Epson 4990 scanner - anyone got one?

[ehasler]

I'm looking for a scanner for my panoramic XPAN slides (~24 x 70mm), as I'm getting fed up scanning them in two parts and stitching together in PS, and I don't want to pay out £££ for a pukka MF film scanner.

The new flatbeds from Epson look like they may be ideal, but I'm interested to know how they compare to my current film scanner (Nikon Coolscan 5000) when scanning slide film.

If anyone's got the Epson, I'd be grateful to hear what you think about it.

[406]

Why not get one from PC World, try it and if it's no good take it back as Not suitable for purpose. PC World will refund no worries.

[te51cle]

I've got the 4870 and suspect the difference between that and the 4990 isn't much more than a plastic badge and a minor software tweak. I've had it for 18 months and have been very happy with it, previously I had a Canon FS4000 film scanner and the Epson beats it in every way. Its faster, sharper, has a better colour range, a better density range, less noise, and can scan slides up to 5"x4". Very good value for money.

[ehasler]

Thanks Tristram,

It sounds like it will be ideal - I had an FS4000 before my Nikon, and to be honest there isn't much difference between them so if this gives better results than that, then I'm happy

Would it be easy to scan a double-width 35mm negative with the standard film holders?

[te51cle]

Yep, the standard holders will hold four strips of 35mm film that are up to 6 frames in length - and there are no dividing bars in them so panoramics would be no problem. The 35mm slide holder is a bit of a cheat but I'll leave you to discover the 'feature' yourself. You also get a 3-strip 6x12 medium format film holder and a holder for two 5"x4" negs.

I wasn't all that impressed by the Silverfast scanning software that comes with it and preferred using the Epson software in 'Professional' mode.

Hope you've got a PC that can handle large file sizes !