Great Scanner

Author's Rating:

Pros: Quality of scans, multiple uses, included software.

Cons: Cost, slightly slow, Elements 3 instead of 4 included.

The Bottom Line: 
A good choice for those who need good quality scans of different types of media

Author's Review
It was with some concern that I purchased the Epson V750-M Pro flatbed scanner. My main use is scanning film, but I needed the ability to scan several sizes of film (35mm and 6 by 6 cm mostly) to scan, plus the need to scan a number of old prints, a dedicated film scanner, such as one of the Nikon scanners, was out of the question. I must say that I have been very satisfied with the results. About the only thing that has been problematic was my one attempt to use it for copying purposes, and I suspect that was more a matter of operator error than anything else.

A 35mm slide, scanned at 4800 dpi (the lower of the scanner's true optical resolutions) gives about a 22 megapixel equivalent image. The files are large, especially if you save them in TIFF format, but, if you can live with the compression loss, you can also save as JPEG files. In any event, the quality of the scans is great--much better than flatbed scanners have produced in the past.
As icing on the cake, this model includes Adobe Photoshop Elements (only version 3, however), SilverFast AI, Epson's on scanning software, plus a copying utility and character recognition software (which I haven't tried yet, so I cannot comment on it). The optical resolution is dual mode, with 4800 dpi over the full scanning area and a 6400 dpi true optical resolution is available for a slightly restricted central area. Also, the V750 includes two things that are not included with its little brother, the V700. One is a copy of Monaco Color adjustment software, and the other is a tray for fluid mounting film for scanning. However, Epson does not sell either the mounting fluid nor the Mylar film used in this process.

On the down side, the film holders seem a bit flimsy and can be fiddly to load. The thing has a large desktop footprint, as expected. Replacing the pad for copying papers, prints, etc. is also a bit tricky. You have to get it in just the right place to get it seated correctly. Finally, and this is true of all scanners--not just this one, dust can be a real problem. And, flatbed scanners are significantly more difficult to keep dust-free than dedicated film scanners.

The bottom line: If you need to scan a variety of media, want near (but not quite) drum scanner quality, and don't have a few thousand dollars to spend, then this is a good option, and the device is worthy of serious consideration.