lf-photo.org.uk

If anyone is interested, Pyramid have the Epson 4990 for £245.42 inc VAT and delivery is next day for £7.95. They have over 50 in stock today. They must be shifting pretty fast as there were 250 in stock when I ordered last weekend.

http://www.pyramid.com/Product.aspx?StockCode=541648

I'm well impressed so far. It comes with Silverfast (limited edition) as well as the usual Epson scan software. Does anyone have a preference or advice on which will get the best out of the hardware? I'm only scanning FP4, HP5, XP2 and Polaroid 55 at the moment. Sizes from 35mm to half plate. I have already found the film presets for mono film to be quite useful in Silverfast.

Rob

Hmmm, I tried Silverfast and personally found it to be the biggest pile of @&%£µç I had ever had the displeasure to try out; especially compared with the Epson driver dialog.

You might find you get better results on contrast and range by turning off the colour management on the Epson driver and doing all that kind of adjustment in Photoshop. If you need to know how to get the best out of the Epson driver, just ask here

I'm trying out Silverfast with my new V750, and agreed, it has an appalling interface, it's very non-intuitive. However, I'm thinking the software itself is pretty good, and the new versions with the "multi-exposure" look like they could be well worthwhile, some nice features. I think it's a case of once you know it, it's fine, but learning it is going to be a pain as it's mostly heiroglyphics...that interface really is bad...

I've come across quite a few software tools that have great performance but also have a dreadful user experience. Some user interfaces are truly dreadful. Occasionally you do find great performance combined with user friendly interface design - I'm a mac user, so I may have been spoiled a bit. I do a lot of video work and Final Cut Pro is heaven.

I'll give the Silverfast app a decent run and see how it goes. Thanks for the input.

I gave up on Silverfast & just use the Epson software. I have found Epson v. good for answering my 'novice' queries - very patient! The on-line dialogue is esp useful. I scan at: 35 - 4000; 6x7 1400; 6x12 1100 & 5x4 1000 dpi. These were suggested by a pic agency for using the pics from a disk. Does make for big files tho. Dennis.