Epson 4490 quality output

[Guest]

I just got my new Epson 4490 scanner.
Last night I have experimented with 4, 35mm slides. It may be due to my
lack of knowledge on how use it but, at this time, I found the output
quality a little deceiving. I am having some after though about Epson and
may be I should have got a dedicated film scanner. I wonder if there is
anyone using the same type of scanner?

 

[Harry Stottle]

I just got my new Epson 4490 scanner.
Last night I have experimented with 4, 35mm slides. It may be due to
my lack of knowledge on how use it but, at this time, I found the
output quality a little deceiving. I am having some after though
about Epson and may be I should have got a dedicated film scanner. I
wonder if there is anyone using the same type of scanner?

I recently bought an Epson 4490 and I am very pleased with the results.
I have used a dedicated 2700 Minolta scanner before, and found the
results from the 4490 to be at least as good.

My settings for 35mm slides would be:-
Professional Mode
Document Type - Film
Film Type - Positive
Image Type - 24-bit Color (or 48 but file sizes twice the size)
Scanning Quality - Best
Resolution 3200
Click on 'Configuration' then 'Color' and tick Color Control, untick
'Continuous auto exposure and set 'Display Gamma' to 2.2 if using
Windows, or leave it at 1.8 if Mac.
Make sure 'No Color Correction' is unticked.
Then do a 'Preview' and select the image using the marquee box
I then go to 'Adjustments' and click on 'Histogram Adjustment' then I
tick the individual colours in sequence Red - Green - Blue and set the
black slider to the left hand of the coloured histogram 'mountain', and
the white slider to the right hand side of the histogram 'mountain'. Do
this for each colour in turn, then close the histogram adjustment and
'Scan'.
This should give you an output file image that is pretty good, with
reasonably accurate colours, and the image can then be fine tuned in any
image editing programme for brightness, sharpening etc.

I have used the histogram adjustments as above for slides, colour
negatives, and black and white negatives, and had good results from all
3.

 

[Guest]

Thanks I appreciate the information.
I'll follow your setting for 35mm slides.

 

[Guest]

I have used your setting and I am very pleased with the results.
Is this the only adjustment that need to be done or do you do any further
adjustment before scanning.

 

[Harry Stottle]

I have used your setting and I am very pleased with the results.
Is this the only adjustment that need to be done or do you do any
further adjustment before scanning.

I have had my scanner for about a week, and that's all the settings I
have been using since first setting it up. I have been happy with the
results obtained, so I have not had to bother with any further changes
Now that you are getting some good results, you could try upping the
resolution to 4800 for 35mm, to allow for larger image output, or
selective cropping, and if you have old or dust impregnated slides or
negs, experiment with digital ice, but if you do not have these
problems, then there is no need. You have a basic setting to work with
now, so you can experiment with the other settings to see what happens,
knowing that you can fall back to those basic settings if nothing
improves.

A lot of people experience problems with colour settings when using
different brands of film, and then buy further software like Vuescan or
Silverfast to try and overcome this, but using the histogram setting I
explained earlier seems to work OK for any make of film, and it is a lot
easier than trying to learn third party software.

 

[Guest]

I appreciate the feedback.
I have slides from the sixties. They were taken with Agfa color. I am glad
of the progress I have made in using this Epson 4490.
Again thanks for the settings.

 

[theo]

...and may be I should have got a dedicated film scanner. I wonder if
there is
anyone using the same type of scanner?

YahooGroups has a NG dedicated to epson "pro-sumer" machines, so it has
moved on to talk about V700 and such. But search back in its archive for
4490 posts.
If you have ONLY 135 format films, then this question in this NG has often
been answered as YES, a film scanner as a specialist will normally
outperform a generalist flatbed. However, change the style of format and
the answer changes. For my decades of 120 format 2 1/4 square color
slides in mounts, I used minilab machines until their demise, then Epson
Perfection 2480 for its wider-than-36mm light source in its lid and easily
carvable film holder, and now the 4490 for the same features and the dICE
as a wonderful bonus. Other scanners in my studio for other media, all so
far have imaged some 2500 flashes of memories. Your progress, and your
purposes, may differ.
Regards,
Theo

 

[Parviz]

Folks, I just bought my Epson 4490 last week and start using it
yesterday. I wonder if you figure out how to set the default location
for saving the file in way that does not change to factory default
every time. In addition I can not find a way to keep the scanner
program open for next scan, as soon as finishes a scan I have to
restart the scanner program (Slow to restart I might say) and
reconfigure the file save/folder (location). Any help appreciated.

 

[Harry Stottle]

Folks, I just bought my Epson 4490 last week and start using it
yesterday. I wonder if you figure out how to set the default location
for saving the file in way that does not change to factory default
every time. In addition I can not find a way to keep the scanner
program open for next scan, as soon as finishes a scan I have to
restart the scanner program (Slow to restart I might say) and
reconfigure the file save/folder (location). Any help appreciated.

First question, are you importing the scan into an image editing
programme, or using 'Epson Scan' as a stand alone programme, and then
saving the files ready for opening in an image editing programme? I use
Epson Scan as a stand alone programme, and I do not have to close the
programme when the scanner finishes a scan, but I have had to do this
with other scanners when importing scans into image editing programmes.

Second, regarding the default location for saving the file, have you
ticked the 'Save Settings' box in 'Configuration' 'Other'?