Epson 4870 on a Mac

[yabooo]

I am not a photographer nor do I know much about scanning so I would
appreciate any help anyone can offer. It seems the photographer at our
wedding disappeared and is now unreachable. This is unfortunate for
us since all we have is the book of 4x6 pictures that we are supposed
to pick from to get our blow ups. Unfortuantely the photographer is
gone and we have no negatives so we must find a way to turn these
pictures into a digital format with excellent quality so that we can
get the various blow ups to send to family and friends. After reading
multiple reviews, we decided the Epson 4870 was high grade consumer
scanner with good optical resolution (3.8 DMax). But after further
investigation we detrmined they sell a normal model and a pro model
and the differene in price is about $150. the Scanners are exactly
the same and the only difference is the Pro model comes with more
software, specifically the full version of of Silverfast Ai, Monaco EZ
color calibration software, ArcSoft Photobase, Arcsoft Photostudio,
and Arcsoft Panorama maker software. Now I want to make the best
scanned photos I can but can anyone offer any advice on whether I
might benefit from this added software or is it simply overkill?
Thanks in advance

 

[bh]

I am not a photographer nor do I know much about scanning so I would
appreciate any help anyone can offer. It seems the photographer at our
wedding disappeared and is now unreachable. This is unfortunate for
us since all we have is the book of 4x6 pictures that we are supposed
to pick from to get our blow ups. Unfortuantely the photographer is
gone and we have no negatives so we must find a way to turn these
pictures into a digital format with excellent quality so that we can
get the various blow ups to send to family and friends. After reading
multiple reviews, we decided the Epson 4870 was high grade consumer
scanner with good optical resolution (3.8 DMax). But after further
investigation we detrmined they sell a normal model and a pro model
and the differene in price is about $150. the Scanners are exactly
the same and the only difference is the Pro model comes with more
software, specifically the full version of of Silverfast Ai, Monaco EZ
color calibration software, ArcSoft Photobase, Arcsoft Photostudio,
and Arcsoft Panorama maker software. Now I want to make the best
scanned photos I can but can anyone offer any advice on whether I
might benefit from this added software or is it simply overkill?
Thanks in advance

Sorry to hear you got taken...

Since it sounds like you are a novice at photos & scanning, and
that you are concerned about spending an extra $150, I would say
that it would be overkill. BTW, I bought an Epson 3200 non-pro.

My non-pro 3200 came with Epson software which generates
pretty good results, but found it difficult to use. I have Vuescan
(hamrick.com) and have been using that. However, it too takes
a bit getting use to.

Color calibration would be good to have, but for the uninitiated
it will take time for you to understand the ins and outs of color
calibration and the steps you need to take.

Though you don't say what you plan to do with your scans:
* print yourself (may fade in time depending on your printer)
* have it printed professionally
* other?

I would say just buy the non-pro. You can always buy the
extra software, though it may cost more.

 

[-]

Given your description of your scanning skills and needs, I don't think the
4870 is the right choice for you. It is overkill if you just plan to scan
4x6 prints. The Epson 1670 is probably going to perform just as well as the
4870 when scanning 4x6 prints. The amount of benefit you get when scanning
a print at resolutions above 300 dpi drops very quickly. Therefore, any
1200 dpi flatbed scanner should provide more than enough resolution.

Just my $.02,
Doug

 

[yabooo]

Sorry to hear you got taken...

Since it sounds like you are a novice at photos & scanning, and
that you are concerned about spending an extra $150, I would say
that it would be overkill. BTW, I bought an Epson 3200 non-pro.

My non-pro 3200 came with Epson software which generates
pretty good results, but found it difficult to use. I have Vuescan
(hamrick.com) and have been using that. However, it too takes
a bit getting use to.

Color calibration would be good to have, but for the uninitiated
it will take time for you to understand the ins and outs of color
calibration and the steps you need to take.

Though you don't say what you plan to do with your scans:
* print yourself (may fade in time depending on your printer)
* have it printed professionally
* other?

I would say just buy the non-pro. You can always buy the
extra software, though it may cost more.

Thanks for the information. i very much appreciate it. To answer your
question, I plan to take the disc of scans I make to a professional to
print up on high quality paper.

 

[yabooo]

Given your description of your scanning skills and needs, I don't think the
4870 is the right choice for you. It is overkill if you just plan to scan
4x6 prints. The Epson 1670 is probably going to perform just as well as the
4870 when scanning 4x6 prints. The amount of benefit you get when scanning
a print at resolutions above 300 dpi drops very quickly. Therefore, any
1200 dpi flatbed scanner should provide more than enough resolution.

