[PNTXFTW12]

OKAY so, i want to be able to scan my negatives and slides into high resolution digital images on my computer! It would make me feel a lot more comfortable since i'm so used to working with digital images right from my K-7 anyways.

AND i'm tired of scanning 4x6 prints because it just doesn't come out so good

i've been looking at some film scanners and the Epson Perfection 4490 looks half-decent. Good reviews and i've seen some impressive negative and slide scans on Flickr from this scanner. Quality is great: http://www.flickr.com/photos/twentyhertz/2476314153/

For 175CAD it seems like a pretty good catch and I'm on the PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW page, but i decided to get some input from you beautiful people here at PF. So SPEAK

Buy the Epson Perfection 4490 Photo Scanner at TigerDirect.ca

[k0og]

Hello,

I just received from my wife yesterday for Christmas an Epson Perfection V500 Photo, which I think is a newer version of the 4490. It cost under $180. Look for sales.

I've been using it last night and today to scan some old prints, slides, and negatives (both 35mm and 120 6x6 and 6x9 format). It is easy to use, seems fast to me (especially since it uses instant-on LED lights instead of fluorescent like the 4490), and comes bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, which also was a nice upgrade from my old Photoshop 5.0. I'm VERY happy with it!

Here is a 6x9 scan I posted in the film forum at https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/858379-post1892.html:



-Joe-

[PNTXFTW12]

thanks, i just read up on the V500 and yes it has an LED lighting element opposed to a traditional scanner bulb in the 4490.
i REALLY wish you replied half hour earlier, i already ordered the 4490 but i'm going to try and exchange it for the V500!

[photolady95]

Send back the 4490. I have this one and it doesn't scan larger negatives that well. I wish I had the V500 as well, but funds led me to the 4490. It does 35mm good, but I have some older 120 and the holder for those size negatives just doesn't scan right. I get one half a neg and another half the neg. It's like it scans in two pieces.

[k0og]

Send back the 4490. I have this one and it doesn't scan larger negatives that well. I wish I had the V500 as well, but funds led me to the 4490. It does 35mm good, but I have some older 120 and the holder for those size negatives just doesn't scan right. I get one half a neg and another half the neg. It's like it scans in two pieces.

It sounds like you need to adjust the aspect ratio. I had a similar experience the first time I tried to scan a 6x9 negative. It broke it up into two 6x6 previews. Go into the config in the scan panel (the button at the bottom-center of the panel) and there is an item to set the format/aspect ratio. I think you can also change the preview panel so that it shows the whole negative strip instead of pre-selected frames, then you can use the selection tool to select the individual frames.

-Joe-

[photolady95]

Mine doesn't have any such setting. It has Preview and adjust film size, ie, 6x4.5, 6x6, etc and I've tried each of those settings and none of those settings changed anything. There is no setting to adjust format/aspect ratio. The only way to show the whole strip is take it out of "thumbnail" preview but then it scans the whole negative strip holder, but shows no film.

[k0og]

Mine doesn't have any such setting. It has Preview and adjust film size, ie, 6x4.5, 6x6, etc and I've tried each of those settings and none of those settings changed anything. There is no setting to adjust format/aspect ratio. The only way to show the whole strip is take it out of "thumbnail" preview but then it scans the whole negative strip holder, but shows no film.

Greetings,

I was trying to describe it based on a weak memory - I just got my V500 on Christmas, so have not used it enough to remember it very well. So, I took some screen shots. Hopefully this will help:

I'm running version 3.24 of the software - maybe this makes a difference if you are not running the latest version:


In the main scanner panel, click on the "Configuration" button (notice that I am in Professional mode at the top - I've not even tried the other modes yet).


In the configuration window, select the film size tab and set it to the correct size.


In general, it should work with these settings. However, I did find one minor trick: If it does not "catch" the first negative, you may need to slide it down a little bit so that some clear space on the negative is visible to the scanner just before it hits the exposed part of the film. I had a couple of instances where the film did not frame properly in the preview window, and I found that I had the exposed part of the negative right up to the edge of the film holder so that no clear unexposed space was visible to the scanner. Sliding it down a couple of millimeters to expose the unexposed edge caused it to properly register the frames.

