Geoff, I purchased an Epson 4870 a few months ago and have been astonished by the results. The epson comes with holders for 35mm strip (24 frames at a time), 35mm slides, 120 panoramic/strip and 4 x5in. I think you can even scan 10 x 8in by laying it on the glass althogh I guess newtons rings would be a problem. The scans are being used for repro and also output to a Durst Lambda printer at 200dpi for larger prints, 1m x 1m etc. Up till now I have only used the 4870 for 6x6cm scans off colour negative material at 4800dpi in 16bit so can't vouch for it on smaller sizes or how it works batch scanning. The subjects were all large polished stainless steel Industrial machinery done in mixed available light - metal halides, daylight and flouros. The negs needed extensive photoshop curves work and masking to neutralize casts and give a "studio lit" look. The bureau I used previously was unable to supply 16 bit scans from their Imacon Flextight for some reason. 8 bit files for these jobs frequently posterized badly due to lack of data once you start stretching with curves.
The 4870 paid for itself on the first job and I was able to supply work of a far higher standard than in previous years. If you can afford it a dedicated medium format scanner will definitely give better results over A3 size. But up to A4 its so close you have to be nitpicking. For the money nothing comes close to it. Beware though! I used to think a 150-200Mb file was big! 16 bit files are massive and once you add a few layers I had single files around 2.5 -3.5 Gbytes off 6x6cm files! In Photoshop CS you can only save in the new "psb" format. A 6x12cm or 4"x5" file would probably be very difficult if not impossible to work with, although its unlikely you would be scanning at 4800dpi. I uses DVD+RW for Incremental backups, and then DVD for longer term backup of layered files with usually only one or two images per disk. More details: I have been getting high end scans from medium format film from a Pro Lab in Melbourne. The scans are done on a an Imacon flextight and cost a dollar (Australian $) per Mbyte. Ie a 100Mb , approx 63 x42cm @300dpi scan costs $100. The Imacon is a superb scanner but at upwards of $15000 its way out of my league. The biggest problem I have had with bureau scans is operator input/skill, in much the same way that 3 different enlarger operators with identical equip will give three different results. They frequently do corrections using (I think) levels in photoshop on 8bit files instead of curves and 16bit which are far gentler on your data. I have returned quite a few scans for redos because of posterization or clipping, especially in the highlights. Don't get me wrong the Imacon is more than capable of producing superb scans with far more detail than the epson and if I could afford/justify it that is probably what I would be using. I have compared Imacon scans with the same film scanned on the epson (at 4800dpi/48bit). Up till around A4 size @ 300dpi the Imacon is slightly crisper with slightly more fine detail, but I have found the colour information and shadow detail to be superior in the epson, much smoother. This is not because of the scanner, but the operator. What I am saying is that a well done scan on the Epson 4870 beats an indifferent scan on something as high end as an Imacon. 72Mb Photo CD scans off the same film are also beaten by the epson. The "instructions" with the epson are pathetic and for a device with so many options gives no guidance as to what settings to use to get optimum scans. If anyone knows of resources or info on driving this scanner, please post!!! I have compared scans with and without "digital Ice", a secondary surface scan that removes dust. A 21/4 square 4800dpi/48bit scan takes around 4 minutes to do and is over 700Mb in size.( quick IMO), with DIce it takes anywhere from 15-20mins and the device makes quite strange clunking noises whilst in operation. Previews and zooms take less than a minute. The epson driver crashes PhotoshopCS (winXP, Pent4/HT, 1.5GB 400Mhz DDR ram/ 85% to PShop. 200Mb HDisk, at these sizes with Digital Ice on. I suspect insufficient memory/Ram, It works fine as a standalone. The dust removal part works very well but I have found it does some strange things with some tones, posterizing slightly. Maybe it works in 8bit? I did some comparisons with the Silverfast SWare that comes with it and although it has good instructions and seems to offer far more control (ie, you can select from dozens of film emulsions rather than just a generic "col Transp, col neg" etc.) than the epson SWare scans take longer and I couldn't get as good results as with the epson driver. Having a stereo with 20buttons on it does not necessarily give you better sound than one with only one!! The biggest problem with SFast is it works in 48Bit but only outputs 24 Bit. I prefer to do my final corrections via curves and adjustment layers in PShop as the scanner previews are only good for rough work and its difficult to see the effect of fine adjustments. I think to drive this scanner properly you need to invest at least a few days "playing" with it and seeing what the dozens of different settings do and which gives the best results. Like any scanner one of the biggest problems will be dust. At 4800dpi, film grain is obvious as well as the slightest bit of dust. Being all plastic it is a dust magnet!!!!! Keep it and all accesories covered when not in use. It doesn't appear to be particularily sturdily made. The deck flexes alarmingly at the rear when opening and closing the very heavy lid, as well as making very loud "cracking" noises from the lid hinge rachet mechanism. Notwithstanding the strange noises it works well! Summing up: I have been purchasing high end scans for years and know a good clean scan when I see one. The Epson 4870 gives astonishingly good scans, especially up to A4 pretty much indistinguishable from a good drum or Imacon scan. Up to A3 you really need to look closely to pick between it and a Flextight. At larger sizes a well run flextight will (not suprisingly) give better results so far as sharpness and detail are concerned. Regards, Frank Styevko from OZ Subject: [PRODIG] Epson Perfection 4870 flatbed scanner > Looking for a cost-effective (cheap) way to digitise a few hundred 6x6cm > transparencies and wondered about trying the Epson 4870 flatbed (with > film adapter) which I have seen recommended here - have read a couple of > positive reviews > =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
