Excellent Scanner for Photos and Slides

I purchased this scanner to replace an Epson Expression 1600 scanner with transparency adapter. That scanner served me 6 years, but started to put colored lines in the scans. To repair it would have cost $480. This Epson Perfection V700 cost me $500 including shipping, so the choice wasn't hard to make.

Installation was easy. Remove items from box; remove two scanner locks; plug in power; install software; plug in USB2 cord (included!) and that was it.

The software that comes with the scanner (Epson) was sufficient for my uses as I use Photoshop CS2 for all my work anyway. I did not use the other software.

I am scanning in over 1,000 slides from the 1960s that have various types of problems from scratches to discoloration to dust and even some mold. The scanner software has some correction features that are helpful, but I don't use them all the time, nor do I use them all. Mostly, I use the color correction and back-lighting options, which are helpful. As I mentioned, I do most of the fixing in Photoshop.

The scanner software allows viewing of thumbnail and enlarged views of the slides. In thumbnail view, you can see all 12. In enlarged view, they show one at a time. The magnified view is helpful for any adjustments you might wish to make.

The ability to rotate or flip horizontally the slide images individually is very helpful for when you put a slide in backwards or sideways.

Scanning is quite fast, even at 2400 dpi (which is what I used for these slides). Preview is quick, too, after the scanner warms up (about 10 - 15 seconds).

The images are sharp and even better than the Epson Expression 1600 I previously used.

The slide holders are thin, but not fragile as some have reported. They have notches for holding the tray firmly in place for scanning - a nice feature!

The footprint is large, but not as large as my old scanner. It is lower in height than my old scanner, too.

I have a business in photo restoration that I have run since 1998 and I am a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. This scanner, in my professional opinion, is well worth the money and will work for home or small business use.

UPDATE, Apr 22, 2007

I have used this scanner for a couple months now and am even happier than I was initially. The one-button scanning makes for fast scanning to the hard drive for later restorative or Photoshop work. I also have made use very successfully of the scanning to PDF format for documents.

I have used the various adjustments on images from gray scale to col,or adjustments to curves to backlighting and more. Each of these tools enables one to get a better initial scan and reduces Photoshop work.

I have also used Photoshop to import documents from the scanner and that works well, too.

UPDATE, October 24, 2008

I am still extremely happy with this scanner. I use it to create pdf documents to attach to emails, I use it to scan photos, negatives, and slides. It is easy to clean and there4 have been no problems or even hiccoughs along the way. I can imagine using this scanner for many years.