Epson 3200 review

The Epson Perfection 3200 scanner

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Film scanning ...4 Negative scanning.

Scanning negatives colour or b/w is no problem for the 3200. For 35mm you will no doubt be using the film strip holder. When scanning b/w negatives you can either scan as a 24/48 bit colour file, but the film type is set as b/w Negative Film or as a Greyscale image. Scanning a b/w negative as a colour image does not produce a totally neutral colour, there is a slight green tinge to the scan. However, by pressing the Auto button this does seem to correct the cast. The advantage of scanning as a colour file is that you can add your own sepia or other colours. The greyscale scan produced a neutral grey, the image can have contrast, brightness or levels applied prior to scanning.


B/W scanned in as 24 bit colour	B/W scanned as Greyscale

One thing that should be kept in mind, is that any negative scans will need some degree of USM applied. Below are some examples of applying the USM in the three settings, this is a detail at 100% of the Venice picture above.


USM set to Low	USM set to Medium

USM set to High	USM adjustment made in Photoshop

The USM on the Epson Scan is not the best I have seen, it works to a fashion but look at the awful halo's on the poles. Applying the USM filter in Photoshop or other application would be the preferred option - just for your interest the amount I applied was Amount 500, Radius 1 and Threshold 1. I know it sounds extreme but it works.

Colour negative scan using Epson Scan software

The same scan tweaked in Photoshop

Needless to say that the sharpness in 35mm colour negative scans is as good as on the b/w. The Epson Scan software copes reasonably well with colour negatives although on the first previews the colours were all over the place. Pressing the Auto button sorted out any major problems and then its up to your own judgment to tweak the image as necessary. Colour negatives were not particularly easy to work with, and the Epson Scan software didn't help much either. I achieved the best results through using the Selective Colour adjustments in Photoshop. Silverfast SE has more options for negative work, I will try to fit in a mini review on this software before the scanner goes back.

120 film

The ability to scan medium format images and get decent quality is going to please a lot of photographers, especially those involved with social and wedding photography. The 120 film folder also doubles as the 5x4 sheet film holder. The 120 aperture will accommodate 6x45, 6x6, 6x7 and 6x9 formats, it's a shame Epson couldn't have gone for the extra three centimetres and given a 6x12 compatible holder, that would have pleased a lot of landscape photographers. Construction is of a high standard and the film is held acceptably flat in the carrier, although when the last frame of a 6x45 is in the centre spot there is a small amount of film curvature.


The combined 120 & 5x4 film holder	A potential problem

As I stated earlier, Epson have given a lot of thought to these film carriers, but one point they missed, is that when you load a strip of 120 film as in the above left shot. There is an overhang, which is no big deal, except that when the Document Mat is removed for film scanning, then the clip on the TPU comes into contact with the film. Yet another good reason to include a full length 120 strip carrier.