2450 dead---now 3170, or Microtek, or...?

Last night my faithful Epson 2450 scanner (3 years old) gave me a scan
that looked almost like one of those 3D glasses shots. The blue channel
is completely messed up---vertically blurry and offset about 1/4 inch
(i.e. 75 pixels in a 300dpi scan). Red and green channels look okay.
Tested with two different machines running two different operating
systems, multiple USB and firewire cables, multiple images, with both
provided software packages (epson twain and silverfast ai). Even tried
moving the scanner away from potential electromagnetic interference, all
to no avail. I have email in to Epson but I don't expect the machine to
be repairable.

So... upgrade path. I already have a Scanwit for 35mm film & slides.
The flatbed is for documents, older prints for which I have no negs,
some modern medium format film, and some ancient oddly sized negatives
and slides. Nothing bigger than 6x9cm. The 2450 was "perfection" for
this mission.

The best current options seem to be:

Epson 3170
Microtek i700

If I increase the budget I would consider:

Epson 4870
Microtek i900

I am not convinced that the 4870 gives me anything I need, nor that the
added cost of Microtek optics is worth the extra money or hassle dealing
with Microtek. Having read many, many reviews and had personal
experience with several HP and Canon flatbeds, I am not realistically
considering any other brands besides the Epson and Microtek prosumers.

Anyway, let the opinions ensue!

thanks

FWIW:
See Tom's posting regarding Microtek ...
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 3:25 PM









"Elwood Dowd" <my.c@ate.it> wrote in message
news:8Y-dnchD_eTZ4njcRVn-vg@adelphia.com...
> Last night my faithful Epson 2450 scanner (3 years old) gave me a scan
> that looked almost like one of those 3D glasses shots. The blue channel
> is completely messed up---vertically blurry and offset about 1/4 inch
> (i.e. 75 pixels in a 300dpi scan). Red and green channels look okay.
> Tested with two different machines running two different operating
> systems, multiple USB and firewire cables, multiple images, with both
> provided software packages (epson twain and silverfast ai). Even tried
> moving the scanner away from potential electromagnetic interference, all
> to no avail. I have email in to Epson but I don't expect the machine to
> be repairable.
>
> So... upgrade path. I already have a Scanwit for 35mm film & slides.
> The flatbed is for documents, older prints for which I have no negs,
> some modern medium format film, and some ancient oddly sized negatives
> and slides. Nothing bigger than 6x9cm. The 2450 was "perfection" for
> this mission.
>
> The best current options seem to be:
>
> Epson 3170
> Microtek i700
>
> If I increase the budget I would consider:
>
> Epson 4870
> Microtek i900
>
> I am not convinced that the 4870 gives me anything I need, nor that the
> added cost of Microtek optics is worth the extra money or hassle dealing
> with Microtek. Having read many, many reviews and had personal
> experience with several HP and Canon flatbeds, I am not realistically
> considering any other brands besides the Epson and Microtek prosumers.
>
> Anyway, let the opinions ensue!
>
> thanks

> See Tom's posting regarding Microtek ...
> Tuesday, January 11, 2005 3:25 PM

Saw it, even commented... but then got to thinking how often I have sent
my 2450 in for repairs. Or the Microtek X6 before that. Zero.
Contacted customer service numerous times, yes, but actually sent the
unit in? Heck, for both of these units the cost of shipping alone would
be a large percentage of the value of the unit, warranty or no.

Unless you get a scream of a deal on the now discontinued 3170, you will
probably want to get its replacement the 4180. I just mention this because
some of the few places that still have 3170's in stock are charging almost
as much as others charge for the 4180.

Doug
--
Doug's "MF Film Holder" for batch scanning "strips" of 120/220 medium format
film:
http://home.earthlink.net/~dougfish.../mainintro.html

Boy, they discountine them fast these days. Thanks for the advice---I
was not aware that the 3170 was gone already.

- wrote:
> Unless you get a scream of a deal on the now discontinued 3170, you will
> probably want to get its replacement the 4180. I just mention this because
> some of the few places that still have 3170's in stock are charging almost
> as much as others charge for the 4180.
>
> Doug

Elwood Dowd wrote:
> Last night my faithful Epson 2450 scanner (3 years old) gave me a scan
> that looked almost like one of those 3D glasses shots.

(...)

> The best current options seem to be:
>
> Epson 3170
> Microtek i700
>
> If I increase the budget I would consider:
>
> Epson 4870
> Microtek i900

You may also want to consider the Canon 9950F. It's cheaper than the
Epson 4870 and according to the review on

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/in...950F/page_1.htm

it is capable of producing better scans. The Canon softare is not too
good but mine works well with VueScan (except for infrared cleaning).
It is still not comparable to a dedicated filmscanner, though
(http://homepages.ipact.nl/~wilfr/Ca...comparison.html)
but for not-too-large prints and MF it's quite good.
Somwhere on the web there's a review of the Microtek that shows very
blurry results. Unfortunately I don't vae the URL.


