vertigo
Newbie
I've been doing research on slide scanners for my mom for a Christmas present. She has roughly 4000 35mm slides to scan (not sure what kind or if they're all color, B&W, or a mix), and despite my repeatedly warning her that it will take forever in both learning how to do it and actually doing it, she insists that's fine. So the question then becomes what scanner to get. She isn't too worried about quality, and we figure once they're scanned any she does want done in higher quality can be sent to a service. So I'm trying to figure out the best scanner for under several hundred dollars. She also wants to be able to scan photos, which means if I were to get a dedicated scanner I would still have to get a flatbed, though not necessarily a high-end one, so the combined cost might still be less than a nice (i.e. V700/V750) flatbed for everything.
Here are my options based off my research:
Epson V700/V750: DMAX of 4.0, good resolution, able to do everything but also much more expensive and more reliant on proper slide placement etc for the best results
Pacific Image PrimeFilm 7200u (Reflecta ProScan 7200): DMAX of 3.8, better resolution, easier to use but unable to do multiple scans at once, much cheaper
Pacific Image PrimeFilm XE (Reflecta ProScan 10T): DMAX of 3.9, best resolution, slightly more than 7200u but still much cheaper than Epson
I was initially considering the Epson V600, but due to its low DMAX (my understanding is this is a critical spec for slides) I've ruled it out.
Unfortunately, while everyone agrees that dedicated film scanners are better than flatbeds, they are always talking about film scanners that cost 2x as much or more, and they are talking about film, not slides. I'm trying to determine which of these is the best option for what she is trying to do, bearing in mind as well that she doesn't intend to print the photos, just have them for computer viewing and emailing primarily. Any she might want to print she could send to a service. I have no problem spending up to the cost of the Epsons if it's worth it for improved quality, or if it would be significantly easier for her in being able to load up several slides at once and walk away, but if the cheaper ones will work just as well or better due to being dedicated to the job, I'd rather save the money and just buy a cheaper flat bed to accompany it and still likely come out ahead. Additionally, I'd rather avoid buying an Epson due to their somewhat questionable reliability and terrible customer service, as I don't believe in rewarding companies for that. So all else being equal, I'd much rather spend my money elsewhere. I'm leaning toward the XE, as it's slightly better than the 7200u but still relatively cheap.
Besides cost and scan quality, another consideration is ease of use or, more accurately, quality without having to be a pro. IOW, I'm not only interested in the comparative capabilities of these scanners, but how they do with an amateur at the wheel. So even though one might be ultimately capable of better quality scans, if that's only with an in-depth knowledge of how to tweak everything whereas without that knowledge and time the scans are no better or even worse than what a different scanner will do with limited user intervention, then I would lean toward the latter.
I would say in order of importance, I'm looking for: ease of use, scan quality, speed (ability to do batches, scan speed), then price.
Another thing to mention is she is running an old, slow computer, still on XP with probably 4GB or less of RAM (pretty sure it's 32-bit XP). If need be, I can let her have my old laptop with an i7 and 8GB RAM running Win 7 Ultimate x64.
Until about a week and a half ago, this was a world unknown to me, and I know nothing about film/slides/etc, so I appreciate any and all help you can provide.
Here are my options based off my research:
Epson V700/V750: DMAX of 4.0, good resolution, able to do everything but also much more expensive and more reliant on proper slide placement etc for the best results
Pacific Image PrimeFilm 7200u (Reflecta ProScan 7200): DMAX of 3.8, better resolution, easier to use but unable to do multiple scans at once, much cheaper
Pacific Image PrimeFilm XE (Reflecta ProScan 10T): DMAX of 3.9, best resolution, slightly more than 7200u but still much cheaper than Epson
I was initially considering the Epson V600, but due to its low DMAX (my understanding is this is a critical spec for slides) I've ruled it out.
Unfortunately, while everyone agrees that dedicated film scanners are better than flatbeds, they are always talking about film scanners that cost 2x as much or more, and they are talking about film, not slides. I'm trying to determine which of these is the best option for what she is trying to do, bearing in mind as well that she doesn't intend to print the photos, just have them for computer viewing and emailing primarily. Any she might want to print she could send to a service. I have no problem spending up to the cost of the Epsons if it's worth it for improved quality, or if it would be significantly easier for her in being able to load up several slides at once and walk away, but if the cheaper ones will work just as well or better due to being dedicated to the job, I'd rather save the money and just buy a cheaper flat bed to accompany it and still likely come out ahead. Additionally, I'd rather avoid buying an Epson due to their somewhat questionable reliability and terrible customer service, as I don't believe in rewarding companies for that. So all else being equal, I'd much rather spend my money elsewhere. I'm leaning toward the XE, as it's slightly better than the 7200u but still relatively cheap.
