Hi
I have had this scanner for a few months now. I have been scanning 35 mm widelux & nobelux film. A friend of mine scanned a few negs on the Imacon for comparison & well the Imacon is a LOT sharper period. I have been scanning on the Epson without the adjusting pads. So I decided to scan with the film emulsion face down on the glass ( without the film holders) & it is like a new scanner. It is way sharper period than being in a film holder. ..
I've been using an Epson V700 to scan 3x4" technical orthochromatic electron microscope film using "film area guide" with the negs. directly on the glass. I've also been scanning Kodachrome slides using the film (slide) holder (emulsion side up!), and have been disappointed with the sharpness. Just today I was wondering whether ditching the slide holder and placing the slides directly on the glass would improve sharpness.
Also, the Epson V700 does not come with Silverfast AI, but a bargain version, Silverfast SE. After futzing around with this software for a while I discovered that the only way to get a 16 bit scan is to scan in Silverfast HDR mode, which puts a horrific cyan color cast and underexposes by around 3 stops. I know that this is a good method of scanning if you have the Silverfast HDR software, but I'm on a budget and really don't want to buy it. So, I've actually been using the Epson scanning software, and getting 16 bit, 6400 dpi scans in Adobe RGB--would I really be that much better off using Silverfast?