Film shooters rejoice! The Epson V800 / V850 film scanners have been announced and will be available in October of this year. The 6400 dpi flatbed film scanners feature LED light sources and redesigned film holders that don’t totally suck. Hit the jump for more info.
A Little Bit Better
Epson’s V700 / V750 film scanners earned a reputation for their excellent quality and ability to scan multiple formats of film. Anyone who has used these scanners knows the frustration of trying to use the included film holders. Better Scanning produced a successful line of premium film holders but the additional cost was burdensome to many users.
Epson has improved the film holders for the new V800 and V850 with a new design that is more robust and features adjustable height to fine tune the focus point for sharper scans. The new film holders also include an anti-Newton ring plate to hold the originals flat for improved scan quality. The V850 comes with a second set for increased productivity.
Both new film scanners also include an LED light source for energy efficiency and instant-on scanning.
Apart from these differences the new scanners are still 6400 dpi and inherit much of the feature set and usability from the previous generation.
Epson V800 / V850 Press Release
Epson launches benchmark flatbed film and photo scanners
Building on the success of the Perfection V700 range, the new models’ professional quality, speed and productivity raise the bar once again
16th September 2014 – Epson announces the launch of two outstanding film and photo flatbed scanners: the Perfection V850 Pro and Perfection V800 Photo, for converting back catalogues and collections of photo film and prints into professional quality digital images. Thanks to the quality of their optics, the size of their scanning area, their wide range of supported film formats and advanced options for dust and scratch removal, they lead the market in this segment.
The Perfection V850 Pro and Perfection V800 Photo provide the ultimate in professional scanning quality, speed and productivity across a wide range of positive and negative film formats, including 35mm strip, 35mm slide, medium format and 5×4 inch. The feature-rich Perfection V850 Pro is the ideal scanner for professional photographers and advanced amateurs. Photo enthusiasts wishing to scan an extensive collection of film in a variety of formats will find the Perfection V800 Photo provides easy to use functionality with fast, high-resolution results.
The Perfection V850 Pro and Perfection V800 Photo will be shown for the first time in Europe at Photokina (Stand B11, Hall 2.2, 16-21st September 2014, Koelnmesse, Cologne).
The dual lens system delivers high optical resolution scanning of film (at 6400 dpi) and photos (at 4800 dpi), with automatic selection of the appropriate lens for optimal scan quality and speed. With a high optical density (4.0 Dmax), the scanners reproduce a wide range of tones with extremely high accuracy, especially in dark areas of originals.
The new-design film holders are more robust and offer users greater control in adjusting the height of the film holder to fine tune the focus point and achieve sharper focus. The new film holders also include an anti-Newton ring plate to hold the originals flat for improved scan quality. The V850 comes with a second set for increased productivity.
Both models feature Digital ICE technologies to remove defects such as dust, hairs, scratches, fingerprints and creases from films, slides and photos, saving the time and effort of manual retouching. Digital ICE for film uses an advanced combination of infrared light and complex algorithms to detect and remove surface defects.
For high productivity, these new scanners use Epson’s ReadyScan LED technology, which provides an almost instant warm-up time of less than one second, meaning users can start scanning almost instantly. Both scanners are ENERGY STARqualified thanks, in part, to the very low power consumption required by the ReadyScan LED technology, and the extremely low scanning temperature generated by the LED light source makes it safe to scan even the most delicate of originals.
Additional features of the Perfection V850 Pro include: High Pass Optics (an antireflection coating on the lens and super reflection mirror that deliver the highest level of image quality and improve scanning speed), a free fluid mount scanning accessory that can be ordered (also optional on the V800 Photo), and professional scanning software comprising of SilverFast® SE Plus 8 and i1 Scanner.
Key features
Dual lens system for optimised film (6400dpi) and photo (4800dpi) scanning
High optical density (4.0 DMax) for highly accurate tone reproduction
Scan widest range of film formats, including 35mm strip, 35mm slide, medium format and 5×4 inch
High productivity — Epson ReadyScan LED technology for almost instant warm-up; second set of film holders (Perfection V850 Pro)
Digital ICE restoration technologies for automatic removal/repair of film and photo defects
SilverFast® SE 8 (V800) and SilverFast® SE Plus 8 (V850) professional scanner software
ENERGY STAR-qualified for low power consumption