Review on Epson Perfection V850 Pro Scanner: Professional Grade Scanning Performance by Dan Phillips

At $1,200, the Epson v850 definitely falls into the professional scanner category. You would expect every feature of this scanner to perform better than a sub $200 scanner. However, this scanner is very disappointing, something Epson still can't handle. This makes the scanner a waste of money for the user who archives old photos, slides and negatives. Main Problem: When scanning with the Epson v850 you have several options including one of the main ones known as Dust and Scratches. When enabled, this feature allows the scanner and its software to analyze the image to remove small dust, scratches, or tears that may be present in a photo or negative. - When you enable this feature on an Epson scanner, the result is extremely disappointing. . The result is an image with HIGHLY COMPRESSED COLOR throughout the photo, causing serious errors in the scanned image. No matter what level of D&S you use, the compression is always there. Compression does not exist with any other function, it only exists with the dust and scratch filter. This is an extremely ugly side effect that completely ruins the scanned image. What makes this such an important consideration is that the D&S filter is probably the most important filter for scanning old photos, slides and negatives for both consumers and consumers alike. Without the ability to use the built in D&S filter, the scanner becomes virtually useless to anyone but professionals who have quality aftermarket software and are willing to spend the extra time cleaning up their scans. A NOTICE. It is likely that the Epson D&S filter issue is software related and affects all Epson scanners using the same software package. We hope that the problem is solved, but there is little hope because the software has been used for many years and has been updated several times, but this serious problem has not been solved. Other comments: - There is a section for professionals who don't need the D&S filter. where Epson shines, namely image quality and detail in dark areas. However, this is still offset by the fact that Epson generally tends to produce less detail on all of its scans than Cannon scanners. This is a give and take situation, there is no clear winner. You can get good detail with Cannon or softer Epson scans with more black area detail. All of our testing was done at an optical resolution of 600dpi on photos and negatives. We compared hundreds of scans of the same image using different scanner driver functions. Epson tends to scan a softer image with more redshift and less yellow overall. Cannon scanners offer full image detail (similar to looking at an image under a magnifying glass) and deliver richer colors. The scanner offers low resolution scans (600 dpi or less) equal to or better than Epson v850 pro. It also scans faster via the USB 3.0 interface. If you don't use the v850 for its advanced features (including negative scanning), it's hard to see why anyone would pay a $1200 price tag for it. The problem with the D&S filter renders the scanner virtually unusable for the average consumer and for the professional, but cannot replace another scanner in your workplace.