New Epson flatbed 4490 (+ ICE)

[Bertram2]

[B]Hi to all,

does anybody own this scanner already which seems to be a 4180 plus ICE ?

Or can anyone point out a test or review of this scanner in English,French or German ?

Many thanks for all input ! 🙂

Bertram[/B]

 

[Heath]

I am also interested in info about this scanner.

Does it scan medium format negs? I am looking for a scanner that does up to 6x9 negs, so I can scan the shots from my Moskva and Graflex mostly, and my other MF cameras secondary, plus my 35mm stuff too.

Heath

 

[sunsworth]

Bertram I have a 4180 and am reasonably pleased with it. I can only imagine that the 4490 is better.

I've attached a couple of images taken with the 4180 to give you an idea of what the 4490 should be capable of. The first is a full frame scan I took with my Mamiya RB67 medium format camera in the Mosel valley. The second is a 100% magnification of this - i.e. one pixel on the screen = one pixel in the original scan. I haven't sharpened either image.

One thing I did find is that although the scanner is capable of scanning at 4800 dpi there isn't any real advantage compared to 2400 dpi. I now perform all my scans at 2400.

The 4490 can scan medium format negatives as can the 4180 - obviously since I've posted an image here 🙂

One thing to remember is the size of the files. If I scan a 6x7 negative at 48 bits I get a file of just under 200 meg!

Here are the samples

Steve

 

[peter_n]

Smashing scans Steve! Also BTW I really loved some of the pics you posted into your gallery this week, especially the ones from Paris.

If any of you folks haven't seen Steve's stuff, click on his gallery link and take a gander. Some excellent shots in there! 🙂

 

[Bertram2]

Bertram I have a 4180 and am reasonably pleased with it. I can only imagine that the 4490 is better.

I've attached a couple of images taken with the 4180 to give you an idea of what the 4490 should be capable of. The first is a full frame scan I took with my Mamiya RB67 medium format camera in the Mosel valley. The second is a 100% magnification of this - i.e. one pixel on the screen = one pixel in the original scan. I haven't sharpened either image.
One thing I did find is that although the scanner is capable of scanning at 4800 dpi there isn't any real advantage compared to 2400 dpi. I now perform all my scans at 2400.
The 4490 can scan medium format negatives as can the 4180 - obviously since I've posted an image here 🙂
One thing to remember is the size of the files. If I scan a 6x7 negative at 48 bits I get a file of just under 200 meg!
Here are the samples
Steve

Hi Steve,
many thanks for sending this demo, it is really a helpful input ! 🙂
The scanner does a good job and yes, all the DPI hype is exaggerated, for the web and for smaller prints 1600 dpi seem to be enuff anyway.
The huge 4800 files are good for huge prints only .
Ive seen your flower shots made with the RB67 and suppose the to be scanned with the 4180 ? They look great !

An alternative could be a cheaper Canon 8400 F which is limited to 3200 but said to handle 35mm negs/slides a bit better than the 4180, concerning shadow deatils mainly. What does nothing say about sharpness of course.

I haven't seen any 35mm scans from both. Did you ever try it with the 4180 to scan a 35mm neg or slide ? And do you miss ICE here ?

Best as always,
bertram

 

[sunsworth]

Peter - thanks I'll try and upload some more pics later.

Bertram - yes the flower shots were also scanned with the 4180. I've never scanned 35mm. I use the Coolscan V for those. I could experiment with the 4180 but all I'd discover is that the Nikon is better than the Epson so I haven't bothered.

I'd prefer ICE, but dust isn't as much of a problem with medium format since it is smaller in size relative to the size of the negative. However if there had been a version with ICE available for say 50 Euros more I would have bought that.

Hope this helps.

Steve

 

[doubs43]

This was scanned on a 4180. The negative is almost 35 years old and is Ilford FP-4.

Walker

 

[sunsworth]

Walker, what did you use to sharpen that?

Steve

 

[Byuphoto]

I have the 4180 and use lasersoft siverfast ? software. It will scan 35mm and 120, you can set for 645,6x6,6x7. If you like 100+mb files I think you will have all the resolution you need. The digital ICE software is good also. I get 40+MB files from 35mm and can crop and still get a excellent 8x10. I have produced beautiful 13x19' on my Canon i9900 and have a 40x60 i had printed in a local lab.