Epson 4870 Scanner for slides

  • Thread starter Thread starter Arjay
  • Start date Start date
A

Arjay

I have over 1500 slides to scan. Would the 4870 Pro be a good value
without getting into way too much money?
 
I have over 1500 slides to scan. Would the 4870 Pro be a good value
without getting into way too much money?
Click to expand...

It all depends...

What size slides do you want to digitize?
At what resolution do you want to digitize your slides?
With what file format will you archive your slides?
What software will you use to scan them?
What corrections will you make of the scan?
What software will you use to handle the scanning deficiences?
How much time do you have to scan the slides?
How valuable are the slides to you?
Do you need a scanner dedicated to 35mm?
Do you need batch processing facilities?

All of the above has a bearing on what you buy or how do you go about
doing what you need. If you are a pro photgrapher, then your needs will
be different from a home user. I use an Epson 4870 pro scanner for some
slide work. It is not particularly fast and works well for medium
format 6x4.5cm up to 6x9cm slides. My results with 6x4.5cm slides are
as good as I could get them without spending money on drum scans or a
high end scanner like a £50,000 flatbed. I also scan 4x5inch slides and
have got excellent results.

Up until recently I would not have used the Epson for 35mm slides but I
changed my software from Silverfast Ai to the latest edition of
VueScan. My 35mm slides are now acceptable for detail and depth of
colour. The Epson software is for amateur use and will not help you to
get the very best results. The learning curve for VueScan is quite
high. You should also factor in learning how to make a good scan and
then post processing in an image editor such as Photoshop. Another
method is to use a good quality dSLR with at least 6Mpx resolution and
use a slide viewer that you can hold against a bright light source and
capture the slide on digital negative. Much easier files to archive and
a lot less work to correct for scanning artifacts, colour corrections
and other issues. HTH
 
If you only need to scan 35 mm, go for a dedicated film scanner instead. If
you have multiple formats to scan, the choice is not so easy and depends on
your standards as well as the intended use for the final output (just for
the web vs. 8x10 or larger printing).

Doug
 
Thank you. That is helpful info. I am only an amateur with some very
special slides of an archaeology dig I worked on in Israel a few years
back. I want to scan them in so I can use them for some presentations.

I have a Nikon 990, but it is only 3.5Mpx, but I would probably be
satisfied with that resolution.

I do have Photoshop and can work with it.

I will try that and see if it works well enough and then see what I
want to do further. I could have the slides professionally scanned for
less than the cost of the scanner, but I hesitate to do that.

Thanks again,
Arjay
 
Arjay wrote:
....
want to do further. I could have the slides professionally scanned for
less than the cost of the scanner, but I hesitate to do that.
Click to expand...
....

Whilst you might be able to pay somebody to scan them for less than the
cost of the scanner, I would be dubious about the quality. It will most
certainly not be "professional standard". They will be automatically
scanned with no individual corrections. You will then have to correct
them all yourself, and depending upon the supplied file size/format,
these mods might have serious detrimental effect. If you do use this
route, have a trail run done first.

Steve
 
I have over 1500 slides to scan. Would the 4870 Pro be a good value
without getting into way too much money?
Click to expand...

In short: Yes.

Look here for a review of it: http://www.photo-i.co.uk. You have to
click on the link "Reviews" and on the resulting page on the 4870.

Do also have a look in the current review for the 4990, there's some
comparison pics for both Epson flatbed scanners with 35 mm film.
 
Thank you. That is helpful info. I am only an amateur with some very
special slides of an archaeology dig I worked on in Israel a few years
back. I want to scan them in so I can use them for some presentations.
Click to expand...

If you mean computer presentations using something like Powerpoint
(Keynote on the Mac) then you do not need fantastic resolution. Bear in
mind that screen resolution is nominally 72 ppi 996ppi for Windows so
scanning for detail is not going to help when your presentation wont be
capable of displaying the detail.
I have a Nikon 990, but it is only 3.5Mpx, but I would probably be
satisfied with that resolution.
Click to expand...

3.5 Mpx is fine if you have good processing and know what you want and
how to achieve it. have you a website that I can view the material you
want to present? Can you also tell me a little of the way you will
present it (including the machinery you intend to use) and I may be
able to point you in the direction you need.
I do have Photoshop and can work with it.
Click to expand...

Good to learn that. Presentations can be very effective with attention
paid to careful cropping, not too much info on one slide (Powerpoint),
consistent colour balance and simple headings. Photoshop canl help you
with all of that.
I will try that and see if it works well enough and then see what I
want to do further.
Click to expand...

Bright light sources can be a problem but if you can lay your hands on
a small lightbox, you could easily shoot your slides if the camera was
on a tripod. Photshop will help to clean up the frame edges and you can
set the size to suit your presentation. Does your camera have a
macro/close up mode?
I could have the slides professionally scanned for
less than the cost of the scanner, but I hesitate to do that.
Click to expand...

Save the cash for now and see what you need to do before throwing way
huge sums of money.
 
Thanks Jeff.

I am not doing a formal presentation. I simply want to save my
priceless experience in archaeology and show to people who are
interested.

I have a slide copier attachment for the Nikon, but have not yet used
it. I will get a lightbox and see what happens before spending money
on a scanner.

Thanks for your offer of help. Let me see what I can accomplish and I
will let you know.

Arjay
 
Arjay said:
Thanks Jeff.

I am not doing a formal presentation. I simply want to save my
priceless experience in archaeology and show to people who are
interested.

I have a slide copier attachment for the Nikon, but have not yet used
it. I will get a lightbox and see what happens before spending money
on a scanner.

Thanks for your offer of help. Let me see what I can accomplish and I
will let you know.

Arjay
Click to expand...
The question you need to answer:
How many Megapixels is the Nikon camera. Is it enough for your purpose.

You can get up to 30.8 Megapixels from a 4800 dpi scan of a 35 mm slide with
the 4870.
A 4800 dpi scan will get about 4536 X 6801 pixels from a 35 mm slide or
negative.

A dedicated film scanner will give better results that a flatbed scanner.
 
Arjay said:
I have over 1500 slides to scan. Would the 4870 Pro be a good value
without getting into way too much money?
Click to expand...
I did about 900 35mm slides 6 months ago with a 4870 Photo that I made
into DVD slide shows with music for relatives to view on their TV/computers.
You will not be disappointed.
Frank
 
Back
Top