Another Scanner thread!

Jao

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Adrian
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I am really sorry to be asking questions that have probably been done to death but I have decided to buy a neg scanner in the next 10 days and need some user advice!

I shoot 35mm and 120 so the units I am looking at are the Epsons flat beds. I am looking at the moment at a V500 or V700. The V700 will stretch me financially but is manageble. I know ultimatly I have to make the call but what do people think, is it worth going into 'hock' for the cost difference between the V500 and V700? I have seen little if any reference to the V600? Is that an option I should consider?

Would anyone recommend holding off a bit longer, saving a bit more and getting a V750?

Suggestions, user experience and good advice, all welcome:)

Again, forgive the fact this will be an old chesnut for the long termers.
 
I think this is a question to which there is only one answer, buy what you can afford. I have a V500 and tbh I can't imagine that the extra cost for a V700 will make much of a difference. I'm notoriously picky and the 500 produces perfectly good scans even for me.

Andy
 
I've been happy enough with the v500, 120 can be a pain sometimes, I think its only meant to do 1 mf frame at a time. You can get two 6x6 under the light but the epson software doesn't always recognise the frame correctly so you end up having to draw it manually.

Probably better getting the v500 and getting the better software or holders rather than the better scanner.
 
+1 V500 and good holders.

I've used a V700 and a V750 and compared to my 4180 they aren't THAT much better, so the difference between the 500 and 700 probably isn't that much!
 
+1 V500 and good holders.

I've used a V700 and a V750 and compared to my 4180 they aren't THAT much better, so the difference between the 500 and 700 probably isn't that much!

There is in the actual detail resolved though, scanning test targets the V500 only comes out at 1600 dpi compared to the 2300 dpi of the V700, neither of which are actually anywhere near the claimed optical values (because of the high pass filter limiting the performance despite the CCD actually being able to resolve the claimed optical resolutions)

http://www.filmscanner.info/en/EpsonPerfectionV600Photo.html (For the V600 but like it says, its exactly the same as the V500 just with a restyled look)

http://www.filmscanner.info/en/EpsonPerfectionV700Photo.html (V700, interestingly if you look at the V750 review as well, theres pretty much no difference between the two)
 
Yeah, the differences will be minimal with the right scanning technique. The V700 does allow you to scan more at once, but I'd rather buy a V500 and use a loupe to quickly look at which negs are worth it. Which is what I did, and I used the difference to buy a Plustek 7600 for my 35mm.
 
I have a v700 that I bought second hand for a very good price. The scans are good and the size of the scanning bed and the holders mean that I can get a lot of scanning done without too much faffing. 24 frames of 35mm at once and 6 of 6x6.
 
I’ve been trying to make the same decision and after thinking about it, scouring the internet for opinions, and thinking about it some more, the V500 arrived this morning. £126 from Amazon Marketplace, so that’s £313 I can spend on lenses/film/beer. I’ve just scanned a 6x4.5 slide and the results are more than good enough for me, but I’ll be keeping the Plustek for 35mm.
 
I'm still using my old Epson 4870 for scanning and am quite happy with the results.:)

I would have thought that for serious amateur use that the V500 would be good buy.

If you really fancied the V700 I would fork out a bit more and get the V750 as this had the wet scan option.
 
If you really fancied the V700 I would fork out a bit more and get the V750 as this had the wet scan option.

The V700 can do that as well, you just have to buy the kit separately rather than it being provided with the scanner.
 
Many thanks for all the responses and insights, I think I will seek out a V500.

Whilst there are clearly workflow benefits to the V700, there are a lot of endorsements for the output of the V500.

Thanks again everyone for the advice it is appreciated.
 
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