Blavbec
Member
Hi all, I have always been a happy user of the Epson V600 scanner. But somehow the negatives do not come out anymore as they used to. I show the examples. One is scanned in 2016, the other one I scanned recently to make a comparison. As you can see it is soft, while the one from 2016 is sharp. Both are originally scanned in the same format (tiff) and with the same resolution. I've cleaned the scanner on the inside (not the lid), no difference. Is it the computer, the OSX, the software? Then I used a MacBook Unibody 2009, OSX?, now a MacBook Air 2017, OSX Catalina, with the Epson software. I also tried Silverfast and VueScan (trial), no difference. With photos it's still okay. Does anyone have the same experience? Thanks a lot! Regards, Wim
Attachments
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
Perhaps a focusing/distancing problem with the optics? Some troubleshooting/testing recommendations here:
zeitoun
Established
I have been experiencing similar problems with my V550. Years of good and loyal services. However, new scans seem both softer and less contrasty than previously, with sometimes exagerated grain. I was wondering if it could be due to the light source (whatever it is in this scanner) ageing ? I cannot dismiss a focusing problem, but I am using the same negative holder (the ones that came with the scanner) and I do pay attention to flattening adequately the negatives before scanning.
Any suggestions would be (highly) appreciated.
Any suggestions would be (highly) appreciated.
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
I'm just wondering if the internal lens distance registration has moved for some unknown reason. Or, some setting in the scanning software that is different than the first scan because the focus softness/fuzziness seems to be uniform across the image.
Another interesting troubleshooting article:
Another interesting troubleshooting article:
Last edited:
jrileystewart
Newbie
Hi all, I have always been a happy user of the Epson V600 scanner. But somehow the negatives do not come out anymore as they used to. I show the examples. One is scanned in 2016, the other one I scanned recently to make a comparison. As you can see it is soft, while the one from 2016 is sharp. Both are originally scanned in the same format (tiff) and with the same resolution. I've cleaned the scanner on the inside (not the lid), no difference. Is it the computer, the OSX, the software? Then I used a MacBook Unibody 2009, OSX?, now a MacBook Air 2017, OSX Catalina, with the Epson software. I also tried Silverfast and VueScan (trial), no difference. With photos it's still okay. Does anyone have the same experience? Thanks a lot! Regards, Wim
This is a good place to start (i.e. verify the focus function of the scanner and negative carrier relationship). Negative carriers are fairly easy to modify to ensure the negative plane is exactly where the lens focuses. It's encouraging that when using your document table in reflectance mode, things are spot on. This indicates the lens is intact/clean/etc. Maybe you need to merely adjust the distance between the lens and negative plane. (Have you tried taping the negative directly onto the document table?)I'm just wondering if the internal lens distance registration has moved for some unknown reason. Or, some setting in the scanning software that is different than the first scan because the focus softness/fuzziness seems to be uniform across the image.
Another interesting troubleshooting article:
Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
Being a very forgetful person I ask: What is the chance that you did some sharpening on the original image and have forgotten?
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
Have you tried it without the film holder (just substitute that white pad and change settings accordingly), then use it as a flatbed scanner? That should produce a sharp image.
I have a V800 which has been fine for many years - but I dislike the flimsy film holders.
Nevertheless, it produces scans with detail that rivals the best prints I could get from my enlarger.
I have a V800 which has been fine for many years - but I dislike the flimsy film holders.
Nevertheless, it produces scans with detail that rivals the best prints I could get from my enlarger.
Blavbec
Member
Thanks for the replies! I tried scanning without the film holder, by just taping the negative on the document table, but then the scanner gave an error. It won't work without the holder, it seems. Or is there a trick? @Pál_K: what do you mean by '...just substitute that white pad and change settings accordingly...'? Still, it is strange that my negatives in the first five years came out sharp with the film holder, and the last two years they don't.
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
The scanner is a precision instrument and needs to be taken good care of. Any bumps, hits, falls, shocks or anything can potentially knock it out of alignment.
I use a canonscan for years and I am very happy with it but once it started producing scans with a strange horizontal line and bad contrast. It appeared that the scanner drivers were updated in the background and caused all this. I reinstalled the old drivers that came with the scanners CD and started working again. Maybe this is what you are experiencing.
I use a canonscan for years and I am very happy with it but once it started producing scans with a strange horizontal line and bad contrast. It appeared that the scanner drivers were updated in the background and caused all this. I reinstalled the old drivers that came with the scanners CD and started working again. Maybe this is what you are experiencing.
Blavbec
Member
That might be the problem. But then I would have to go back to an old OSX, because the old drivers are not compatible with Catalina.
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
If you have any old computer, install it there and see if it works well.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
With your scanner there should be a white “document mat” (as Epson calls it) - it attaches to the bottom of the glass when you raise the top lid. It’s intended for ordinary scanning of papers, prints, or anything that is reflective and not transparent. My suggestion is to put something like an ordinary sheet of paper with writing on the flatbed of the scanner, then attach the document mat, then scan. If that comes out sharp, then you know the issue is not the film holders nor the apparatus in the lid.
To use the document mat, you have to change the menu setting to indicate the mat is being used and not “film with film holder”.
I keep my scanner on a large table, free from anything affecting it. Maybe more importantly, it’s been connected to an old 2016 laptop with original OS and software that’s never updated from the internet.
Blavbec
Member
Thanks all for the replies! I just scanned the negatives with an old laptop, with the original software from the Epson CD. The negative scans now have the sharpness they had in the first years I used the scanner.
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
Blavbec
Member
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
Glad that there’s no issue with the scanner itself. However, this is still a bit of a precarious situation because you’re relying on being able to use the old software on the OS of an older machine - software which won’t run on the newer machine with a newer OS.
Dralowid
Michael
My Mac running 10.13.6 (High Sierra) won't open Epson scan anymore. I've switched to Vuescan which is OK but the Epson software was fine for me, and in some ways simpler.
Scanner is V500
Scanner is V500