd like to add a couple more questions about the Epson v500, for the knowledgeable. I've been learning to process B&W film and scanning at the university library, but their scanner is frame by frame and it takes forever.

About how long does it take to proof scan a roll (say 36 shots at ~2000 dpi) on the Epson? Can one scan multiple frames at once?

you don't proof scan at 2000 dpi... :/
How big would you print "contact sheets" from a whole roll of neg?? Why do you need such an enlarged "proof scan" ??

Proof scan with the Epsons is very fast at reasonable resloution for monitor viewing. By very fast i mean 10-15 seconds per frame. You spend most time loading the scanner. Which depends on experience, patience, care, regarding how long it takes.

 

[Pherdinand]

regarding the opening/cleaning: Yes they will know if you opened it up. I also think it will invalidate the warranty. But i never had to use warranty ...
Mine was fine upon arrival but some time later developed a slight fog on the inside so i did open it up and it cleaned up nicely. It's due to the plastic components inside outgassing in time and at increased temperatures. Not much to do against it except cleaning the glass.

 

[ray*j*gun]

the scanner is excellent.......and I use the factory software.

 

[Argenticien]

I use the 4490, the V500 predecessor for 6x6. For 35mm the resolution is not high enough.
I get 7 MP out of 6x6 slides, that would mean some 2-3 MP for 35mm I think?

Check my math(s), but even scanning at 2400 dpi, isn't it:
(1 inch * 2400 dpi) * (1.5 inch * 2400 dpi) / (1,024)^2 = 8.24 MP ?

One can argue about is a 24 x 36 frame exactly 1 x 1.5 inches, or is it 0.9 x 1.4123, etc, but on general magnitude 8ish MP is considerably more than 2 - 3 MP.

Again I too speak only for the 4490, but the often-repeated advice to get the betterscanning.com holders applies, I suspect. I don't know how good they are as I haven't got them ... yet; but I do know the lightweight OEM holders have a hard time keeping film flat, especially in 120. I'm sufficiently tired of this that I'm about ready to fork out a bunch of cash for the betterscanning.com ones. (A reasonably safe investment even though my 4490 is old; the same ones will work in my future V500 or V600.)

--Dave