Very disappointed with scans from Epson V330

[Rangeman133]

I guess you really do 'get what you pay for'. About a week ago, I had just bought a 50mm summicron, and an m6. I've shot 7 rolls already. A few days ago, I bought the Epson V330.

I've tried everything, even with silverfast...but I'm not satisfied at all. I had a few prints done at CVS for 3 of the rolls, and they came out OK looking. But I know there is more detail in the negatives that can be extracted.

In the past, I used a Canoscan 4400f for negs from my Olympus XA. The Canoscan simply doesn't work anymore. But I did get good use out of it, and I had my workflow perfected really nicely.

But I'm not sure about the Epson V330. Infact, I plan on returning it, and getting the Plustek 7600i Ai. With Silverfast 8, I've seen some nice looking scans on the web, and on the website it says its compatible with osx Lion.

If you have more experience with scanners, would you advise the plustek? I already spent 2,200 on the camera and lens...so I want to keep the budget for a scanner below $500. And the plustek seemed to get good reviews. I'm specially interested in the 'multi-scan/exposure' feature, to get an increased dynamic range from my negatives.

Usually I'm not so mad about developing and scanning photos. I just enjoy the 'act' of taking photos with the camera. BUT...with this new setup...i'm very intrigued to see what the film and lens are capable of. i definitely want to see a quality end result.

would appreciate any advice, or recommendations for scanners in the $500 range...thanks a lot.

 

[jippiejee]

I'm using the Epson V700 and Silverfast, and am never disappointed really.

 

[Bob Michaels]

I never saw any reference to post processing what you got out of the scanner. What exactly are the deficiencies of the scans you got from the V330? And why were you not able to correct them in post processing?

The idea of getting a good file out of the scanner with no post processing just is not going to happen. Not with a $300 scanner, not with a $3,000 scanner, not with an Imacon. At least it has never been possible for me in 10+ years.

You will almost always get a better print from a $150 P&S and the kiosk at Wal-Mart than comes directly from the scanner. But it is hard to beat a well processed file with just about any scanner.

 

[bgetty]

My Epson V300 gives me great results, and I use the bundled software for any necessary processing. Minor curve adjustments for B&W film, slight tweaking of color balance and saturation for C-41...simple as that.

 

[zauhar]

I am using the Canon 9000 with VueScan, and I am very happy with B&W, not sure about color yet. I need to learn better processing for the latter case.

Randy

 

[ScottAlexander]

I'd love to see samples from the scanners mentioned.. As I will be in the market for a scanner when I have to return my friends Coolscan V

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

I don't know about the V330, but I assume it is similar to the V300 and V500. I use the V500 and I am quite satisfied with prints up to 6x the linear dimension of the film. That is, I make 12x18 inch prints from 6x9cm negatives. That makes scanners in this class very useful working with 120 film and useful for web and prints to, say, 5x7" from 35mm.

I have posted tests and a sample file at 8x12" and 12x18" from a 6x9cm negative in this long thread on another site.

Rangeman, if you are having trouble getting a good 4x6 print from your V330 scans, post a sample file here, and I'm sure help will follow.

 

[Rangeman133]

vuescan to the rescue! i'm now actually happy with the results. now realized that there is a lot more that goes into scanning, than just 'scanning'.

here's a crop at 100%. used 800 iso film here...scanned at 2400 dpi...scaled down to 4x6, it looks good enough for my standards.

Thanks for the pointers though...i think ultimately, vuescan helped quite a bit...and also i did some tweaking around with the settings. i'll scan some more negs using the exact same method, and hopefully it works every time.


i'm pretty sure i underexposed the photo from above...and that's why some of the details int he shadows seem to be lost...when vuescan software tried to bring them back out.

 

[VF101]

I'm very happy with my Epson V330, the images on my summicron blog have all been scanned with the V330: http://cron40.de/galerie-1/. I have to say that scanning slides is easier though; negatives require a lot of post processing.

 

[mijosc]

I use a PlusTek 7600i and am very happy. I agree with the poster who said every scanned image can benefit from a bit of post processing. Starting with a good scan seems to be a key as well, with SilverFast or VueScan being at the top of the list for scanning software.

As happy as I am with the PlusTek, I just purchased a Hasselblad 500C/M this week. So now I need something to do medium format as well. It would be ideal to consolidate down to one scanner. I'm thinking maybe an Epson V750. I wish PlusTek would come out with their medium format scanner soon.