Scan Dual III/IV vs. Epson V500 for 35mm color negatives

[allen_a_george]

I'm interested in scanning 35mm color negatives (Superia/Portra) for web viewing. These have been recently taken, so they're not going to be extremely dirty or anything. I'm not interested in printing, nor doing extreme cropping, so I don't need the absolute best in image quality.

Since price is a concern I'm considering a used Minolta Scan Dual III or IV or a new Epson V500. I realize the limitations of flatbeds for 35mm negatives, but circumstances have changed and I simply cannot justify $350 or more + shipping to Canada for a used Coolscan IV even.

My concerns:

1. Will the lack of ICE on the Scan Duals make a huge impact on recently-taken color negatives?
2. Does the Scan Dual have better quality than the V500? Everything I've read says that even old dedicated negative scanners are much better than the latest-generation flatbeds.
3. Am I simply better off paying $4/roll for low-res scans from Costco?

At least for now the images I'm posting are 1024x768 pixels. In the future I can see myself scanning only for as large as 8x10 output, but more likely smaller.

Thanks,
Allen

 

[jja]

I am not familiar w/ the V500, but my guess is that it might be the way to go. I owned an SD-IV, and it was an amazing machine for b&w--arguably better than my current Nikon--but I could never get good color scans from it. Color required too much post-processing for my patience/skills, and lack of ICE was also more of a problem in color.

If the V500 has ICE, my guess is its resolution will be adequate for your needs, but hopefully you'll hear from a v500 owner.

 

[allen_a_george]

V500

V500

So, I bought a V500. BestBuy had them on sale here in Canada; looked like they were clearing stock - I'd expect new scanners from Epson at Photokina.

Here are two pictures that I just scanned last night, both downsized to 1024 x 768, in PNG format with no compression:
http://www.box.net/shared/pa1iubp8it
http://www.box.net/shared/0dm6sjgcf5

(All links open up in a separate window)

To my eye these are much better than anything Wal-Mart has given me. But they're only in-line to the scans I get from a local Fortinos (Loblaws). The Fortinos uses Fuji Frontiers, and though I never expected great quality I was pleasantly surprised with with I got back, especially the even-handed approach to sharpening. OK, because everything is PNG and uncompressed I've not embedded them inline. The links should allow you to download the file if you're interested.

Epson scan (image 1): http://www.box.net/shared/fnsover1by
Frontier scan (image 1): http://www.box.net/shared/ry2bmcmpeb

Epson scan (image 2): http://www.box.net/shared/sdr8yxfegt
Frontier scan (image 2): http://www.box.net/shared/b2kzvkh7h5

100% crop of Epson scan (left) vs. Frontier scan (right) of image 2:
http://www.box.net/shared/65sua2hx3p

All Epson scans have medium USM, with no ICE (hence the flecks and stuff 🙂) Just wanted to know . . . is this the best I can expect from the V500 with stock Epson software and holder?