Where to find a good used scanner?

[Sirius Glass]

Look for manufactures such as HP or Epson selling reconditioned scanners. Those are new ones that had a problem, were returned, repaired and fully tested, for a lot less money and a shorter warranty.

Personally I am using a new, not reconditioned, Epson Perfection V850 Pro.

 

[Rolleiflexible]

I don’t think anyone ever asked you how you intended to use the scanner in your workflow. I assumed that if you were scannng 4x5 film, any scanner would give you plenty of information.

Your interest in preserving the top end of the grayscale might have a bearing on the right solution for you but that is beyond my knowledge, and any possible improvements from a flatbed, such as an Imacon, would be much more expensive.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

If you're seriously looking to scan a decent amount of 4x5, It'd be worth it to just spend the money on a new v850. I know people don't want to spend the money, but at the end of the day you have to ask yourself how much your time is worth. You could probably already have one and be happily scanning along instead of burning time trying to find a deal. Buying used is fraught with all kinds of problems as you've been discovering and more often than not, results in lost money and lost time. I would not consider buying a used scanner unless it came with everything a new one does in the box, AND had a return that allowed you to return it if it didn't work. Anything less than that and you're risking money and time.

It's a lot like people who drive around parking lots trying to find the closest spot so they don't have to walk as far instead of grabbing the first spot they see and walking in, doing their shopping and walking out. I fairly often just grab the first spot I see, go in, grab the thing or two I need, then check out and walk back out only to see a car still circling the lot (that was circling the lot when I got there) waiting for a close spot to open up.

It comes down to how much your time is worth.

Many of us have more time than money.

I don't know how many product reviews I've read over decades where the reviewer advises to opt for the better model or whatever "Because it is worth it." Not knowing the reader's finances. And, of course, they were supplied the product for free.

 

[Beverly Hills]

I would suggest you try it first.

Here's a b&w 4X5 taken by a colleague's father who was a WWII combat photographer that I scanned for him when he was considering scanning his collection. Crop and little dust cleanup - no sharpening. Epson V700 directly on glass at 2400dpi.

Don Miller 2400-005 by Les DMess, on Flickr

.....that's a B-25 Mitchell - right, seams it was stationed in south Italy - right too?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Thank you. I tried the DSLR scanning and it's not for me. I rather use the scanner. I have been looking for a v750 but it's seems to be very hard to find one with the film holders. Would $450 for a tested scanner *without* neg holders be worth it or is that too much?

Thanks in advance.

I found the 4x5 holder to buy separately.

OEM Epson Substitute Part Film Holder 4x5 With ANR Resin for V700, V750

The V700 and V750 original film holder was discontinued. This film holder is for the v800 and v850 - the good news is the film holder is backwards compatible to the V700 and V750. The clear inserts are Epson installed. They do NOT pop out. The clear inserts are a resin and ARE NOT GLASS. The...

www.parts-distribution.com

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Yes, I just found a V750 that seems promising and I bought it. Is the holder necessary for 4x5? Couldn't that be scanned directly on the glass?

Not arguing, just curious

Use a holder as it uses the better lens for scanning. If you use the glass, the scanner will select the second more inferior lens.

The holder mentioned in my last post has a height adjustment. Try it on each of the settings to see which is the best height and gives the clearest most focused scan. I marked mine with a marker afterwards for easy reference as the sliders move too easily out of their settings. Set all four adjustment sliders to the same height.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

If you're seriously looking to scan a decent amount of 4x5, It'd be worth it to just spend the money on a new v850. I know people don't want to spend the money, but at the end of the day you have to ask yourself how much your time is worth. You could probably already have one and be happily scanning along instead of burning time trying to find a deal. Buying used is fraught with all kinds of problems as you've been discovering and more often than not, results in lost money and lost time. I would not consider buying a used scanner unless it came with everything a new one does in the box, AND had a return that allowed you to return it if it didn't work. Anything less than that and you're risking money and time.

It's a lot like people who drive around parking lots trying to find the closest spot so they don't have to walk as far instead of grabbing the first spot they see and walking in, doing their shopping and walking out. I fairly often just grab the first spot I see, go in, grab the thing or two I need, then check out and walk back out only to see a car still circling the lot (that was circling the lot when I got there) waiting for a close spot to open up.

It comes down to how much your time is worth.

That was me circling around.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Many of us have more time than money.

I don't know how many product reviews I've read over decades where the reviewer advises to opt for the better model or whatever "Because it is worth it." Not knowing the reader's finances. And, of course, they were supplied the product for free.

Adrian did give the option recommending that if you have an iron clad deal to return the used scanner if there are problems, then do it that way. But the point he made was that scanners in particular can be easily damaged when moved or shipped and go bad over the years. You don't want to buy someone else's headache.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I found a better deal. Only $14.50 for the 4x5 V850 film holder.

film holder assy., 4x5 for Epson Perfection V850 Pro

film holder assy., 4x5 for Epson Perfection V850 Pro

compassmicro.com

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I found a better deal. Only $14.50 for the 4x5 V850 film holder.

film holder assy., 4x5 for Epson Perfection V850 Pro

film holder assy., 4x5 for Epson Perfection V850 Pro

compassmicro.com

Buy two so you can be setting up one while the other is scanning.