Alternatively, you can un-check the "thumbnail" box at the bottom of the main scanner panel window, in which case the preview window will not show the individual frames, but will show the whole film strip. You can use the marquee tool to select your picture. This would be a nice feature if you were using 120 film with a home-made pinhole camera, or other odd project which does not yield standard frame dimensions. Here is a screen shot of the no-thumbnail preview window to show you how it looks:


I hope this helps.

By the way, here is the result of this scan - my wife's cat Fritz in a showdown with a neighbor cat. This was taken with a Mamiya C220 TLR, Kodak B&W film, quite underexposed and a very thin negative. The scanner did an excellent job of pulling out the image. Picture taken in 1978, film processed by me in the darkroom at work.


I sure am having some fun with this nice V500 scanner!

-Joe-

[ryan s]

The 4490 is nice...the reviews out there aren't wrong

If you can swing a V500...do it. If not, don't feel too badly

[PNTXFTW12]

The 4490 is nice...the reviews out there aren't wrong

If you can swing a V500...do it. If not, don't feel too badly

Thanks ryan, that's exactly what i was wanting to hear

i called a friend who's older brother works at tigerdirect, he said i should be able to exchange it for the V500 in-store, but the problem is that the V500 is $249 at tigerdirect, which is fairly high compared to other retailers.

If i could get a full refund and just spend my money on the V500 elsewhere that would be perfect

[k0og]

Thanks ryan, that's exactly what i was wanting to hear

i called a friend who's older brother works at tigerdirect, he said i should be able to exchange it for the V500 in-store, but the problem is that the V500 is $249 at tigerdirect, which is fairly high compared to other retailers.

If i could get a full refund and just spend my money on the V500 elsewhere that would be perfect

I was just looking around at prices, and found a good deal at $109 (not including shipping) at Epson's on-line store for a 4490:
Epson Perfection 4490 PHOTO - Refurbished, Overview - Product Information - Epson America, Inc.

The V500 is selling for around $152 to $160 (at Newegg and B&H), as you can see in this price list:
Epson Perfection V500 Photo - 6400 dpi x 9600 dpi - Flatbed scanner

I think my wife bought my V500 from Newegg and it arrived in less than five days from when she placed the order.

After using standard fluorescent-tube scanners for decades, having the instantly-available LED technology V500 is very noticeable to me. It seems very fast. I'm glad we spent a little more for the LED V500. I've also had several very nice scanners fail with a bad fluorescent tube, or performance degrade, especially along the edges of the scan where the tube starts burning and losing brightness and strange color balance.

When you get whatever new scanner you settle on, post some results here!

-Joe-

[ddhytz]

...
I'm running version 3.24 of the software - maybe this makes a difference if you are not running the latest version:

Is this newer version available on Epson website for download? I have a 4490 running v3.04E software. It serves well as I only shoot film occasionally. But if I were looking for a new scanner with enough funds I would get V500. Some samples from 4490:

B&W (Fuji Neppan400) with 100%crop


negative

[k0og]

Is this newer version available on Epson website for download? I have a 4490 running v3.04E software. It serves well as I only shoot film occasionally. But if I were looking for a new scanner with enough funds I would get V500. Some samples from 4490:
...

Nice looking scans - your 4490 seems to be doing a fine job.

I just looked at the Epson site, and you can download the latest version. I just found that for the V500 I don't have the latest version, so I'm downloading it now.

-Joe-

...A little later...
I just downloaded the latest updates for the V500 (including version 3.74 of the scanner program), and don't see any difference. Maybe it was just bug fixes.

-Joe-

[ddhytz]

I am confused by their website. It needs username and password to download the file. I have no idea what my username is although I have registered with my name and email address. I can log on to my account but still cannot download the file.

[k0og]

I am confused by their website. It needs username and password to download the file. I have no idea what my username is although I have registered with my name and email address. I can log on to my account but still cannot download the file.

I just went to the North American site, and see that 3.04 is the latest version listed there for the 4490 for Windows XP. I see a 3.24 for Windows 7, but don't know if that will work on XP. I wonder if the V500 software will work with the 4490 - might be interesting to try.

The link is:
Epson Perfection 4490 Photo, Drivers & Downloads - Technical Support - Epson America, Inc.

I looked at the .au page, and it has some really old software on it - not up to date!

I was not prompted for any passwords when I downloaded the software.

-Joe-

[ddhytz]

Thanks. I got the software for Win 7, will try it on XP later. The trick was I had to accept their e-newsletters, drive alert, etc before I could download.