Epson Perfection V700 PHOTO

I just the short time I have used this scanner I have determined that it is very good for the price. I have scanned 4"x5", 6x6cm and 35mm negatives and slides. It does a good job on them all. The set-up and operation of the scanner was very easy. The manual settings that are needed for black and white negs is very logical and easy. The scan quality is very good.

Because of this Scanner I am no longer considering swicting completely to digital capture. The scanner is a great buy, and the Epson web site is very user friendly.

None that I know of.

HP psc 750 scanner, printer,copier (all in one).

Have not needed, but I have a good feal about Epson.

I just got the scanner last week and was very excited to see what it can do. The hook-up instructions were very user friendly. I had no trouble getting the scanner up and running. I did a test scan on a 4"x5" black and white neg, 2.25'by 2.25" black and white negative and a 35mm color negative that is 25 years old. The scanner worked very well on all size ngeatives. I also scanned a medium format color slide. The scanner did a good job on the slide also. Based on what I have seen so far, I will be using this scanner for a long time. I love shooting and developing black and whit negative film, This scanner just gives me another reason to keep shooting film because I can not convert me negatives into a positive without making a wet prints first.

Seems to be well built. It was very easy to pleace the order with Epson. I triied several other online stores but there sites we not uer friendly. the user software is very easy to fugure out. after I hooked it out, I did not have to even read the book on how to do a scan. I think the price is reasonable for a pro level scanner that can handle up to 8x10 negative and slides. Epson seems to have a clue about how to treat customers.

None that I know of.

HP scanner,copier, printer

Have not used it for repair, but the epson web site is very user friendly.

Decent software makes this scanner a breeze to use. No one would suggest you get state-of-the art scans, compared with professional drum scanning or the best 35-dedicated film scanners. However, it isn't how far short it comes from a dedicated 35mm dedicated scanner, but how close it comes. You can set it to output an unmanipulated high-bit, high res scan, which you can tweak in Photoshop, then save as 8-bit. It's great for checking out a roll of 35mm or medium format. Just load the whole roll in the film holder and batch scan them all in one step. Check the results in Photoshop and throw out the dogs. Save money by doing away with in-store printing 4x5's of your medium format.

I think it's unrealistic to expect perfect scans straight out of any scanner. Some tonal and/or color tweaking is going to be necessary. Sharpening in Unsharp Mask will be necessary. With Kodachromes and silver-based black-and-white, you will have to go after dust specs and scratches in an imaging software.
The V700 makes the process about as pain free as any I've seen.

You can use Ed Hamrick's scanning software or full-blown Silverfast to wring detail out of shadows in slides, but both have learning curves fron hell. Epson's scanning software will handle most situations. If you're very picky about your results, or make your living in photography, put out the bucks for the best 35mm or medium format dedicated scanner.

simplicity of operation
reliability
Set correctly in Professional Mode, it returns a good scan, like a camera RAW, in high bit, ready to edit in Photoshop or Elements.

Dust clean-up too destructive to off-the-film images. Use Digital Ice light. Maybe this feature is designed for scanning damaged prints.

Automatic cropping often mis-crops. Use manual cropping.

Grain reduction useful only if you have a severe grain problem

Do sharpening in Photoshop; not enough control in Epson Scan.

Lame instructions. The company supplies film holder height adjusters but there's no clue in the instructions as to what they are for. or how to use them.

HP S20 film scanner, the worst of the lot.

Nikon LS 2000- wonderful scanner until the dirt insider shut it down.

Canon 4000US - still going strong.

Not the best, but at least they answer the phone.
Rep had no answer for conflict with SCSI scanner on the same computer keeping Twain interface from working with the Epson. The solution was to have the Epson scan to a file, instead of directly into Photoshop. Sure another user has experienced this.