DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan

I guess my real question is 600 dpio on one scanner still 600 dpi on another or will the scanner make a difference. I have been scanning old slides and negatives and with the time I have between loading the scanner and looking over at the all in one I was just wondering if the "learned ones" would think it would make any difference in the scan quality between the two scanners.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

What size are the photos you are scanning and what do you want to do with them? Scanning an 8x10 at 600 and scanning a 4x6 at 600 will not yield the same results.

If the sizes vary, you may want to use the V600 and increase the rate to accommodate smaller prints.

Also the 48 bit color of the V600 would have made up my mind without the rest. Unless you are scanning all B&W.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Did not see this. Slides and negatives, the V600, all the way.

therwol Loc: USA

Only someone who has both scanners can offer an opinion based on experience. My personal experience is that my Epson V800 is a better choice at any dpi than my Cannon MG8120 AIO AIO. The Canon is adequate for prints in a pinch. I save my Epson scans as either 48 bit color or 16 bit black and white and save as tiff files for editing. This applies to both prints and negatives/slides. I can't do that with my Canon AIO.

I also find it much easier to work with the supplied Epson software than Vuescan when I'm doing negatives. Vuescan almost never gets the indexing right when I'm doing strips of negatives, a waste of my time to tweak it before scanning.

I also want to say that I scan most prints at 1200 dpi. This is perhaps overkill for large prints. I don't care.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

I have used an Epson WF-3520 for scanning photos and found 600 ppi to work fine. I have gone as high as 1200 for tiny photos to be enlarged or repair of ones that are severely damaged.
My opinion is that the "scanner parts" are the same in most of the low to mid price range scanners. Features of the unit make the price difference.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Are you scanning a print... or are you scanning negatives or slides?

If a print, color or black & white?

The optical resolution of the two scanners are:

- Epson V600: 6400 dpi. HP Envy 4520: 1200 dpi.

Either of them are probably sufficient if scanning a B&W print at 600 dpi.

If scanning negs or slides, the Epson would be far superior and you should use much higher than 600 dpi (a 35mm neg or slide image area is approx. 1" x 1.5"... so scanning one at 600 dpi would only result in approx. 600 x 900 pixel image, which is very low resolution for a neg or slide.

The color bit depth of the two scanners are:

- Epson V600: 48 bit. HP Envy 4520: 24 bit.

If scanning a color print or color negs or slides, the Epson will clearly have the edge.

Grayscale bit depth of the two scanners:

- Epson V600: 16 bit (more than 65,000 shades of gray). HP Envy 4520: 8 bit (256 shades of gray).

A high contrast, B&W print would likely look about the same from either.
But any B&W print with a lot of tonal gradations will scan much better with the Epson.

The dynamic range of the scanners are:

- Epson V600: 3.4 DR. HP Envy 4520: no spec given.

Ideal dynamic range for any scanner is around 4 DR. The Epson is rather average in this respect. The HP is unknown and probably below average in this respect. (More upscale... and expensive... Epson V-series have closer to 4 DR. Dedicated film scanners typically have DR in the 3.6 to 4.2 range.)

So, for prints... expecially B&W prints... I'd say give it a try, but I think you'll find the Epson does the better job.

For negs or slides, plan to use the Epson AND to use a much higher resolution setting!

EDIT: B&W negs that are standard silver halide film do not scan well. The smaller the film format, the more difficult. Best way to digitize a silver halide B&W neg is to first make a traditional enlargement from it, then scan that. Dyes used in color negs, slides and far less common chromogenic B&W film directly scan much better.

Retrobug

Op, are you scanning prints? That v600 is a pretty capable machine. If you have the negs, you might be pretty blown away by the difference in scanning from the neg. Neg scanning can be a little more involved though.

DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan

Scanning slides and negatives on Epson.. while scanning I was just wondering if it would make any difference on prints. Now I know... Not the HP. I don't think you could do slides or negatives on the HP.

rayman1947

Why not take a similar approach as initially recommended? Print a segment from the digital image at 300 and 600 dpi. Place both outputs under a jewelers loupe or a microscope (many of us used a “scope”
to accurately focus a negative in an enlarger!
A second segmentation could be made by increasing the size of the print. Examine with the loupe. So on ad infinitum until
you accept what you see.

A second approach would make an enlargement the maximum your printer and ink supply can print. View and decide. Be sure to look at edges.

A third approach is to create an informal or formal focus group,of people with 20/20 or better eyesight, and ask for their advice! (Hint: A focus group is fine for matters of fiscal matters and marketing of products/services, like an expensive line of camera’s NOT a photo)

Retrobug

You might consider a test scan at higher resolution. I used an old Canoscan fs2700, which scanned at 2700dpi, for 35mm slides and negs and it worked well. I think your epson is capable of doing as well as the fs2700. If speed is more important and demand for high detail is less important and youre happy with 300 or 600 dpi, then maybe you don’t need to bother with my idea. But my initial reaction to your post was surprise you were only doing 600dpi. It all depends on your needs, but you might like what happens to your photos at much higher resolution. Seems to me Minolta and Nikon made a scanner for 35mm that did 5000dpi.

One thing about your epson: it’s focal plane probably isn’t at the top of the glass, so you may get scans that are a little soft. The epson slide and neg holders that came with their older 4870 and 4990 didn’t hold negs at the scanner’s focal plane very precisely. You can find internet discussions on making shims to improve the situation, and you can find aftermarket neg holders that solve the problem. But it does take a little work to get the best scans you can out of your scanner.

If all you want is fast archiving of family photos, maybe all this is impractical for you. But if you're shooting for fine art photos, you should definitely try much higher dpi. Just my 3 cents worth.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Look at the specs for each scanner. Most important is dMAX. The higher, the better (it’s a logarithmic number, so tenths matter!)

A trial is in order. Scanning prints, I’d go for the Epson first, because I know it has Digital ICE (Intelligent Color Enhancement). That feature removes some dust and scratches, adjusts color to restore some balance (not saturation, though), and more. Use the Epson driver with it.

Scan film at 2400 to 3200 dpi. The true optical resolution of the V600 is somewhere between those numbers.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Which is why, as soon as the OP added he was scanning "old slides and negatives", I went from maybe one or the other depending on print size and B&W vs color to definitely the V600.
I do a lot of print scanning on my all-in-one because it is easier than taking the Epson off the shelf and setting it up. But if I am doing slides or negatives, the setup is worth it for all the reasons you mention.