Besides cost and scan quality, another consideration is ease of use or, more accurately, quality without having to be a pro. IOW, I'm not only interested in the comparative capabilities of these scanners, but how they do with an amateur at the wheel. So even though one might be ultimately capable of better quality scans, if that's only with an in-depth knowledge of how to tweak everything whereas without that knowledge and time the scans are no better or even worse than what a different scanner will do with limited user intervention, then I would lean toward the latter.
I would say in order of importance, I'm looking for: ease of use, scan quality, speed (ability to do batches, scan speed), then price.
Another thing to mention is she is running an old, slow computer, still on XP with probably 4GB or less of RAM (pretty sure it's 32-bit XP). If need be, I can let her have my old laptop with an i7 and 8GB RAM running Win 7 Ultimate x64.
Until about a week and a half ago, this was a world unknown to me, and I know nothing about film/slides/etc, so I appreciate any and all help you can provide.
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
I have some old slides and negatives to scan. One thousand maybe, max.
They are in bad condition. Almost all of them were "stored" for years is jars and boxes with household items. Deep scratches and else.
So, I tried them at V500. Epson scan software is good for fresh film, but with missing emulsion and scratches it calculates very bad. I haven't tried with third part software, but went with cheap PI, Reflecta 7200 instead, for more resolution.
Nice and small and ... very noisy. Crapy software comes with it, but ... iCE is way better. I'm not getting amazing slide colors with it from old slides, but it masks all damages well enough without overdoing like Epson does.
I run comparison test and 7200 was quicker to scan vs V500.
With its software all I have to do is to feed next frame and press single button on the unit. But still one roll is about one hour at 2100 dpi.
I have only ICE enabled and JPEG1 conversion, the rest is off.
It is good with our trashed old color negatives and slides.
Bad with b/w. V500 with its sw ignores horizontal scratches from bulk loader.
7200 with its software dumps them all into scan. And scans are weird as well.
I have tried V500 and 7200 last night with VueScan in demo mode.
Couldn't make it scan thumbnails with V500, only single frame. And still wasn't impressed with B/W from 7200. Scan button doesn't seems to be working as well.
They are in bad condition. Almost all of them were "stored" for years is jars and boxes with household items. Deep scratches and else.
So, I tried them at V500. Epson scan software is good for fresh film, but with missing emulsion and scratches it calculates very bad. I haven't tried with third part software, but went with cheap PI, Reflecta 7200 instead, for more resolution.
Nice and small and ... very noisy. Crapy software comes with it, but ... iCE is way better. I'm not getting amazing slide colors with it from old slides, but it masks all damages well enough without overdoing like Epson does.
I run comparison test and 7200 was quicker to scan vs V500.
With its software all I have to do is to feed next frame and press single button on the unit. But still one roll is about one hour at 2100 dpi.
I have only ICE enabled and JPEG1 conversion, the rest is off.
It is good with our trashed old color negatives and slides.
Bad with b/w. V500 with its sw ignores horizontal scratches from bulk loader.
7200 with its software dumps them all into scan. And scans are weird as well.
I have tried V500 and 7200 last night with VueScan in demo mode.
Couldn't make it scan thumbnails with V500, only single frame. And still wasn't impressed with B/W from 7200. Scan button doesn't seems to be working as well.
froyd
Veteran
Maybe you should ask your mom to look at it a different way.... send out the thousands of slides to a bulk scanning service for average result, and then home scan the keepers is she's that keen to get into scanning.
Alternatively since you are considering v750 $$$, maybe you can stretch a little more and get a dedicate batch slide scanner that can do 50 slides at the time . You are getting close to $1000 but you can probably sell it for $800 after you she's done.
Alternatively since you are considering v750 $$$, maybe you can stretch a little more and get a dedicate batch slide scanner that can do 50 slides at the time . You are getting close to $1000 but you can probably sell it for $800 after you she's done.
marameo
Established
PPI and DMAX values are normaly blown up by manufacturers. My knowledge is that those Epson scanners are able to resolve up to 45lpm and the actual DMAX is around 3 or below.
They do a decent job with MF. They don't, when it comes to 35mm.
Super COOLSCAN 9000 ED is the king.
They do a decent job with MF. They don't, when it comes to 35mm.
Super COOLSCAN 9000 ED is the king.