Scanner - any recommendations?

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Smith
  • Start date Start date
J

John Smith

Time to buy a new one...any recommendations for an excellent, top of the
range A4 size scanner - preferably with good software and manuals...not
necessarily including film/negative scanning facility.
Thanks.
 
It's not top of the range by a long way, but I've been very impressed with
the quality of my 1 week old Epson 2480's scans. Very detailed once the
descreening filter is turned off, and the colours are true enough for me,
I've scanned photos and not been able to see any differences on screen so
far to the originals.

It seems good on negatives and slides as well, but it can only do 2 slides
or 3 negatives at a time even though a strip of 6 can be inserted, so it's
only really for occasional use for negatives/slides. I scanned a friend's
Canon SLR derived negative of his infant daughter, printed it out (HP 6
colour), and the skin tones and detail were much better than his original
prints done in the best photo lab he could find at the time.

The dearer Epsons are supposed to be even better but the extra cost would be
difficult to justify when the 2480 gives results like this. No printed
manual though, just an instruction sheet and an html manual, but it's all
pretty easy software to handle. The OCR software isn't very accurate
though, it's a old version (5) of ABBYY Fine Reader which I've changed to
version 7 as it's much better at handling complex layouts.
 
Steve,

What is the maximun size negative that your 2480 will take? I saw this
scanner at Fry's recently, and am considering it, but I have a few old
2 1/4 negatives that I need to scan, so I want to be sure that I get a
scanner that will handle them, I don't need high resolution, probably
1200 ppi will be enough. And the bundled OCR software isn't important
as I have a recent version of OmniPage Pro that I've been using with
my old Microtek.
 
but I have a few old 2 1/4 negatives that I need to scan, so I want to be
sure that I get a
scanner that will handle them
Click to expand...

You want a 4180 or 3170 (recently discontinued and often on sale) if you
desire MF scanning on a budget.

Doug
 
You want a 4180 or 3170 (recently discontinued and often on sale) if you
desire MF scanning on a budget.

Doug
Click to expand...

Thanks, MF scanning on a budget explains my needs well (I already have
a Nikon LS IV for 35mm film). I'll look into the 4180, and see if I
can find a 3170 around somewhere.
 
Sorry for delay in replying, my power supply blew up, took some memory out
with it, and I've only just got round to checking this thread after fixing
it. The Epson 2480 can only take normal 35mm negatives, you slide it
between grooves that hold it firmly so it's one size only that fits.
 
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