Intercative review is now in progress

This has been a well kept secret by Epson, I must admit it caught me off guard. I will do a full interactive review on the V700 asap (as soon as Epson have them in the country) and will review the V750 later (this model is not expected until May). These scanners are not a replacement for the 4990, they are designed for the professional user. Should be interesting to see how they compare to what's available now. Strange that Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 is included with a professional scanner, couldn't Epson go the whole way and include Elements 4 :-)

Here are some actual scans made with the V700. The scanner was set to the full resolution of 6400 and I scanned two 35mm slides at 24 bit depth. The resulting file size is a whopping 140mb (5644 x 8714 pixels), certainly big enough for any commercial use, but is the quality all there? Take a look for yourself.

Full frame 35mm (140mb)	Low light shot, let's see what Dmax 4 can do.
Detail left edge between centre buttons - no USM	No USM
Same area, but with USM in Photoshop (280, 1.4.0)	With USM (284,1.8,0)
Bottom right corner	Excellent detail in shadows - pity about the film grain
Scan downsized to 4800dpi	Scan downsized to 4800dpi

The Guards officers uniform was taken with a 600mm f4 Nikkor lens on my Nikon F5, any slight chromatic aberration is in the lens and not in the scanner. Here is a situation where the scanner is out resolving the actual film. I downsized the bottom two shots to 4800dpi (maximum resolution of Epson 4990) and this shows how the V700 scanner is outperforming the 4990 by a wide margin. Shadow detail has been well held, the optical 4 Dmax is doing its job.

I will have the first unit to arrive in the UK and will bring you an extended interactive review on this exciting scanner. If you are thinking about buying a scanner then I would hold back until we have completed this review. I can't wait to get my hands on the V700 and V750.

Perfection V750 Pro and V700 Photo

Epson reinforces its position as the only choice for professional photo scanning with the new Epson Perfection V750 Pro and V700 Photo.

23 rd February 2006 - Epson introduces two premium flatbed scanners, the Perfection V750 Pro is ideal for the professional photographer while the Epson Perfection V700 Photo is suitable for the photo enthusiast or advanced amateur photographer. They are the world’s first flatbed scanners at less than £550 to offer a resolution of up to 6400dpi x 9600dpi, the innovative Dual Lens System, DIGITAL ICE™ Technologies and 4.0 DMax optical density.

The Dual Lens System features a Super Resolution Lens offering up to 6400dpi film scanning (up to 5.9” width) and a High Resolution Lens offering up to 4800dpi reflective scanning and film scanning (over 5.9” width.) By providing two lenses instead of one single lens Epson is able to offer the high resolution of 6400dpi in a cost effective scanner, without increasing the A4 footprint or compromising on quality.

Both products also offer Digital ICE ™ Technologies, which will automatically remove dust, scratches, dirt and fingerprints from film and photos to create a crisp and clear final image.

In addition they feature a large scanning area reaching up to 8x10” (203 x 254mm) and four f ilm holders that support 35mm film strips and slides, medium and large format film. You can batch scan multiple originals for increased productivity . For example, you can insert four strips of 35mm films, twelve 35mm mounted slides, two 6x20cm (max) 120/220 frames and two 4x5” frames.

The Epson Perfection V750 Pro is designed for those that require advanced film scanning capability to rival that of a dedicated film scanner. It features a High Pass Optics system to improve scanning speed and quality. An Anti-Reflection Optical Coating is applied to eliminate reflection and ghosting, producing a sharp and clear image, while a High Reflection Mirror improves the reflection of the scanned light to the sensor, resulting in faster scanning speeds. I t is bundled with a fully comprehensive software suite that includes, Adobe ® PhotoShop ® Elements 3.0, SilverFast ® AI6 and Monaco EZcolor™.

The Epson Perfection V700 Photo is ideal for the photo enthusiast or advanced amateur photographer. Its ability to handle all common film formats and scan multiple images simultaneously makes it a highly versatile solution for digitising your film. It also offers fast scanning speeds - as little as 44 seconds for a 35mm film and 11 seconds for an A4 monochrome document. Bundled software includes Adobe ® PhotoShop ® Elements 3.0 and SilverFast ® SE .

Epson UK Product Manager, Mark Robinson, says, “The Perfection V700 Photo and Perfection V750 Pro mark another technological breakthrough by Epson for the ambitious photographer. As well as offering quality of output to rival dedicated film scanners, especially on the Perfection V750 Pro, you can benefit from the additional flatbed scanning features. Both products are an ideal partner to the Epson Stylus Photo R2400 and the result is premium image quality, delivered easily and quickly in your own photo-studio.”

Epson Perfection V750 Pro and Perfection V700 Photo key features summary:

• Scan documents and film with the unique Dual Lens System
• Super Resolution Lens for 6400 dpi film scanning
• High Resolution Lens for 4800 dpi film and reflective scanning
• Remove dust and scratches with DIGITAL ICE™ Technologies
• Excellent tone reproduction with 4.0 DMax optical density
• Scan many different film formats: 4x5”, 35mm stripfilm, 35mm mounted slides and medium format film of up to 6x20cm
• Scan film of up to 8x10” with the use of Film Area Guide
• Scan multiple originals with the 8x10” film adapter
• Track scanning with the moving blue LED
• Preview and retrieve images with Epson Creativity Suite
• Enjoy faster scanning and easy connection with USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
• Epson Perfection V700 Photo RRP including VAT £399 (Available from March 2006)
• Epson Perfection V750 Pro RRP including VAT £549 (Available from May 2006)

Epson Perfection V750 Pro additional features summary:

• Superior image quality and scanning speed due to High Pass Optics system: Anti-Reflection Optical Coatings and a High Reflection Mirror.
• Enhance images and productivity further with SilverFast® AI6 and Monaco EZcolor™ software.

Effective DIGITAL ICE™ film scanning area is 9.1 x 5.7”

10 March, 2006