Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 April 2013
You could be forgiven for not realising just how many flatbed scanners still exist, for the rise of all-in-one printers with scanning features are increasingly popular. They're also affordable and very convenient for customers on a small budget that care about desk space.
But what happens when you rediscover old film negatives, slides or photographs that aren't compatible with many budget products?
There are plenty of dedicated film scanners on the market, but unless you're willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a single purpose, the amateur (or semi-professional) photographer is better served with a flatbed that also includes film capabilities. This way you're killing two birds with one stone, and certainly at a great price point too.
Part of the reason I got the V500 was to actually convert a huge collection of Kodachrome slides into digital images, and to also digitise my 35mm after it's been processed. Cut long story short, the product has exceeded my expectations.
This product comes packaged with the V500, a nice long USB cable (which I'm very grateful for, as I place the scanner far away from my computer), two adapters for film scanning, an AC power cable and brick, manuals and CD-ROMs.
I should point out here that the Epson CD-ROM is practically unnecessary, because it contains the original drivers and software from its 2007 release. You should instead go on to the Epson support website and download everything from there, so that it is up-to-date and compatible with your computer. After installation, you're free to plug the scanner into your computer and turn it on for the first time.
Bundled with the CD-ROM is a free copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements, which I imagine will be an absolute treat for users who are only just entering this territory. Although I already own the full version of Photoshop, Elements is a very good package for beginners and the differences aren't actually that drastic, so you're saving more money.
With the scanner set-up, converting your photos, images or documents to digital files is amazingly simple. This is largely due to the buttons on the front of the device, which instantly open the required application on your computer. It even has the ability to scan documents and convert them to a PDF in one click; perfect for ditching paper copies of important text.
The device also has tabs that lock the scanning elements in place, protecting them during movement or transport. But in terms of practicality, this is a decent sized machine that looks slick and operates very cooly even after a couple of hours scanning. The large 'hump' on the top cover encloses the film scanner, and this whole unit can be lifted off the scanner bed if you wish. This adjustment also allows you to place thick documents (such as books) on the scanner bed whilst the lid lays flat.
Epson Scan is a pretty basic piece of software, but this is fine as most of your 'tidy up' work will be done in Photoshop anyway. Scanning slides is as simple as placing the plastic mount onto your scanner bed, placing the slides into the mount, and then putting the lid down. In Professional Mode, you can alter the resolution of the final image, the colour depth and much more. A general rule however might be that the more you tinker, the further away you go from the original image.
Don't be fooled by the notion of "more is better" when scanning film. Once you get to 3200dpi, the scan becomes almost indistinguishable from higher resolutions unless you zoom in many, many times over (to a size that outgrows any home TV!), and of course, the file size can become monstrous. It's very important to do some testing and explore what works best for your slides or film before going straight into the deep end, as I found out myself through trial and error that 3200dpi is the perfect balance between definition and size.
Another good idea is to place your original scans (around 60mb each at 3200dpi) on an external HDD or USB drive for archiving, as you can then simply open the file in Photoshop and save it as a much smaller JPEG file on your PC. This way, you have a final file to share around easily and to place into a photo managing application.
So what are the final results like? This is the grey area: film photography isn't very forgiving. With perfect exposure, lighting and focusing, you can achieve some absolutely stunning scans of 40-year old film, and I don't say that lightly. My family's Kodachrome slides from the 1980's haven't faded one bit, and most have some of the most radiant colours that I've ever seen in a photograph, with white-white's and amazing shadow detail. In contrast (excuse the pun), the limitations of darker exposures, poor focusing or dusty lenses suddenly become more apparent after a scan, and can cause real problems. These can really hamper what may have otherwise been a nice subject for the photo, and so bring into action Epson's 'Digital ICE' mode. Due to the additional time required during the scan and the slightly waxier affect of the image, this is something to be used sparingly.
As for 35mm negatives, a lot depends on how new or old the film is. As a test, I scanned both Ilford B&W film and Kodak's Portra; the latter of which being designed for optimal scan performance. There is almost no comparison - the former reveals coarser grain (which is no fault of the film), whereas the latter can be comparable to a DSLR image, it is that clear. With some adjustments, even the harshest grain can be somewhat managed however.
So, don't expect miracles straight after scanning slides or negatives. Have a play with the settings, but most importantly of all, do some research based on your film type. Take your time and enjoy it!
Standard flat-bed scanning is even simpler, and produces very faithful results. There is obviously some motor noise when in operation during flatbed and film modes, but I can't imagine these would become annoying after time as it's not that loud. You can always play some music...
On a final note, I have yet to achieve TWAIN compatibility with this scanner in Photoshop CS6 (on an iMac). I have read elsewhere that this may be due to a 32/64bit conflict, but if anyone has some info to contribute then drop a line in the comments.
Is the V500 a worthwhile purchase when there are cheaper scanners out there? Absolutely - it should be looked on as an investment. You may think it's easy to exaggerate the importance of revisiting old photographs, but don't underestimate their value. As well as being important documents of your family's history, they also say a lot about our social history too; some of the most prevalent details in these photographs are the things away from the subject, such as buildings, technology, cars... (Speaking of which, there should actually be a health warning. My old man spent 86% of the view time talking about a Ford Cortina he saw in Cornwall, and then an hour later, I was being lectured on a pair of denim shorts that he owned in the 70's).
The V500 itself is a very popular device, and although I read around before making the purchase, I had used it at a small film studio during several months for archival work. It is incredibly reliable, robust, and perhaps best of all, incredibly simple to operate. As far as I'm concerned, it's a no brainer purchase.
