... Epson's own software accomplishes the scan adequately and post scanning work can be left to photoshop. Epson's software does not allow specification of film beyond positive/negative/black and white. This can be an issue although I got excellent quality scans from kodachrome 64 (notoriously ... Read review
Advantages: Relatively fast, Dust removal works, Quality equal to dedicated film scanners, Dmax of 4 Disadvantages: Power hungry, occasional mis-scans, only 8 35mm slides scanned at once
...comes with a variety of epson photo album software, photoshop elements 2 and silverfast 6 SE. I tried out silverfast 6 having previously used silverfast Ai 5 with my old dedicated scanner and found it to be not as easy to get an acceptable scan. Epson's own software accomplishes the scan adequately and post scanning work can be left to photoshop. Epson's software does not allow specification of film beyond positive/negative/black and white. This ... ...from kodachrome 64 (notoriously difficult to scan). Digital ICE dust and scratch removal works well on small specks and background dust, less well on larger problems like fingerprints or thicker hairs. It was certainly a godsend when scanning some of my father's 30 year old slides. Bear in mind it makes the scanning process much slower if done at high resolution. At lower resolution it does not slow the process so much.
I purchased this scanner for two purposes: the bulk scanning of my father's considerable collection of 35mm slides and for my own use scanning documents, 35mm and Medium Format slides and negatives.
For both tasks it has performed admirably. It has a range of scanning resolutions going up to 9600dpi (I think this is not "true" resolution but interpolation from 4800dpi and really anything much over this is a waste, the human eye cannot see the difference). I have regularly used it at resolutions from 300dpi to 4800dpi and found it to be excellent at all.
For scanning in bulk at a medium resolution you can expect 8 35mm frames to be finished in approximately 5 minutes. At 4800dpi this is more like 10-15 minutes.
A full resolution scan of a slide can be breathtaking. The high dynamic range of this scanner means TIFFs come straight from the scan with excellent rich tones and blacks are real, not a result of lower dynamic range cut-offs on some other scanners.
The scanner comes with a variety of epson photo album software, photoshop elements 2 and silverfast 6 SE. I tried out silverfast 6 having previously used silverfast Ai 5 with my old dedicated scanner and found it to be not as easy to get an acceptable scan. Epson's own software accomplishes the scan adequately and post scanning work can be left to photoshop. Epson's software does not allow specification of film beyond positive/negative/black and white. This can be an issue although I got excellent quality scans from kodachrome 64 (notoriously difficult to scan). Digital ICE dust and scratch removal works well on small specks and background dust, less well on larger problems like fingerprints or thicker hairs. It was certainly a godsend when scanning some of my father's 30 year old slides. Bear in mind it makes the scanning process much slower if done at high resolution. At lower resolution it does not slow the process so much.
The film holders, and white background for when scanning paper etc, are sturdy and easy to clean (very important), the glass too is easily cleaned and does not hold dust.
Because of the large amount of colour and tonal information captured by this scanner, file sizes are large. A 4800dpi colour 35mm frame will be approximately 70mb after scanning. A 4800dpi colour Medium format frame is approximately 400mb. A large format frame must be closer to a gigabyte although to get the most out of larger format film drum scanning is a better route than desktop scanning.
Its nearest rival is the Canoscan 9950F which has the advantage of being able to scan 12 35mm frames at once and apparently faster dust removal technology.
Very occasionally the scanner will completely fail to scan a frame or will only partially scan. This is annoying if you have simply left it to scan without necessarily checking and find you must re-scan but it is mercifully not a common occurrence.
I found I had to plug this scanner in to its own socket in the wall as it was sometimes not starting up correctly when plugged into a powerbar (My PC uses a 480W power supply) so be aware of this too.
For me the explicitly labelled Dmax of 4 compared to Canon's reluctance to divulge this information (though allegedly it is around 3.8) was enough to swing it for me and I have not been disappointed.
Product Information for "Epson Perfection 4990 Photo" »
General
MPN
B11B175022, B11B175023, B11B175021CN
Type
Flatbed scanner - desktop
Max Supported Document Size
216 x 297 mm
Width
30.4 cm
Depth
47.6 cm
Height
13.4 cm
Weight
6.7 kg
Scanner
Input Type
Colour
Grayscale Depth
16-bit (64K grey levels)
Grayscale Depth (External)
16-bit (64K grey levels)
Colour Depth
48-bit colour
Colour Depth (External)
48-bit colour
Optical Resolution
4800 dpi x 9600 dpi
Interpolated Resolution
12800 dpi x 12800 dpi
Scan Mode
Single-pass
Bulb / Light Source Type
Xe-gas cold cathode fluorescent lamp
Scan Density Range
4.0D
Control Panel Buttons Functions
DIGITAL ICE
Scanner Speed Details
12 sec/scan - black & white - A4 - 300 dpi
14 sec/scan - colour - A4 - 300 dpi
29 sec/scan - colour - A4 - 600 dpi
53 sec/scan - film (positives) - 35mm - 2400 dpi
57 sec/scan - film (negatives) - 35mm - 2400 dpi
Compliant Standards
TWAIN
Media handling
Max Document Size
216 mm x 297 mm
Supported Document Type
Transparencies, plain paper, slides, film
Document Feeder Type
Manual load
Expansion / connectivity
Interfaces
1 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 PIN USB Type B
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Miscellaneous
Included Accessories
Transparency adaptor, film holder
Certified for Windows Vista
Certified for Windows Vista software and devices have undergone compatibility tests for ease-of-use, better performance and enhanced security.
Power
Power Device
Power adapter - external
Power Consumption Operational ( Standby )
27 Watt ( 18 Watt )
Voltage Required
AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Software / system requirements
Software Included
Drivers & Utilities, SilverFast SE 6, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, EPSON Scan, ABBYY FineReader 5.0 Sprint Plus
OS Required
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional , Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Apple MacOS X 10.2
Manufacturer warranty
Service & Support
1 year warranty
Service & Support Details
Limited warranty - 1 year - carry-in, Limited warranty - 1 year
Environmental parameters
Min Operating Temperature
5 °C
Max Operating Temperature
35 °C
Humidity Range Operating
10 - 80%
Manufacturer's product description
The Epson Perfection 4990 Photo scanner boasts a high resolution of 4800 dpi, a maximum optical density of 4.0Dmax, the ability to scan a wide range of film formats (up to 8"x10" film scanning area) and sets a new standard for film and photo scanning.