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Author Topic: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner  (Read 7722 times)

Kevin Raber

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Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« on: January 17, 2018, 04:57:51 pm »

I just published an article on the Epson FF640 FastFoto Scanner. It's an affordable and easy to use print scanner for preserving all those old prints and snapshots you have on a closet shelf.  You can read it HERE.
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digitaldog

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2018, 06:32:52 pm »

Pretty cool, something I could use. I'm shocked how fast it scanned the photo's. Amazing.
Now what's going on with the 'framed' photo behind you to your right; the image keeps changing. Now that's pretty cool too.
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Kevin Raber

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2018, 08:20:35 pm »

I have a story coming on those frames real soon.
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ysengrain

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2018, 05:19:34 am »

Looking to this film of this incredible scanner show your Mac Finder screen is a real mess Kevin !! 😂😇
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TommyWeir

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2018, 05:21:37 am »

With six archive boxes of old photographs long neglected this looks like a real option for me.  But sadly not available in Ireland or the UK yet.

cortex2

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2018, 12:01:16 pm »

Have to ask...Jpeg only? How does the scanner handle dust and spots on the photos? I assume you need an additional pass through Photoshop/Lightroom/DXO PL to clean things up....
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Kevin Raber

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2018, 01:20:46 pm »

It does a pretty good job on auto correct for many defects and color.  And, I suppose although I haven't worried about it you may want to further enhance in PS.  I'm just happy to have a digital copy.  I don't encounter too much dust as the prints are clean going in the scanner.

And, my finder desktop is usually in much better shape.  It's where I keep all my active projects and since the desktop syncs through icloud I have the same desktop on any of my MACs and therefore can pick up and work on any active project whether I am using my iMac Pro or notebook. 
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Wayne Fox

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2018, 10:21:48 pm »

Wow.  I've been looking for something like this for a decade.  Mine from Amazon will be delivered tomorrow!  Can't wait.
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Kevin Gallagher

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2018, 10:08:50 am »

 Nice video Kev. My wife often tells me that I have so much "junk" around here that I forget exactly what I do have!! Well along that vein, I was seriously thinking about pulling the trigger on one of these UNTIL.. senior memory kicked in and I remembered that I had purchased a ScanSnap device a couple of years back with the idea of going fully paperless here. That didn't work out and the scanner was relegated to the Black Hole known as my office closet. Time to dig it out and see how well it works..

 Kevin in CT
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digitaldog

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2018, 11:59:52 am »

Thinking of ordering one too. So after scanning, do most here feel OK with trashing/recycling/shredding (what?) with the prints? Seems hard to do but counterproductive not to.
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jeremyrh

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #10 on: January 19, 2018, 12:58:41 pm »

So you need a scanner to convert all those prints you made back to digital. Riiiight :-)
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Kevin Raber

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2018, 01:01:26 pm »

After scanning boxes of photos, I just couldn't bear to trash them.  So against my beliefs.  Probably why I have so many prints in boxes.  I did however while scanning did an extensive amount of editing and threw away duplicates, bad shits, damaged prints etc..  I now have half the boxes I had when I started plus a whole digital archive. I have now sealed all the boxes and moved them to our storage unit.  I'll let the Storage Wars guys fight over them when I am gone.
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Kevin Raber

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2018, 01:03:00 pm »

jeremyrh, These prints were made from negatives not digital.
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drralph

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #13 on: January 19, 2018, 02:05:51 pm »

At one point I considered giving my daughter a summer job by commissioning her to scan many boxes of old negatives.  I decided against it, and my guess is it would have taken multiple summers of full-time work.  I had machine prints made for most of the film I shot back in the day, and they are in good shape.  I have been longing for a digital archive of my analog catalogue, and this method sounds like it may be the most efficient way yet to achieve this goal.  The prints are cropped to either 4x6 or 3.5x5, which means the edges are lost.  But at least it provides a reference.

Kevin, do you have suggestions on how to organize the output for import into a DAM?  I would love to be able to reference each image to a PrintFile sheet containing the original negative.  For the most part, I have kept each roll of prints intact.  My PrintFile negative sheets are properly dated and keyworded.  This would add more layers of complexity to the project.  I anticipate that the digitization will uncover lost gems that I will want to scan properly, and do formal post-processing.  It might prove acceptable to identify the proper PrintFile box, and then go hunting for the negative.

Kevin Raber

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2018, 02:31:05 pm »

I think you would have to think the workflow out depending on what you want to achieve.  I would suggest scanning a batch (a printfile page) and then save or move those scans to a folder by the same name or identifier.  For me, I did mine by year since they were mostly family photos and just about all of them had date stamps from the lab on the back.  You could make a good catalog this way by taking each folder and running the contact sheet feature under automate in PS. Then save the results as a PDF that corresponds to the PrintFile page.

You could also start a new library in LR and catalog the scans.  You then could keyword them and or rename them accordingly.

