when is Epson 4870 replacement due?

[Mike]

I am eying up the Epson 4870 scanner for handling my 4x5" and 120
transparencies.

Are there any rumors or talk of an upcoming replacement? Obviously there
will be at some point, but if it is coming in 2-3 months, I'll just wait
for it instead of buying now.

 

[Ralf R. Radermacher]

I am eying up the Epson 4870 scanner for handling my 4x5" and 120
transparencies.

Are there any rumors or talk of an upcoming replacement?

Any day now.

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/News/Dec04/Epson_4990.htm

Obviously there
will be at some point, but if it is coming in 2-3 months, I'll just wait
for it instead of buying now.

Yep. Also waiting for it. Hope it'll bring down the price of the
remaining stocks of the 4870 and since there's no word of any
improvement with the 4990 other than speed...

Ralf

 

[Mike]

Yep. Also waiting for it. Hope it'll bring down the price of the
remaining stocks of the 4870 and since there's no word of any
improvement with the 4990 other than speed...

Thank you!

Hmm...if the DPI and D-max is the same, then I'd probably make the same
choice!

 

[-]

DPI is the same. I am almost sure it has the same optics system as the
4870. The Dmax claim is 4.0 vs. 3.8 but if you know Epson, you take their
marketing claims with a grain of salt. Since the light lid has changed
(wider to accomodate larger than 4x5), my guess is that any Dmax gain will
be accomplished by inserting a brighter bulb versus better CCD response.

Doug

 

[NSN]

I believe that te 4990 will have an LED light source rather than a
cold cathode tube. This should be a more accurate device over the
long run. I am waiting for it to surface. Do a Google for it and
read the specs and reviews.

Norm

 

[Ralf R. Radermacher]

I believe that te 4990 will have an LED light source rather than a
cold cathode tube.

Everything suggests in fact that they've changed the lightsource in
order to get a (a) larger scanned area and (b) shorter scanning times.
For the latter - all other things remaining the same - they'll need more
light. They certainly won't get that from LEDs.

This should be a more accurate device over the
long run.

The long run...?

Just for the record: what was the longest you've ever had any particular
scanner.

Ralf

 

[-]

I believe that te 4990 will have an LED light source rather than a

cold cathode tube.

According the the UK site, it still uses a "White cold cathode fluorescent
lamp" I think the confusion may come from the LED tracking light that just
shows how the scan is progressing: "It also has a moving blue Light
Emitting Diode (LED) that enables you to track the progress of your scan."

The "Unsharp Mask with Noise Reduction" software could be an interesting
addition if it really works and allows some sort of flexibility/control.
Given Epson's past software missteps, you never know.

Doug

 

[RSD99]

I certainly hope that they offer the "PRO" version with SilverFast AI and
Monaco EZ Color ... but there has been no indication of that configuration
being available. Does anyone know anything additional?

 

[Fernando]

I certainly hope that they offer the "PRO" version with SilverFast AI and
Monaco EZ Color ... but there has been no indication of that configuration
being available. Does anyone know anything additional?

They don't: bundled Silverfast is the SE version.

If anyone is interested, there's a brief preview by an early adopter
here:

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.pl?s=41e17d980f01ffff;act=ST;f=36;t=290

Nothing spectacular IMHO, but then, I was not expecting a big
improvement.

Fer

 

[Ole-Hjalmar Kristensen]

"-" == - <-> writes:

-> DPI is the same. I am almost sure it has the same optics system as the
-> 4870. The Dmax claim is 4.0 vs. 3.8 but if you know Epson, you take their
-> marketing claims with a grain of salt. Since the light lid has changed
-> (wider to accomodate larger than 4x5), my guess is that any Dmax gain will
-> be accomplished by inserting a brighter bulb versus better CCD response.

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

They claim the new bulb also emits more blue light to compensate for
the orange mask of color negatives.

I actually got a 4990 in the door on Friday, and I'm still not certain
whether I will keep it or return it.

It's pretty fast, although I haven't actully timed it. If I turn on
sharpening it's a bit slower, as I have an old and slow computer. With
ICE on, it's annoyingly slow, but I think that's mainly because of my
computer.

Diapositives and negatives seems to scan equally well, also B&W
negatives are fine.

IF I were scanning mainly 35mm, I would have got another scanner, but
I bought it for scanning an old archive of medium format film
of varying quality, and for that purpose it seems fine.

 

[Ralf R. Radermacher]

Ole-Hjalmar Kristensen

They claim the new bulb also emits more blue light to compensate for
the orange mask of color negatives.

This claim was already made for the 4870.

Ralf

 

[MPA]

I am eying up the Epson 4870 scanner for handling my 4x5" and 120
transparencies.

Are there any rumors or talk of an upcoming replacement? Obviously there
will be at some point, but if it is coming in 2-3 months, I'll just wait
for it instead of buying now.

in germany epson perfection 4990is expected end of january, in other
countries in march. 450 usd in standard 600 usd with full software
package silverfast ai 6 incl.