First impressions: Epson Perfection V550 scanner

May 1979: Jogging path along Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. Scanned with sharpening at medium setting.

During the last couple weeks I've scanned 200 negatives on a Epson Perfection V550 flatbed scanner. I’m happy with the results.

The Charles River image above I cleaned up in Lightroom, but did not add any sharpening.

The V550 handles 8.5 by 11 inch flatbed scans and comes with a plastic holders for 35mm and 120mm film. The 35mm holder can handle two strips of film or four 2 x 2 inch slide mounts.

My completed scans were mostly from old 35mm Tri-X black and white negatives. Usually I left the built in sharpening off, but for the image above I used the medium setting. There's some halo’s around the tree on right. In the future I'll try the low setting.

Personally I prefer to take raw scans into Lightroom and Photoshop for finishing work.

The Epson Scan software is easy to use. But I’m already familiar with the software. For several years, I used the software with a high end Epson Perfection and Epson all-in-one scanners. I use the Professional mode for all the additional controls.

In addition to the unsharp mask feature, the Epson Scan software includes grain reduction, color restoration, backlight correction, dust removal and DIGITAL ICE technology.

By using the preview feature, I make final scan selections for up to 12 images on my computer screen. At 2400 or 3200 dpi, each scan can take several minutes. So while the Epson is doing it’s thing, I can work on this blog post.

I give this scanner four out of five stars. The main negative are the film holders. They're made of cheap plastic break easily. So work slowly and carefully when using.

The odd thing about the Epson Perfection line of scanners, the high end models also come with cheap plastic film holders. Plan on purchasing an extra set of holders as backup.

I purchased a refurbished Epson V550 unit selling for about $120. It came with all the attachments. But be careful, some online reviews report broken (lemon) versions and others with no attachments being sold.

The Epson Perfection V550 list price is $199.00. It’s perfect for digitizing family or similar photos - just what I am doing.

Notice I did not say it’s a replacement for high end professional scanning!