Replacement for my Epson V500

BMbikerider · Feb 16, 2019

The V500 is the oldest piece of digital equipment that I own. It has to be well in excess of 12 years old and up until now has given faultless service and still does apart from a deep scratch on the glass plate. (moral of the story is never loan anything out and not check it when you get it back!).

The model that succeeded the V500 was the V600 and are still available new, but I was considering going 'up market' for possibly a V750 (are they still made) or a V800. I want to stay with Epson.

Has anyone got their own views on the V600/750 or 800 (The flimsy negative holders used in the V500 have never bothered me, I always seem to get my negatives to dry flat.)

mgb74 · Feb 16, 2019

If you're considering the v600, you may also want to consider the v550.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 16, 2019

What do you do with the scans? Why would you need the extra resolution and dMax of the V750 or V850 rather than staying with the less expensive V600 or V550?

BMbikerider · Feb 18, 2019

I still use a fair bit of colour negative film which I scan and resize the image to use in my series of projected images. The V500, as I said has a scratch right over the scanning area of the glass plate and that cannot be hidden. The V600 has more or less the same features as the V500, but I know the V750 or 850 has a D Max of 4 which is considerably more than either of the other two. (around 3.6 I believe)

I regret selling on my Nikon Coolscan film scanner because of this. The D Max in the Nikon was 4.2, higher marginally than the V850 . It was slow to scan, but the quality was truly outstanding and the ICE feature was better than anything else similar I have used.

shutterfinger · Feb 18, 2019

V500 - Dmax rating no longer posted; LED light source
V550 - 3.4 Dmax; LED light source
V600 - 3.4 Dmax; LED light source; same scan area as the V550.
V800 - 4.0 Dmax; LED light source
V850 - 4.0 Dmax; Led light source
V700 - 4.0 Dmax; white cold cathode fluorescent, IR LED
V750 - 4.0 Dmax; white cold cathode fluorescent, IR LED

I like the results of the LED light source better than the cold cathode fluorescent light source scans. (V500 and V700)
Read this review: https://www.scanyourentirelife.com/epson-v800-vs-v850-photo-scanner-differences/ before making the final decision.

Use Epson's support Find A Service Center https://epson.com/servicelocator?productCode=SPT_B11B189011 and purchase a replacement bed glass for your V500 as its not that difficult to replace.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 18, 2019

The v600 scans three 6x7's at one time vs.two for the V500.

shutterfinger · Feb 18, 2019

Alan Edward Klein said:
The v600 scans three 6x7's at one time vs.two for the V500.

Epson's site currently shows them the same, typos on their part?

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 19, 2019

The V500 is no longer made. https://epson.com/search/?text=v500
It's film scanner only allows 12cm in length vs 22cm for the V600. From the V500 manual: Document size Reflective: 216 × 297 mm (8.5 × 11.7 inches) A4 or US letter size Transparent: 35mm film strip: 12 frames at a time 35mm slides: up to 4 slides at a time 6 × 12 cm medium format: 1 frame at a time
That could squeeze in maybe two 6x6 maybe only one. Any V500 owners here who can verify?

Maybe the V500 medium format holder is different. But those were the original specs. What link are you looking at?

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 19, 2019

Epson no longer makes the V700 series either. The V500 and V700 were old light technology. I'd get a V550 or V600 or the more expensive but better V800 series.
https://epson.com/For-Home/Scanners/Photo-Scanners/c/h220

BMbikerider · Feb 19, 2019

Alan,in my V500 I can get 2 x 120 or 3 6x4.5 or 1 6x9 negs plus 2 x 6 frame film strips.

I have been looking at the V800, so going up the ladder a bit. The prices in UK vary so much, by over £120 from various suppliers and surprisingly Amazon is not the cheapest.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 19, 2019

BMbikerider said:
Alan,in my V500 I can get 2 x 120 or 3 6x4.5 or 1 6x9 negs plus 2 x 6 frame film strips.

I have been looking at the V800, so going up the ladder a bit. The prices in UK vary so much, by over £120 from various suppliers and surprisingly Amazon is not the cheapest.

2 x 120 of what? 6x6? or 6x7?

shutterfinger · Feb 19, 2019

My V500 MF film holder has a 2 1/4 x 4 25/32 opening. That's 25mm X 121mm. What you can get into that area depends on your camera's frame spacing.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 19, 2019

shutterfinger said:
My V500 MF film holder has a 2 1/4 x 4 25/32 opening. That's 25mm X 121mm. What you can get into that area depends on your camera's frame spacing.

Could the holder opening be smaller than what the scanner actually scans? If you line up the slide holder with the medium format holder, does there appear more space that's being scanned with the slide holder than the medium format holder?

shutterfinger · Feb 19, 2019

The slide frame is 2 X 8 7/16 inch, 50.8mm X 214mm ; the 35mm film strip is 2 3/8 X 8 7/8 inch, .60mm X 225mm.

The transparency glass in the adapter (lid) is 3 1/4 X 10 1/2 with the rear 7/8 inch part of the lamp frame and add another 1/2 inch for the calibration area. I don't know if the adapter scans to the end of the opening or not.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 19, 2019

shutterfinger said:
The slide frame is 2 X 8 7/16 inch, 50.8mm X 214mm ; the 35mm film strip is 2 3/8 X 8 7/8 inch, .60mm X 225mm.

The transparency glass in the adapter (lid) is 3 1/4 X 10 1/2 with the rear 7/8 inch part of the lamp frame and add another 1/2 inch for the calibration area. I don't know if the adapter scans to the end of the opening or not.

That tells me that V500 medium format holder is about 4" (8 7/16 - 4 25/32") shorter than the length the scanner actually scans for slides and 35mm film strips. Why did Epson do that? My V600 medium format holder opening (8 5/8") is a fraction of an inch larger than the opening for the 4 slides total length. It's a fraction of an inch shorter than the opening for a strip of 35mm film. I wonder of you used a V600 medium format holder, you;d be able to get more medium format length to scan like the V600????

MattKing · Feb 19, 2019

The lid probably shares parts with other scanners, while the scanning mechanism itself probably has a shorter travel, to save costs.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 19, 2019

If you want to take a chance, for $11 you can get the holder for the V600 medium format film.
https://compassmicro.com/products/s...-brownie-for-epson-perfection-v600-photo.html

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 19, 2019

MattKing said:
The lid probably shares parts with other scanners, while the scanning mechanism itself probably has a shorter travel, to save costs.

But the travel for the 35mm strips and slide is longer already. They're over 8 inches. So the scanner is already acting like a V600 in the length it scans. But why is the medium format holder opening shorter than what the scan can scan? See my last post.

shutterfinger · Feb 20, 2019

You can cut a piece of glass or similar hard material so that it sits against one long side of the bed and the edge of the transparency area and lay the flat photographic material on the bed glass or get a sheet of AN glass and tape the photographic material to the AN glass or lay the AN glass on top of the photographic material for scanning. The emulsion side of the photographic material goes against the bed glass. Use painters masking tape for taping as it leaves no residue.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 20, 2019

I believe the V500 focuses higher than the bed glass allowing for its normal placement in the Epson holder. In any case, wouldn't it be easier to just try the V600 holder?

shutterfinger · Feb 20, 2019

just stating alternatives. putting adjustment tabs under the AN glass is easy if flat on the bed glass doesn't work.

Replacement for my Epson V500

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