I've been using a Nikon Coolscan LS8000 for all my medium format and 35mm scanning until it crashed. I've stuck a good sum of money into it and it's still in crashed mode. I'm seriously thinking of parting it out and using my Sony A7RII with slide/film copier for 35mm and buying a new Epson V850 Pro for medium format and larger. I just checked eBay for the heck of it and noticed the Japanese are unloading hundreds of Epson GT-X980 scanners brand new for about half what I could buy a used V850 Pro for. They claim it's the same as the V850 Pro, but I have no idea if it is or not. Also, almost all the Japanese sellers offer free shipping to boot. I would assume these have no warranty, but eBay has a very good buyer protection plan so it might not be a bad deal. Has anyone here bought one of these GT-X980 scanners and if so how do you like and compare it to the V850?
Epson v850 Pro vs Epson GT-X980 scanner
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- Thread starter John Wiegerink
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Yeah, appears to be the same scanner. Just a different model number for the Japanese market. The power supply may also be a different one; verify that the scanner comes with a power supply that'll work with your US outlets. Voltage will likely not be the issue - most of these SMPS units are 100~240V 50/60Hz rated anyway, but check that, too. Verify it has the proper plug and if not, but it does have the proper voltage rating, then get an adapter to go with it.
Sorry, no hands-on experience. If the price is really half that of an 850, I'd just go for it if you feel you need to own a scanner.
Don't expect the same kind of quality from any flatbed that you got from the LS8000. It'll be OK for 4x5", on medium format you may find the flatbed scans very 'fuzzy', but they generally print well up to significant enlargements still. With medium format, I suspect you'll get better overall image quality if you use the Sony digicam for it. Sheet film may be past the tipping point, although ask yourself how many pixels you need in your 4x5" scans anyway.
Maybe, thinking this through, in your shows I'd just start with the Sony and then see if you find it lacking in any way, after having thoroughly optimized the setup.
Sorry, no hands-on experience. If the price is really half that of an 850, I'd just go for it if you feel you need to own a scanner.
Don't expect the same kind of quality from any flatbed that you got from the LS8000. It'll be OK for 4x5", on medium format you may find the flatbed scans very 'fuzzy', but they generally print well up to significant enlargements still. With medium format, I suspect you'll get better overall image quality if you use the Sony digicam for it. Sheet film may be past the tipping point, although ask yourself how many pixels you need in your 4x5" scans anyway.
Maybe, thinking this through, in your shows I'd just start with the Sony and then see if you find it lacking in any way, after having thoroughly optimized the setup.
Yes, I know I won't get the same quality scan I got with the Coolscan LS8000, but I think it will be fine for 4X5/8X10 film. 120 film scanning will take a little hit, but I don't plan on making giant digital prints from medium format anyway. I still wet print and any negative really worth top quality would be wet printed also. The Epson would be for digital logging and quick proof type printing. I've used an old Epson 2450 and now a 3200 for 4X5 with pretty darn good results. A friend gave me his Microtek M1 scanner, which scans under the glass top bed and it works even better than the older Epson scanners. The only down side to the Artixsan M1 is it's quirky and not as easy to use as the Epson scanners. I think I'll do a little more research on the GT-X980 and if it prove worth while I'll go for it. Koraks, as usual, you give well thought out advice.
The flatbed will be fine for your purposes, I think. It's exactly what I use mine for. I'm not sure if I'll replace it when it breaks, but I admit that I hope that point is far off, still (well, it broke the other day, but I have provisionally mended it).
You don't know how much you miss something until you don't have it anymore. I'm going to give my Nikon LS8000 one more little try repair, but I'm just totally frustrated with the scanner at the moment. I still want a good flatbed for speed and ease of use. The deals on the Epson GT-X980/V850 look very tempting at the moment.
Yeah, I know. When something snapped in the transparency adapter, I did have a "oh sh...." realization for a moment.
I understand the situation; this is one of those "toss a coin" situations as far as I'm concerned. Or maybe toss a couple of coins and hope they land favorably!
I understand the situation; this is one of those "toss a coin" situations as far as I'm concerned. Or maybe toss a couple of coins and hope they land favorably!
MattKing
Moderator
One thing I couldn't quite figure out from the information I saw was whether the Japanese model comes with the same variety of negative and slide holders that the v850 pro includes in the box.
On the big auction site I checked a GT-X980 from a Japanese seller and it comes with four holders just like the V850 comes with. I'm still doing a little research yet, but will decide on whether or not to purchase later tonight. I'm leaning toward taking a chance.
Well, I didn't wait until midnight to click "buy-it-now". My new Epson GT-X980 is on its way from Japan. Final cost after taxes was $739.67, which is a pretty good deal for a new V850/GT-X980 scanner. I also just found out on YouTube that Epson is truly bowing out of the high end scanner business. The V850 is the end of the line. That's another reason I jumped a little faster. Oh, and the fact that the new administration will probably start slapping tariffs on Japanese goods also. Just read that new buyers of Chamonix large format cameras are now going to pay 35% more per camera and that FedEx will tack on another 2% to collect the tariff. Glad I bought my 45N2 when I did. I sure hope Hugo can stay in business after this hike.
Congrats on the new scanner!
It makes business sense that the V850 turns out to be the swan song of 'prosumer' flatbed scanners. It's still a little sad, of course. The reality is that scanners have been going out of fashion for a long time; about a decade ago, I was at trade fair aimed at the heritage/museum sector and I noticed that the imaging solutions offered were all based on a big digital Hasselblad mounted on a glorified copy stand.
It makes business sense that the V850 turns out to be the swan song of 'prosumer' flatbed scanners. It's still a little sad, of course. The reality is that scanners have been going out of fashion for a long time; about a decade ago, I was at trade fair aimed at the heritage/museum sector and I noticed that the imaging solutions offered were all based on a big digital Hasselblad mounted on a glorified copy stand.
Maybe I should have saved my money and just bought a digital back for my Hasselblad. Ha-ha! For me, digitizing 35mm with my 42mp Sony is very practical and fairly easy to do, but when going to larger size negatives I just figure the new scanner is easier and faster. No lining things up, no stitching just the time it takes to do the scan.
I received the Epson GT-X980 I ordered from Japan today. Blazing fast shipping, I must say. It was picked up by FedEx in Japan at 1:13pm 2/10/25, and I received it in northern lower Michigan today 2/12/25 at 1:23pm. I didn't get a chance to play with it since I had to head south for two doctor's appointments tomorrow. Can't wait to get back to the cottage to try this thing out. I still can't believe how fast it got here.
I made it back to my cottage and set up the GT-X980/V850. It was a piece of cake! The only thing in Japanese was the written manual that came with it. I just pulled up the V850 version off the web. The software disc was all in English. No power adapter is needed. It probably took me a total of ten minutes, and I was up and scanning. I just used Vuescan that I already own. I'll compare it to Epson scan tomorrow, but so far it works great with Vuescan. I'm glad I pulled the trigger on this one.
How was your first scan? Very interested to learn about this deal. Thanks for sharing.
I didn't do any fancy scanning. I scanned two rolls of 120 Kentmere 100. Both were out of a couple of Zeiss folders that I'm setting focus on. The scanner seems sharper and faster than either my old Epson 3200 or the Microtek Artixscan M1. The 120 film holder seems a little flimsy, but worked just fine. Haven't tried 4X5 or 35mm yet. I do know that it plays very nicely with Vuescan and I suspect it will with Epson scan also. All I know is that I saved a few dollars and will use that to buy some film or whatever.
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