Re: Epson 4990 scanner

From: Harry Smart ^lt;harry@harrysmart.plus.com>
Date: 09/15/05-10:33:19 AM Z
Message-id: <005201c5ba13$324736c0$0e00000a@harrynet>

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Film-Holder-Epson-3200-245-3170-4180-4870-4990-Scanner_W0QQitemZ7545764816QQcategoryZ15223QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(remove the line break for the link to work)

This is one of his eBay auctions, though he also sells direct, I believe.
This has a buy-it-now of $29.95. I bought one from him a couple of years
ago, shipping to UK was very reasonable.

I use mine regularly and have now scanned several hundred images with it,
from 6x6 up to 6x15. I mainly use it for images from a Widelux 1500, which
gives a neg around 5 x 11. I would not consider any other way of scanning
120 on a flatbed (I have a now rather elderly Epson 2450 Photo). The window
is just over 20 cm long.

The build quality is good; very much better than the Epson holders which I
still use very occasionally for 35mm. I use Vuescan to scan with, and it has
no problem finding the image.

The downsides are: first, the plastic clips to hold the film flat are not
captive, and easily lost. You get three with the holder; I now have one
original left. The others have dematerialised in that peculiar way that
small plastic things have, and with them two of the replacements that I made
using the polystyrene bar material sold for, I believe, model railway
enthusiasts.

Secondly, if you leave the holder in the scanner with everything powered up
for a long time, the warmth from the scanner produces a (very) slight bow in
the holder. When I mentioned this to him about a year ago he offered a
replacement at cost, and replacement / spare clips at cost. I then lost his
email / forgot / deleted the appropriate brain cells. I firmly intend to get
onto it. Soon. But I'm actually still managing fine.

Harry

----- Original Message -----
From: "jamesromeo" <jamesromeo1934@mac.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: Epson 4990 scanner

> I know some one who bought a template for 6x12 for his noblex on his
> Epson.
> I just bought a 4990 I can not contact him now.
> Does any one out there know the name of the company who makes the
> template.
> Thanks
> James
> On Sep 15, 2005, at 11:35 AM, Gerry Giliberti wrote:
>
> > There is an after market product that compensates for the Epson scanner
> > template problems (4870 &4990 scanners and others). I can't find the
> > company
> > name right now but you may be able to search the internet for these
> > templates. They cost about $29 each. I don't know of anyone who has
> > tried
> > them but from what I've read they make a difference in the scanning
> > quality.
> > I have a 4870 and the scans are OK. Let's face it the little plastic
> > lenses
> > in these scanners really don't compare at all to high end drum
> > scanners. In
> > the end it's all about if your are satisfied with the results you get
> > when
> > you complete the type of printing process you're doing. If you only
> > have a
> > few 8x10 negatives you may be better off sending them to Kodak. I
> > think they
> > drum scan everything they put onto CDs.
> >
> > Gerry G
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Shannon Stoney [mailto:sstoney@pdq.net]
> > Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 10:29 AM
> > To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> > Subject: epson 4990 scanner
> >
> >
> > Speaking of Epson:
> >
> > Has anybody had any experience with the Epson Perfection 4990
> > scanner? (I have just gotten back on the list so I hope I am not
> > bringing up an old thread that you discussed all summer.) I looked
> > at one yesterday in a store, and I was worried it wouldn't work well
> > for scanning 8x10 negatives or medium format panoramas, because for
> > big negatives, the film sits directly on the glass. I was worried
> > there might be newton rings or poor focus. The 8x10 holder doesn't
> > really suspend the film above the glass; it's more like a template.
> > Maybe one could fashion a holder out of thin plastic, though.
> >
> > --shannon
>
Received on Thu Sep 15 10:33:49 2005

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