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Hardware

Epson Perfection V700 Photo Scanner (First Look Review)

5 Aug, 2008 By: Ron LaFon

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Professional-level photo scanner offers remarkable flexibility for high-quality scans.

The vast majority of photography today is digital, and thus easily accessible on computers. But a huge body of yesterday's work -- color slides and negatives, black-and-white negatives and transparencies, and color or black-and-white prints -- have been produced using conventional photographic processes and need to be transferred to digital file formats to be usable. Common flatbed scanners often have some sort of attachment for scanning slides, but generally the results are insufficient for professional use. The Epson Perfection V700 Photo scanner is a professional-level photo scanner that offers a remarkable amount of flexibility for creating very high-quality scans.

Perfection V700 Photo Scanner Epson 800.463.7766 Price: $549.99

The Epson Perfection V700 Photo scanner measures 19.8" x 12.1" x 6" (L x W x H) and weighs 14.6 lb. It features an innovative dual-lens system with a lens carriage that will switch so that the appropriate lens is set in place: high-resolution lens mode to achieve 4,800 dpi in reflective mode for 8.5" or super-resolution lens mode for 6,400 dpi (film scanning only). For the super-resolution mode, a new larger-diameter lens and higher F-stop optimizes modulation transfer function (MTF) to ensure the highest level of detail and sharpness.

The V700 offers 6,400-dpi optical resolution (9,600-dpi maximum hardware resolution with Epson Micro Step Drive) and 12,800-dpi maximum interpolated resolution. Transparency scanning is at 48-bit color with 4.0 dynamic range and 16-bit grayscale scanning.

The Epson Perfection V700 Photo scanner is an advanced professional-level scanner that combines unprecedented 6,400-dpi maximum hardware resolution, 48-bit color scanning with 4.0 Dmax, a new dual-lens scanning system, and a robust feature set.

I tested the Epson Perfection V700 Photo scanner with a broad range of photographic originals, ranging from 35-mm color slides, 120-size transparencies, and even 4" x 6" and 5" x 7" color transparences and color negatives. I also tested the V700 with strips of 35-mm, 120-size, 4" x 6", and 5" x7" black-and-white negatives, as well as 8" x 10" exhibition-quality photographic prints. Film carriers for all popular film sizes are included with the scanner. Having worked with high-quality photography throughout my life, I'm very demanding in terms of what I want in a final scan, and the V700 not only met, but often exceeded, my demands. It was a professional-quality scanner and produced extremely high-quality results -- and thanks to the intelligence incorporated in the design of the scanner and the accompanying software, it also was easy to use.

Bundled software includes LaserSoft Imaging SilverFast SE, Adobe Photoshop Elements, ABBYY FineReader Sprint OCR, Epson Scan Driver with Epson Easy Photo Fix, and the Epson Copy utility.

The Epson Perfection V700 Photo scanner has an estimated street price of $549.99 and is widely available. The scanner is covered by a one-year warranty that includes access to an automated toll-free help line. Several scanning applications that incorporate a great deal of intelligence help users to get the type of scan they want at resolutions that meet their specific needs. Highly Recommended.