Just my $.02,
Doug

Doug, you have just opened up a whole new can of worms. Which is a
very interesting piece of information for me. So do you think think
that I could blow these pictures up to 8x12 and the next size up
(12x18?) and still retain very good resolution? Or will people say
that something looks wrong with these pictures?
Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply.

 

[bh]

Thanks for the information. i very much appreciate it. To answer your
question, I plan to take the disc of scans I make to a professional to
print up on high quality paper.

Have you considered taking the photos to either a photo lab or
studio (a reputable one) and find out how much it would
cost to have them make prints (and negatives if you desire)?
It'll be much simpler and cost-wise may be cheaper since you
want generate 8x12's. Then you won't have to learn about
all the gotchas of scanning, find a place that would take large
tiff files, etc., etc.

--bh

 

[CCD]

Firstly my apologies. You're on the short end of the stick already. (Hire a
P.I., bounty hunter or "good fella" is my advice) You might be able to pull
an OK 5X7, and some prints may even look good as 8X10s, at arms length. But
to go any bigger you're going to have to start reducing your output DPI and
the viewable distance from the photo will start to decrease as well, you'll
have to stand 20' feet away view a 16X20 not be aware of the loss in
quality. There are details in the original negatives which only will be
yeilded by reprinting at the correct size. That being said, size isn't
everything in this case. You can probably put together a really cute album
regardless of not having the originals. Be more creative and work with what
you've got. I use the 3200 and it's a great piece of machinery for prints or
negatives. If you ever do get the negs back it'll pay for itself in no time.

 

[RSD99]

"CCD" posted:
"... There are details in the original negatives which only will be
yeilded by reprinting at the correct size. ..."

Yes. The basic resolution of the paper used for those 4" x 6" "proofs" is probably
something like 10 line pairs-per-millimeter (which is typical for run of the mill machine
prints), and if you scan and enlarge them things will turn visibly fuzzy quite soon.

I'd go for the "bounty hunter" if the choice is available. (HeHeHeHeHe ... S-CNR).

 

[Ronald Bruck]

I am not a photographer nor do I know much about scanning so I would
appreciate any help anyone can offer. It seems the photographer at our
wedding disappeared and is now unreachable. This is unfortunate for
us since all we have is the book of 4x6 pictures that we are supposed
to pick from to get our blow ups. Unfortuantely the photographer is
gone and we have no negatives so we must find a way to turn these
pictures into a digital format with excellent quality so that we can
get the various blow ups to send to family and friends. After reading
multiple reviews, we decided the Epson 4870 was high grade consumer
scanner with good optical resolution (3.8 DMax). But after further
investigation we detrmined they sell a normal model and a pro model
and the differene in price is about $150. the Scanners are exactly
the same and the only difference is the Pro model comes with more
software, specifically the full version of of Silverfast Ai, Monaco EZ
color calibration software, ArcSoft Photobase, Arcsoft Photostudio,
and Arcsoft Panorama maker software. Now I want to make the best
scanned photos I can but can anyone offer any advice on whether I
might benefit from this added software or is it simply overkill?
Thanks in advance

Overkill? These are your WEDDING photos. I would say, save your $600
and go to a professional. (A GOOD professional, not Walmart.)

But if you don't have enough other things to do it's a lot of fun
to scan and "do-it-yourself". Normally, though, I would say do this
only if the number of photos is in the thousands. You should buy a
digital camera instead of a film camera, so this won't come up again.

Does anybody know if there's a professional society for photographers
where you can complain? My son't wedding photographer quit the
business, too; but he had the decency to finish our order first
(perhaps it helped that I bought the negatives).

--Ron Bruck

 

[RSD99]

posted:
"... Does anybody know if there's a professional society for photographers
where you can complain? ..."

Other than your local Better Business Bureau, District Attorney, or Police, you could try
WPPI. WPPI actually is a "professional association" (read: independent business) more
concerned with putting on seminars and conventions, but they **may** have run into the
problem before. It is apparently run by Rangefinder magazine, and is probably the largest
organization covering the Wedding-Portrait photo business.

Wedding and Portrait Photographers International
1312 Lincoln Boulevard
Santa Monica, California 90401
310 451 0090
www.wppinow.com