02Nomad Loc: Catonsville, MD

Between my wife and I, we have a lot of old pictures and color slides so I had debated getting the Epson scanner. I had taken a picture (on film) at Longwood Gardens sometime back in the 80's, but the enlargement had faded over time. Until recently, I couldn't find the negative but when I did find it, it had a small color print included in the envelope. Yesterday, I decided to put the scanner to the test and scanned the photo as it was initially and then used auto correction to restore the colors. I'm attaching the before and after.....

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

I use that scanner as well. Works for me.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I use this scanner. I take the JPEGs into Lightroom and polish them up further.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

My favorite Epson scanner job was with a wedding photo. Mine! As was the custom 50 years ago you paid a photographer to deliver prints. Never negatives. Our favorite was framed an on display. It faded. The photographer is long gone. I took the photo out of the frame and put it in the Epson scanner. With a fresh JPEG, Lightroom and a Canon Pro-100 printer, we have our favorite print in fresh colors again. Note that is kind of scary to look at my younger self! Perhaps there is a scanner big enough to make a new me!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Curious, only JPEGs? Or does the restoration program only work with JPEGs, but one can otherwise scan to other formats?

I have an old Epson V500 PHOTO scanner, it does JPGs, TIFs, etc. I then work them when needed with ACR and Ps. Mine undoubtedly has simpler software with the scanner. I really should have a model 750 or higher so I can scan 4x5" film as well.

Wonder, do these flat bed scanners have a mirror or are they mirrorless?

Thanks

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The scan is just a picture, either a picture of a printed picture or a picture of a back-lit negative. As a camera creating pictures, the file format is a function of that camera. What pixel resolution, colorspace and bit-depth does this scanner 'camera' write the image files? If the files are 8-bit sRGB, the only option you can control and benefit from is the pixel resolution. Creating larger TIFF files are no difference as the TIFF data just uncompressed from the same data in the JPEG.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

My old V500 does an excellent job at color restoration on old photos and slides as well. I highly recommend the Epson scanners for that application.

Stan

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

Why didn't you scan the negative?

02Nomad Loc: Catonsville, MD

Just haven't had the time to do it yet.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The V600 scans at 16-bits per pixel, so there is no reason you cannot make a 16-bit TIFF file from it. Doing so allows better editing of the data, with smoother tonal gradations. The difference can vary from slight to dramatic, as I found when I had that scanner. Especially when used with SilverFast software as the driver, it creates great results.

My only complaint about the V600 is that scans of 35mm negatives and slides are a wee bit soft. That is a pretty common issue with flatbed scans of films... Scan quality (resolved detail) is limited not just by pixel dimensions, but by scan focus.

lensmaster Loc: Chicago

I have the V600, also the V550 which is set up to scan 35mm transparencies and negatives.. Used to have the larger Epson scanners which would scan up to 8x10. They were the BEST but at $1k I don't need that cash outlay anymore.

The EPSON V-series are damn good scanners for the money, but you have to realize there is Post Scan work that needs doing once the scan file is on the desktop.

ANY scan image needs to be taken into Photoshop or Lightroom for color correction and sharpening.
The EPSON scanner software is not really capable of creating a color correct perfect image, no matter which version you use.

Scan settings should be for HIGH RESOLUTION (1200dpi or a bit higher) and then REsized once the item is scanned and loaded to the desktop. 300dpi with the image sized to 14" or 12" (widest/highest dimension)saved as a JPEG or PSD should give you an excellent file to work with.

At that point you can open the new file in PS or Lightroom, do your color corrections/sharpness/spotting of dust etc.

levinton

Thanks for all of your insights. I agree fully about the soft focus problem. I still use a Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 for 35 mm color slides, it must be 15 years old. Focus is excellent, 4000 dpi. Was expensive though but a real workhorse. I have scanned about one thousand slides.
Jeff