I just bought a v700 scanner!

[Yebisu]

As the title says. I just bought a v700 film scanner (called a GT-X900 in Japan). It's the older top-end model by Epson so I'm hoping I can get some good scans. It was also quite cheap (19,000 yen, about 200 us dollars) I'll use it mainly for scanning my b&w negatives. Mrs. Yebisu also wants to scan her old color slides and negatives.

So, if anyone has any tips on how to best use this scanner I'd be grateful. For example, what resolution to scan at, whether to use ICE.

I'm sure I'll be asking many more questions about film scanning over the next few weeks/months

Thanks

[Attila]

Great deal! Congrats!!

[martinsmith99]

I'm looking forward to seeing the results, so I can decide if I need to upgrade.

[Yebisu]

Thanks guys. I'll post up some samples soon.

But first I need your advice. I tried to scan a some 35mm negatives. I've noticed that the top5-10% of the frame is being cropped out or not being scanned. I think I'm loading the negatives correctly. Any ideas what's wrong? Here is an example. The first image is my scan from the v700. The second image is a lab scan of the same image.

Edit Can't upload pictures at the moment. I'll try again tomorrow.

Thanks

[martinsmith99]

I usually scan at the max resolution then crop to what ever size I need. I've yet to see a difference between scanning to TIFF or JPG when my final version is a JPG, plus, my aging PC becomes unusable for longperiods if I do this.

[Doug Fisher]

>>I've noticed that the top5-10% of the frame is being cropped out or not being scanned.<<

It sounds like you are experiencing the common problem where auto-cropping does not work (you did switch the format size parameter in the software configuration box to your particular format though, right?). You will find many references to this problem on the internet. Many people never realize that they are missing part of their image(s) until they get an obvious error like the one you experienced. If they did a careful comparison of most scans though, they would probably be surprised to find how many of their images on film are overly cropped or mis-cropped by the software's auto-cropping. Auto-cropping is nothing more than a "guess" based on an algorithm and it is often fooled.

Most people I know just set a batch scan of manual crops. It is easy to set up and you know it will be accurate. In the end, this actually takes less time because you don't have to spend time doing comparisons of scans to film and then have to do the inevitable rescans. Here is a page of tips I put up to help people learn about creating manual batch scans with the EpsonScan software:

http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/batchscanning.html

Doug

[Attila]

Welcome Doug! Nice to see you here and thank you for your advice!

[cooltouch]

Well, having been an Epson Scan user for the past eight years, I was about to provide you with the benefit of the vast sum of my knowledge on the subject, only to see that Doug has posted a link that gives you the basics of all you need to know to get started.

I've done it both ways -- configuring the size of each image crop myself or using the thumbnails. Yes, in some cases, the thumbnail will crop too much, but one nice feature of using thumbnails is you can rotate or flip your images. One drawback is, if you need to edit the image, the zoomed image size is smaller than in the non-thumbnail mode. Me, having used both, even though thumbnail is faster, I prefer the manual way.

Regarding the settings you can click on -- play around with these. Make some test scans of a well exposed negative or slide and see how they do and whether or not you like it. I usually dial in some unsharp masking for example.

A couple of things I don't do -- I don't use "Dust Removal" or "Digital ICE". Unfortunately. I found out that, on my 4990, the dust removal setting adds artifacts to the image that look like slivers of glass. Totally unacceptable. And not only did ICE not get rid of dust or much of anything else, but it noticeably decreased the sharpness of my images.

But go ahead and try both with your machine. Maybe you'll have better results than I have.

Oh, about scanning resolution, even though the V7xx series supposedly has a max optical resolution of 6400 ppi, its actual, real resolution is closer to about 2300 ppi. But in order to get the maximum out of that 2300 ppi, you need to scan at max resolution, and then you can downsize the file. I found this out recently over at the photo.net site. A guy with a 4490 discovered that if he scanned at 2400 ppi, which was about all he figured his scanner was good for, he got decent images. But then he tried it at 4800 ppi, his scanner's max claimed optical resolution, and he noticed that the image contained more detail. AND the image held that detail even after he had downsized the image to the size of a 2400 ppi one. So his conclusion was that in order to get the max out of his scanner he had to scan at max optical output, despite the fact that his scanner wasn't actually delivering that level of max resolution.

So I tried it as well with my 4990 and I had similar results. In one test image of my daughter, at 2400 ppi, the curve of her jawline had visible stairstep "jaggies", while the 4800 ppi scan did not. And when I downsized it to the same size as a 2400 ppi scan, the smoothness of her jawline's curve remained.

So ever since I've been scanning my images at max resolution. And, when I need to, I reduce them to smaller sizes.

[ZoneV]

[Yebisu]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I will check out that website, Doug, thank you.

About the cropping, I changed the preview to normal instead of thumbnails and used the marquee tool to make my own crops. Now I can scan the whole negative. I tried out a few settings last night. I got some good scans from some negatives but others didn't come out so well. I think I have a lot to learn! I can't seem to upload images at the moment. I will try again later.

I have another question, this time about the gamma setting. After I've scanned the image I open it CS2. I get a message about the gamma setting being wrong. It's set at 1.8 in Epson Scan when I checked. I'm using Windows Vista 32.

I got it cheap because it was the last one in the store. It was on the shelf next to the v750 (gt-x970 in Japan). The v750 was 54,000 yen. The v700 wasn't priced so I had to ask.

Thanks again everyone

[cooltouch]

About the gamma, my only suggestion would be to see what PS wants it set to, and then try that setting in Epson Scan. Me, most of the time when I scan my negs in Epson Scan, I just let the Auto function do its job. If the neg doesn't look right, then I'll try the histogram or another adjustment.

Incidentally I just checked my settings in Epson Scan and mine is probably set the same as yours -- continuous auto exposure is checked, and gamma is 1.8. My PS (CS5) does not give me any gamma error messages when I load scans into it. Curious.

[Yebisu]

Thanks Michael. Are you using a Mac or Windows? I think the gamma setting might be connected to that.