What do you want from an Epson V900?

[sper]

Not that I've heard anything about a planned replacement, but I thought it would be fun to start a thread about what we might want from an Epson V700 replacement.

1. Useable ICE. I couldn't tell the differences between ICE and non ICE scans with the Nikon Coolscan V. On the V700 ICE makes my images look terrible. So much noise.

2. Better holders! How about a way to keep 120 film flat? or to scan a full frame 4x5 negative?

3. FASTER

4. Better integration with Lightroom/Aperture.

5. Better dmax. 35mm chromes look like poop. C'mon.

6. 4000ppi. REAL 4000ppi. Forget 6400 interpolated, who even uses that? Just give me a scanning lens capable of scanning 4000ppi.

My biggest gripes would be ICE and flat negatives. Even if they came out with a V700S, that had useable ICE I'd think about it.

 

[sanmich]

would be great.
But you basically want a product equivalent to a coolscan 9000 at the epson price.
I hope I proove wrong, but it seems a bit hard to achieve...

 

[sper]

If we can put a man on the moon, we can in 2011 build an affordable scanner with good quality.

I'd pay up to 1000 dollars for what I describe above.

 

[RF-Addict]

Considering that film scanners are quickly becoming a niche product, I doubt that you will get what you want at the price of an Epson V700 or 750. Prices for good film scanners will go up, not coming down.

 

[Dektol Dan]

Dream On

Dream On

Flatbed scanners reached their optimal DPI over 15 years ago, this realistically 1200 DPI. Fudging makes for 1600 DPI. Remember that the definition of the word 'interpolate' means 'to lie'. 6400 DPI is complete nonsense.

Interpolation works best from scans or camera pictures that are already high in DPI, and is plain awful with those with a lower DPI count. Compression algorithms such as tiff and jpg are interpolation. Basically, the idea is s that when the image is interpolated the computer gambles that adjacent pixels will be similar in information. So, when a blue sky is rendered, the computer correctly guesses that the adjacent pixels all have the same information and it wins!

Everything goes to hell in a basket where detailed areas are to be rendered. Have you every noticed that when your HD TV renders a football field everything is clear, but as the camera pans through the crowd slight waves appear in the image? That's interpolation failing the limited bandwidth.

 

[wblynch]

If they could only make it focus !

(is that too much to ask?)

 

[katgut@earthlink.net]

In order to achieve anything like a real 4000 dpi, a great lens is needed, and that's the heart of the Nikon scanners. So what you want is a Nikon ED lens but are only willing to pay for a Samyang. Great glass is expensive.

 

[Jamie123]

Not that I've heard anything about a planned replacement, but I thought it would be fun to start a thread about what we might want from an Epson V700 replacement.

1. Useable ICE. I couldn't tell the differences between ICE and non ICE scans with the Nikon Coolscan V. On the V700 ICE makes my images look terrible. So much noise.

2. Better holders! How about a way to keep 120 film flat? or to scan a full frame 4x5 negative?

3. FASTER

4. Better integration with Lightroom/Aperture.

5. Better dmax. 35mm chromes look like poop. C'mon.

6. 4000ppi. REAL 4000ppi. Forget 6400 interpolated, who even uses that? Just give me a scanning lens capable of scanning 4000ppi.

My biggest gripes would be ICE and flat negatives. Even if they came out with a V700S, that had useable ICE I'd think about it.

Are you sure you're referring to ICE and not multipass scanning? ICE is a dust/scratch removal function and shouldn't introduce any noise. The IR scan recognizes specks of dust on the film surface and then automatically 'heals' them but that shouldn't have any influence on noise. Usually the picture can become a bit softer when using ICE but I've never heard anything about more noise with ICE. With both my Epson 4990 and my Nikon 9000 I can notice a slight softness when using ICE but no additional noise.

Anyways, at a price point of around $1000, I think you're asking for too much when you say you want much higher resolution AND more speed. However, I think Epson should definitely provide better holders for their scanners. Also, I think it would be a good idea if they introduced an adjustable light source like I have on the Nikon 9000 so it's easier to scan dense slides.