--

Wilfred van der Vegte.
Replace 'invalid' with my first name to reply by e-mail

> You may also want to consider the Canon 9950F. It's cheaper than the
> Epson 4870 and according to the review on

Thanks. My experiences with Canon scanners 4 years ago were pretty poor
but perhaps they are worth another look.

> It is still not comparable to a dedicated filmscanner, though

Nope, of course not---I have an Acer Scanwit for 35mm film, bought on
ebay for about $100, and it is just fantastic for the price. Certainly
exceeds my ability as a photographer!

> Somwhere on the web there's a review of the Microtek that shows very
> blurry results. Unfortunately I don't vae the URL.

Hmm, I'll look around, thanks

Some where on the net is a Photoshop action that takes care of that 3d color
fringing.
"Elwood Dowd" <my.c@ate.it> wrote in message
news:8Y-dnchD_eTZ4njcRVn-vg@adelphia.com...
> Last night my faithful Epson 2450 scanner (3 years old) gave me a scan
> that looked almost like one of those 3D glasses shots. The blue channel
> is completely messed up---vertically blurry and offset about 1/4 inch
> (i.e. 75 pixels in a 300dpi scan). Red and green channels look okay.
> Tested with two different machines running two different operating
> systems, multiple USB and firewire cables, multiple images, with both
> provided software packages (epson twain and silverfast ai). Even tried
> moving the scanner away from potential electromagnetic interference, all
> to no avail. I have email in to Epson but I don't expect the machine to
> be repairable.
>
> So... upgrade path. I already have a Scanwit for 35mm film & slides.
> The flatbed is for documents, older prints for which I have no negs,
> some modern medium format film, and some ancient oddly sized negatives
> and slides. Nothing bigger than 6x9cm. The 2450 was "perfection" for
> this mission.
>
> The best current options seem to be:
>
> Epson 3170
> Microtek i700
>
> If I increase the budget I would consider:
>
> Epson 4870
> Microtek i900
>
> I am not convinced that the 4870 gives me anything I need, nor that the
> added cost of Microtek optics is worth the extra money or hassle dealing
> with Microtek. Having read many, many reviews and had personal
> experience with several HP and Canon flatbeds, I am not realistically
> considering any other brands besides the Epson and Microtek prosumers.
>
> Anyway, let the opinions ensue!
>
> thanks

Forgot. I just a used 2450 from Goodwill with only a power cord. I did know
it was a three year old scanner. Went on line and downloaded the driver
software from Epson. I am a happy camper....and only $20.00 tax included.
"Elwood Dowd" <my.c@ate.it> wrote in message
news:8Y-dnchD_eTZ4njcRVn-vg@adelphia.com...
> Last night my faithful Epson 2450 scanner (3 years old) gave me a scan
> that looked almost like one of those 3D glasses shots. The blue channel
> is completely messed up---vertically blurry and offset about 1/4 inch
> (i.e. 75 pixels in a 300dpi scan). Red and green channels look okay.
> Tested with two different machines running two different operating
> systems, multiple USB and firewire cables, multiple images, with both
> provided software packages (epson twain and silverfast ai). Even tried
> moving the scanner away from potential electromagnetic interference, all
> to no avail. I have email in to Epson but I don't expect the machine to
> be repairable.
>
> So... upgrade path. I already have a Scanwit for 35mm film & slides.
> The flatbed is for documents, older prints for which I have no negs,
> some modern medium format film, and some ancient oddly sized negatives
> and slides. Nothing bigger than 6x9cm. The 2450 was "perfection" for
> this mission.
>
> The best current options seem to be:
>
> Epson 3170
> Microtek i700
>
> If I increase the budget I would consider:
>
> Epson 4870
> Microtek i900
>
> I am not convinced that the 4870 gives me anything I need, nor that the
> added cost of Microtek optics is worth the extra money or hassle dealing
> with Microtek. Having read many, many reviews and had personal
> experience with several HP and Canon flatbeds, I am not realistically
> considering any other brands besides the Epson and Microtek prosumers.
>
> Anyway, let the opinions ensue!
>
> thanks

Well done! It is a fantastic scanner. Mine is still very sharp on the
other two channels.

I traded email with Epson this morning and also called one of their
recommended service centers. This is definitely a hardware issue, and I
probably did it when I moved the scanner from one room to another, even
carefully. A repair will likely cost about $180 for a new scanner
armature and an hour of work at $80---and there is no way I am going to
spend $260 repairing a scanner for which I only paid $220 three years ago.

Now I am stuck between the Epson 3170 ($130) or the newer 4870 ($350
refurb or $380 new). I don't need 4800dpi and I would like to keep that
extra $200+ in my pocket, but I am also leery of purchasing a scanner
that has already been discontinued by the manufacturer. A middle ground
would be a refurb 3200 at $300.


Tom Ellliott wrote:
> Forgot. I just a used 2450 from Goodwill with only a power cord. I did know
> it was a three year old scanner. Went on line and downloaded the driver
> software from Epson. I am a happy camper....and only $20.00 tax included.