Epson 4870/4990 and 35mm

[Mike]

How does the Epson 4870 do with 35mm? I'm not expecting anything great
and realize that it can't compete with dedicated, but being able to make a
sharp 8x10 print would be nice. This is all I expect from 35mm anyways.

I plan on getting it primarily for 4x5 and 6x7 film, but somewhat decent
35mm capability would be a bonus.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[kstewart]

I am happy with mine and 8x10 from 35mm.

I realised that a dedicated scanner is better but it suits me as I have a
variety of formats to scan.

I use Vuescan and Picture Window Pro 3.5. I used the Epson software for the
Digital Ice when needed. With the Picture Window Pro I use Unsharp Mask or
Advanced Sharpen (but have not completely mastered this tho it produces
great stuff). The use of Masks makes a big difference


I print out with Epson R800 using in the main profiled Ilford paper such as
Gallerie Smooth Pearl Paper


keith

 

[Ole-Hjalmar Kristensen]

M> How does the Epson 4870 do with 35mm? I'm not expecting anything great
M> and realize that it can't compete with dedicated, but being able to make a
M> sharp 8x10 print would be nice. This is all I expect from 35mm anyways.

M> I plan on getting it primarily for 4x5 and 6x7 film, but somewhat decent
M> 35mm capability would be a bonus.

M> Thanks,
M> Mike

I have a 4990 (the new version of 4870), and 8x10 is certainly doable,
but I'm not certain it can compete with a cheap 2200x1500 scan from a
Frontier scanner. It's probably better than a 1536x1024 Kodak picture
CD scan, though.

 

[Robert M]

How does the Epson 4870 do with 35mm? I'm not expecting anything great
and realize that it can't compete with dedicated, but being able to make a
sharp 8x10 print would be nice. This is all I expect from 35mm anyways.

I plan on getting it primarily for 4x5 and 6x7 film, but somewhat decent
35mm capability would be a bonus.

You'll be fine,
I just made some 70x100cm prints on Durst Epsilon that are
scanned with my 4870 from 35mm slides.
So they are good even for 35mm flim, not to mention medium and
large formats.
As with all flatbed scanners, you need to use some digital
enhanceing like USM and so, after all they are not dedicated
film scanners, but for the price and versatility of that Epsons
there is nothing even near...

And to my knowledge scans are better then on frontier, and at
least you make them on your own... and i like to do stuff on my
own...

For serious scanning use Silverfast, for 35mm mass production
use EpsonScan, and invest in Firewire card if you don't have
one, i use it and there are no slowdowns with big scans...
although there are no significant slowdowns on USB 2 either, it
still tends to choke on big files...

And yes, calibrate your colour system... it speeds up process a
lot...

 

[PGG]

For serious scanning use Silverfast, for 35mm mass production
use EpsonScan, and invest in Firewire card if you don't have
one, i use it and there are no slowdowns with big scans...
although there are no significant slowdowns on USB 2 either, it
still tends to choke on big files...

And yes, calibrate your colour system... it speeds up process a
lot...

Can you give me a place to start for calibrating my monitor? I will want
to make scans, and have prints made with ezprints.com which supposedly
uses "ICC Profiles". What software will I need?