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #15 on: January 19, 2018, 02:48:15 pm »

WOW.  I just purchased this yesterday and was wondering if I did the right thing because of the price ($650).  Then I saw your review.  Thanks for the reinforcement.  My Fastfoto 640 is in the mail now as we speak.  My idea is to scan at 600 dpi and then to save as TIFFs.  When I scan on my flatbed scanner, it handles 4 prints at a time and takes forever.  But I did create a LR preset that looks great when I import the scanned files into LR.  So I will try importing the Fastfoto 640 scanned files into LR.  Some reviews I read said the Epson FF 640 software color corrections were not very good.  If that is the case then I will scan without corrections and then create my own presets in LR to be applied during importing, for example, auto tone, sharpening, vibrance, etc. Has anyone done this yet?  Any suggestions?
Thanks for the timely review.
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digitaldog

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #16 on: January 19, 2018, 04:31:52 pm »

After scanning boxes of photos, I just couldn't bear to trash them.  So against my beliefs. 
Thanks. That's my impression too.
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Wayne Fox

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #17 on: January 19, 2018, 11:07:03 pm »

Love the new little device, except for an anomaly I cannot figure out.  When it scans it numbers the first image xxx_0002.jpg, and then increments by 3.  So I get 2,5,8,11.

I tried various things but can't seem to figure out why.  After first installing it, worked fine.  Put in a second stack, and this is what I get, and now this pattern is how it operated.  Currently searching for this and I apologize for posting it here, but thought perhaps Kevin or others who decided to try the device out may have seen and resolved this.

Also surprised the files aren't tagged with a profile. Not a big problem since it appears they are standard sRGB jpegs, so most programs will handle them.  just seems a bit odd.

This behavior occurred on both of my Macs after installing the software and setting up the printer.

Edit: It appears the odd behavior is related to the scanning of the back of the photographs. the scanner can scan the back and save the file, and has a setting to do so only if it detects something on the back. handy if you wrote something back 20 years ago to remind you of who was in the shot or where it was taken.  If you use this feature and the back of print is blank, it correctly doesn't save the file of the back, but it seems the software decides to increment the filename of the next scan by 3 (although I"ve seen it also do 4 once and 2 once). If the print has writing on the back, that is saved in the appropriate file and the next scan is incremented correctly.

Seems repeatable me.  For now I'll just manage.  I'm have to see if I forward this issue on to Epson for their response.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2018, 11:50:49 pm by Wayne Fox »
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JeanMichel

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #18 on: January 20, 2018, 02:41:08 pm »

Having seen this, I am just about ready to get one to scan boxes of old family-type images that relatives are clamouring for. In Canada, the price is about CDN$900. I checked the Canadian Epson site to find out where to buy since my main photo supplier does not list the scene. A couple of user reviews on the Epson site show that a few people have experienced major problems with the scanner. Have any of you who have the scanner experienced any similar issues?

The Epson site reviews are at: https://epson.ca/For-Home/Scanners/Photo-Scanners/FastFoto-FF-640-High-speed-Photo-Scanning-System/p/B11B246201
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Kevin Raber

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Re: Just Published - Epson FastFoto FF640 Scanner
« Reply #19 on: January 20, 2018, 03:06:18 pm »

Wayne,  I believe you can turn two side scanning off.  That's what I have done a while back and my numbering is fine.  There is a setting for that.  I also keep a non-auto correction scan as well as the Epson Smart Correction. 

I also have taken a number of the scans into a session for Capture One and batch corrected using auto levels.  Pretty cool how that improves scans quite a bit. 

In the folder where the scans go I do an evaluation of which of the two results is better and then throw (trash) the others.

The issues you may find with this scanner is the scanners ability to feed in prints that are curled.  I show this in the video where I do my best to decurl images.   Sometimes I find if the first print doesn't feed into the scan once you start that a slight tap on the stack of prints helps it catch.

I haven't had to clean the scanner much but with all things especially where you are scanning prints that are old, sometimes dusty etc the scanner will need a cleaning.  It's pretty simple because you pop the lid and use a clean cloth.  I also sometimes run through some regular copy, inkjet paper and find that helps get rid of scum if you get any on the rollers.

I have scanned hundreds if not thousands of images at this point and the issues I have had have all been due to the prints and they way I stored them, mainly curling.  I just put in fewer prints and do a decurling as I show you in the video.

I have a similar scanner in my office.  For years now anything that is paper that comes into my house for personal or business is scanned.  Medical records, prescriptions, bills, you name it.  These feed into Evernote and then I title them and put them into notebooks.  For example, I have medical records notebook and car notebook.  Every time I go to the doctor, get test results and prescriptions they go into my medical notebook.  This has come in so handy when you visit a specialist and they ask for something like blood test results from my last physical.  I can call up the document and email the PDF to the doctor.

I have become very anal with all of this but I am also so organized.  I share the financial notebook with our different bookkeepers and they can then see the bills etc for certain expenses.  Also, if I am ever audited I have every single receipt scanned and in the cloud on Evernote. 

This works great and that is something else you can set the scanner up to do.  I believe there is separate software you get from Epson for that.

Also, I believe you can open the BH links in the review and get free shipping to Canada.








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