 

[Les Sarile]

.....that's a B-25 Mitchell - right, seams it was stationed in south Italy - right too?

It is a B-25 and the squadron he was attached to was in a bombing campaign over Italy.
He had me scan some color slides to, amazing stuff.

 

[Beverly Hills]

It is a B-25 and the squadron he was attached to was in a bombing campaign over Italy.
He had me scan some color slides to, amazing stuff.

....I realy can imagine.......Kodachromes ?

 

[Les Sarile]

....I realy can imagine.......Kodachromes ?

Don't have access to the scans at the moment but I don't recall it having Kodachrome on it. I remember seeing a lot of "SAFETY FILM" on them as apparently film was prone to being flammable back when.

 

[Beverly Hills]

Don't have access to the scans at the moment but I don't recall it having Kodachrome on it. I remember seeing a lot of "SAFETY FILM" on them as apparently film was prone to being flammable back when.

...I see : NITROFILM of course....have a nice day Les Sarile

 

[grat]

Specification wise, the 700/750 800/850 are all *mostly* the same. The 7xx has cold cathode for lighting, whereas the 8xx has LED, so there's less warmup time. The 8xx series has different holder compared to the 7xx series-- in general, they hold fewer negatives, and have ANR "glass" on them. They also have more height adjustment steps. The 8xx series medium format holder is a bit of a pain because the tabs that hold the ANR material in place make it difficult to get the 120 film "just right" in the holder. But it does a better job of holding it flat.

Rumor has it that the 750 and 850 have slightly better coatings on the lens-- but I haven't found anyone who can confirm that.

Note that all four scanners have two scanning modes-- a "high resolution" lens (6400 PPI) that is supposed to be focused +3mm from the glass, and a "low resolution" lens (4800 PPI) that is focused on the glass bed. I forget the steps on the 8xx series holders, but I think they're about 0.2mm-- and yes, that much delta in height does make a difference in sharpness.

You won't get 6400 or 4800, but cut those numbers in half, and you'll probably get pretty close. I find that some sharpening always benefits. Personally, I prefer a technique called "Frequency Separation" that allows finer control over whether you're sharpening the overall image, or just the details.

To the OP, if the seller hasn't shipped yet, insist that they ensure BOTH transport locks are engaged.

 

[Larryc001]

Is a new v600 at $348 cdn worth looking at?

 

[mshchem]

I would suggest you try it first.

Here's a b&w 4X5 taken by a colleague's father who was a WWII combat photographer that I scanned for him when he was considering scanning his collection. Crop and little dust cleanup - no sharpening. Epson V700 directly on glass at 2400dpi.

Don Miller 2400-005 by Les DMess, on Flickr

Captain McLain has his 45 in a shoulder holster

 

[JerseyDoug]

Is a new v600 at $348 cdn worth looking at?

Having used both a V700 and more recently a V600 I see no difference in my 35mm or 120 scan results. The big difference is that the V7xx and V8xx can scan four strips of 35mm, two strips of MF, or a full 8x10 transparency, while the V600 is limited to just two strips of 35mm or one strip of MF.

 

[TheTinMansHeart]

Hi porpho, I have a 4990 that I was thinking of putting up on eBay as I'm not using it. I've moved on to DSLR scanning as I shoot 35. Fair price shipped etc. PM me, I guess, a conver etc. I don't want to hijack your thread.
Kevin

Hi.

I've been trying to get a used scanner like the Epson 4990 or V700 for a while now but without success. One scanner arrived dead, and other bigs on eBay ask for prices that seem to me a bit high for old gear that in some cases needs extra software to be used. Are there sites that you can recommend where to find used scanners or I'm left with just Google searches?

And if anybody has a suggestion for better/different scanners, I'll be happy to hear about them. I use 4x5 negatives.

Thank you in advance.

 

[removedacct2]

I'm definitely stoked about not needing the holders. I'll post here my experiences.

the topic for holders or not, and what kind is a source of infinite discussions. I scan anything from 120 to 8x10.

i ended up using two sheets of optical quality glass custom cut. Right now i am scanning 120 in 6x9 and took this shot. Each sheet is 3mm thick. I found 3mm to be the minimum in order to sandwich films and sheets flat. You can see four white pieces each side of the glass. These are papir pads.
There are tons of discussions: on the bed or adjust height, etc. What I know and that may be related to the specifics of this exemplar of the model, is that I made a LOT of tests, padding gradually by adding/removing layers of paper, AND with both Vuescan settings "transparency, 8x10 transparency". That padding was the one giving highest resolution. That may not be the case for another exemplar of the scanner. So it means optimal focus in my case is a bit over 3mm. But then you see: native holders are certainly not needed. I have two sets of 4x5 holders (dual: two 4x5 sheets each) and i did check/test the adjustment of their feet also. Sometimes i use them sometimes not. There are also the discussions about Newton rings caused by the glass. In that setting of mine I have not yet had the issue.