Review on Epson Perfection V850 Pro Scanner: Professional Grade Scanning Performance by Akmal ᠌
I'm very happy, it really is worth buying.
A few months ago, I shock scanned a couple of hundred bw films from a home archive, shot in the 50s and 60s with the help of budget Soviet cameras and not always stored properly: a lot of scratches and scuffs. Scanned with specialized slide scanners Plustek 8200i and PacificImage XEs. I really regret that at that moment I did not have the opportunity to use the V850. It is for old bw films that it is the most interesting solution due to the lesser influence of defects on the result, and the V850 resolution is usually more or less sufficient for such material. Later films were shot on more advanced cameras with better lenses, and the V850 was not always able to provide full frame resolution, being a kind of compromise. In the case of damaged films, one had to choose between the better detail of the slide scanners and the less visible defects in the case of the V850. And, finally, in the case of imported color films of the last period, the use of a specialized slide scanner, as a rule, was preferable. Many of the films have been stored on rolls for decades. I washed them and straightened them, but some residual deformation, nevertheless, persisted. It was not very convenient to insert segments of such films into the frame holders of slide scanners. To my surprise, the V850 holder was more comfortable. The film is effectively straightened by pressing against the glass provided with the holder. I did not notice the effect of the glass on the scan result, but in such a design, not only the film itself, but also the holder must be cleaned before scanning. I posted some more detailed considerations about the V850 with scan results on the forum. Here and below: https://forum. Ixbt. Com/topic. Cgi?id=20:7221:4837#4837
- The scanning quality of color and black-and-white prints is close to ideal. It is possible to save heavily faded color photographs of the Soviet era. But if you have no other tasks, I think it makes sense to look at more budget solutions. I suspect that, for example, the V600 will provide quite a comparable result. With the V850, you're paying for the best flatbed for scanning slides and negatives. The optical system uses 2 lenses, one of which is designed exclusively for film. This ensures a relatively high real resolution in the region of 2300 ppi. I confirmed this figure with my own measurements. A simpler V600 will give no more than 1500-1600 ppi. When scanning film, this difference in resolution will be very critical. In terms of resolution, the V850 is inferior to specialized film scanners (2900-4100 ppi). This will be noticeable if you print scans of the order of A4 and larger, or if you view them on a large 4k screen. Of course, with the proper quality of the negatives. If the shooting was done with a simple budget soap dish with an open aperture, the V850 is able to fully resolve the frame. However, the V850 compares favorably with film scanners by its backlight feature. Due to this, film defects (scratches, etc.) appear less during scanning. To illustrate, I have attached 3 scans of the same bw negative, made with Plustek 8200i, PacificImage XEs and V850. The difference is striking. Often the best result is obtained when scanning color films using infrared. And the last advantage is group scanning up to 18 frames at once. You spend some time setting up the process, then the scanner works, and you calmly go about your business. In the case of Plustek, for example, you have to adjust each frame separately and do this every 2-3 minutes.
- I did not find any obvious shortcomings for a scanner of this type.
