Epson V850 scanner

[keith_cooper]

Epson UK have just sent me one of their new V850 film scanners to have a look at.

Whilst I've quite a variety of films/slides to try it out with, I've never shot large format, so have nothing to test it with.

If anyone in the UK has a 5x4 neg/transparency they would be prepared to lend me to test it, that would be great, and allow me to include it the in the review (I'm in Leicester in the UK, so anyone close is welcome to come over and actually try it out - mail me directly or phone?)

I note that the scanner comes with Epson scan software and Silverfast8 SE+ and a copy of X-Rite's i1 Profiler for scanners, that includes transmissive and reflective IT8.7/2-1993 targets for scanner profiling.

When i1Profiler 1.4 first added scanner profiling, I did briefly look at using it with my ColorChecker SG target {short review}, so it will also be interesting to see how the two new targets perform on my older scanners, such as the venerable Umax PowerLook III (using Vuescan via a SCSI->firewire converter).

I'm not sure how long I've got the scanner for - but please do let me know if there are any specific questions about it?

[Mark D Segal]

Hi Keith,

It is very interesting that in this day and age Epson has the courage to put a new higher-end scanner on the market. I hope they do well with it. As I live in Canada you can most likely obtain the media you need closer to home but if you need help from me, please PM me.

If you are planning to do a review, it would be ideal to see its value-added compared with the V750.

As for the software, if you plan to do a thorough review including the capabilities obtained through scanning software and you wish to test SilverFast as one of the viable options, I would recommend getting it upgraded to the full version Studio Ai8 for testing purposes. But the need for this depends on how much you want to get into the software side.

[keith_cooper]

Thanks Mark - I suspect not that detailed a look at the non Epson software.

Mainly because I don't do a lot of film scanning these days, so don't feel I have the depth of up-to-date experience to make valid comments/comparisons about its functionality. I did think of getting some MF film in to test out, but realised that none of the shops I used to use are still there and the lab I used to use is a car-park - looks like my Mamiya kit box will continue to gather dust...

I'm sure the scanner will get some very detailed studies in due course, but I wanted to be able to write up a good overview, and re-scan some existing negatives.

[artobest]

The key to getting good results from Epson scanners is getting the film-holder height just right, so I am especially interested to see the improvements they've made in that area.

[Jeff-Grant]

Hi Keith,

I'm really interested. My old LS-2000 finally bit the dust and I need a way to scan a load of old prints. Not fine art, just rescuing family history before it's too far gone. I'm particularly interested in how well it does on scanning 35mm negs, and how well Digital Ice works on crappy old negs and prints. Vuescan does an excellent job on cleaning up things. I hope that it supports the new scanner.

[Mark D Segal]

The key to getting good results from Epson scanners is getting the film-holder height just right, so I am especially interested to see the improvements they've made in that area.

The best way of assuring this on the V750, though not essential once you have the frame properly adjusted, is to use the glass mount assembly and film cleaner to hold the film to the glass. The 850 is said to come with a special mount adapter.

[Mark D Segal]

Hi Keith,

I'm really interested. My old LS-2000 finally bit the dust and I need a way to scan a load of old prints. Not fine art, just rescuing family history before it's too far gone. I'm particularly interested in how well it does on scanning 35mm negs, and how well Digital Ice works on crappy old negs and prints. Vuescan does an excellent job on cleaning up things. I hope that it supports the new scanner.

Digitial ICE is outdated with important limitations; lacks the kind of fine-tuning achievable with iSRD in SilveFast.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Vuescan does an excellent job on cleaning up things. I hope that it supports the new scanner.

Hi Jeff,

It does.

Cheers,
Bart

[Jeff-Grant]

Hi Bart, that's good news. I really don't need to learn another piece of software. I've used Vuescan for many years. I swear that Ed Hamrick doesn't sleep. You can send him an email any time and always get a quick, helpful response.

[Jeff-Grant]

Hi Mark, Vuescan cleans up well enough for me. Whatever it uses is excellent. Silverfast may be better but I'm happy where I am.

[Mark D Segal]

That's what counts. Software is very much user-preference.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Hi Bart, that's good news. I really don't need to learn another piece of software. I've used Vuescan for many years. I swear that Ed Hamrick doesn't sleep. You can send him an email any time and always get a quick, helpful response.

Jeff, I agree. One of the obvious benefits is not having to learn new software for all the scanners that I have owned for more than a decade. Also had only to pay once for the software, frequent updates/improvements ever since. I've also learned a lot about the inner workings of scanners from discussions with Ed, and he even added a specific feature (relative RGB densitometer when you press the CTRL key) that I requested, one of the few he hadn't already implemented.

Cheers,
Bart

[artobest]

The best way of assuring this on the V750, though not essential once you have the frame properly adjusted, is to use the glass mount assembly and film cleaner to hold the film to the glass. The 850 is said to come with a special mount adapter.

This is the best way of achieving perfect focus on the Epson V750, used in conjunction with either T-locks or ANR glass, depending on the springiness or sagginess of the film. I love curled film strips, because I can use the T-locks to obtain perfect flatness, without extra glass and all the associated dust and problems.

From pictures I've seen, it appears Epson have upped the number of height adjustments on the film holders from 3 to 5. Is that right, Keith?

[keith_cooper]

From pictures I've seen, it appears Epson have upped the number of height adjustments on the film holders from 3 to 5. Is that right, Keith?

Yes, there are now 5 settings

[Alan Goldhammer]

I wonder how this stacks up against the Nikon Coolscan 500 (which I have but it's pretty much sitting on my shelf these days) which only takes one negative at a time.  Are the scan results equivalent or better?

[keith_cooper]

I wonder how this stacks up against the Nikon Coolscan 500 (which I have but it's pretty much sitting on my shelf these days) which only takes one negative at a time.  Are the scan results equivalent or better?

I'm afraid the only other film scanner I have here is my old Canon FS4000 - which sits in a drawer in a bag (my shelves have structural dust in some places)

[Mark D Segal]

I wonder how this stacks up against the Nikon Coolscan 500 (which I have but it's pretty much sitting on my shelf these days) which only takes one negative at a time.  Are the scan results equivalent or better?

Alan, I assume you meant the Coolscan 5000? If so I have one of those too. The sharpness of that unit and its overall technical quality are hard to beat. My research to date indicates it exceeds an Epson V750; how it stacks-up against an Epson V850 needs to be tested by direct comparison, using a resolution target, because they say they improved the lens. If Epson were to put one of those scanners into my hands I could do all this testing, because I have the relevant comparators and know how to use them. One does need to be careful about how the Epson scanner is used - at least for the V750, and probably same will be true for the 850 - remains to be seen. 

[artobest]

...they say they improved the lens.

Really? That is interesting. Can you point me in the direction of your source? I have yet to find any useful comment from Epson on this.

[Mark D Segal]

It's mentioned in the product announcement on DPReview. Epson must be the source of the information.

[AFairley]

It's mentioned in the product announcement on DPReview. Epson must be the source of the information.

Mark, I don't see anything about a new/improved lens in the Epson release ( though I could have missed it), only that the new scanners use the same dual lens system as the 700 series.  The big differences seem to be LED light source instead of cold cathode, and improved film holders.