Any experience with an Epson 1680 scanner?

humberklog

A chap is giving me an Epson 1680 scanner. It's not the Pro version and doesn't come with film holders.

He dropped the manual in earlier and I'm a little lost when looking at such things without the actual gizmo in front of me so I had a few questions.

Is it any good for scanning negs?
Will it do different film formats?
Will it scan Slide film?
Are film holders essential and if so are they easy to pick up?

The guy usually gives me quality gear that has been very well looked after (Horizon, Rollei, Leica etc.) but what with technology and computers etc. I was wondering if a scanner that has a couple of years on it is still good to go?

Any info much appreciated. I have googled but got a bit lost. So thought maybe someone here has first hand knowledge of this make and model.

magicbastarder

seems the transparency unit is optional - did you get that? looks like a good scanner, anyway.

humberklog

magicbastarder wrote: »

seems the transparency unit is optional - did you get that? looks like a good scanner, anyway.

Eh...Transparency Unit? Bit of the ol' Tracker Mortgage area here for me I'm afraid:o. Is that as mysterious (yet important) as it sounds? Like needing a soul to get into heaven?

sineadw

My home yoke needs a unit (a big thing that sits on top of the scanner that I slide negs into) as it illuminates the negs from behind. They don't all though. The ones in college and ruared, you just choose transparency scan. Not sure about that one..

magicbastarder

humberklog wrote: »

Is that as mysterious (yet important) as it sounds?

yep, as sinead said, film needs to be lit from behind, so the standard lid (which probably just presents a white sheet to the scanning surface) can be lifted off to be replaced with a unit with a lamp inside it.

humberklog

magicbastarder wrote: »

yep, as sinead said, film needs to be lit from behind, so the standard lid (which probably just presents a white sheet to the scanning surface) can be lifted off to be replaced with a unit with a lamp inside it.

Ah...that makes a lot of sense. Hmmm. The manual does show neg holders and seems to go on about film so maybe it does.

sineadw

is the white bit on the lid removeable? Some of them have built in lights underneath and don't need a separate unit.

magicbastarder

you can see two versions:





the difference in the hoods is readily apparent.

sineadw

Ah.. separate unit so!

humberklog

magicbastarder wrote: »

the difference in the hoods is readily apparent.

Ah, y'see I didn't know what I was looking at when I saw the two different ones. Well I kinda thought one was a GTI version with a spoiler. I suppose that's kinda what it is.

So when this thingymebobs comes in it really needs to have one of those jet packs on top of it?

magicbastarder

if you want to scan film, yeah.
according to the specs, the pro version can scan up to 8"x10" transparencies. can't say fairer than that.

humberklog

So I'll just have to play the ol' waiting game and see what it is that I get in. Still and all I'm a lot wiser already:). Thanks a lot, I'll get on with having my Gilbert O'Sullivan and Free Penguin Pics Friday in work today.

sineadw

free penguin pics? Did you snap off a few before you released him then?

humberklog

sineadw wrote: »

free penguin pics? Did you snap off a few before you released him then?

I did...in an orange boiler suit and chained to a radiator! Well he's missing out on Gilgert O'Sullivan today. Penguins love a bit of Gilbert.

sineadw

seriously - wouldn't surprise me

humberklog

magicbastarder wrote: »

seems the transparency unit is optional - did you get that? looks like a good scanner, anyway.

This was the BIG worry...arrived in gallery today...and it does!! Deadly, jayzuz it's a lot bigger than what I thought.

Heebie

It does what? Look like a good scanner.. or come with the transparency adapter?

I used to use the 19" version of that scanner (without the transparency adapter) It was an excellent scanner. I did manage to scan a few transparencies with it, but they came out VERY dark, and the color was funky, because I didn't have the transparency adapter backlighting it.

humberklog wrote: »

This was the BIG worry...arrived in gallery today...and it does!! Deadly, jayzuz it's a lot bigger than what I thought.

humberklog

Yeah Heebie I think that's what it's called. Like a box or a big white bible sitting on top of the lid. I didn't bring it with me, but yeah I think that's what it is. A yoke that lets you scan negs and as I take a lot of stuff that has peculiar length negs it should do just fine...I think.

So...it didn't come with a disc for the computer, should it have I wonder. And will it scan slide? I've rakes of that developed but never scanned as prices quoted were just plain mental.

stcstc

wait till you start scanning them and see how long it takes to get a decent high quality scan you can print a reasonable size from


then you might see that the prices are not as mental as they seem


i have basically given up scanning for people, as the time it takes to do it well and produce a decent file to print from is just not worth my while. i cant charge for the amount of time it actually takes, as no one would pay for it

humberklog

stcstc wrote: »

wait till you start scanning them and see how long it takes to get a decent high quality scan you can print a reasonable size from


then you might see that the prices are not as mental as they seem


i have basically given up scanning for people, as the time it takes to do it well and produce a decent file to print from is just not worth my while. i cant charge for the amount of time it actually takes, as no one would pay for it

Yeah Steve I'm sure I won't have neither the time nor the patience to do it a lot. I'm still going to get ordinary colour 35mm done the way I usually do which is 5 rolls deved and scanned to one cd for 15quid. Then I'll use that cd as my editor so will only have to scan frames considered worthwhile to get get a higher res of.

But I do some funny sizes that ordinary machines can't cope with so I get'm hand done in Gunn's. They're the only ones that'll touch'm. So I'm only gonna use it for that and also 120mm.

So it really is the perfect tool for what I need and when it's needed.

Kintarō Hattori

humberklog wrote: »

So...it didn't come with a disc for the computer, should it have I wonder. And will it scan slide? I've rakes of that developed but never scanned as prices quoted were just plain mental.

Any use to you HK?

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?oid=27543&prodoid=335337&infoType=Downloads&platform=Windows

humberklog

Ah brilliant KH. It's gotta be one of them. I'll know over weekend.

Heebie

I've been meaning to get around to mentioning that Epson has good driver support for Windows & Mac on their website. (when it comes to Linux.. no so much.. although their Japanese site does have Linux drivers.)

sineadw

HP are feckin Sh!te for linux. And windows for that matter. Hope you don't have any problems with the drivers HK. Mine's been a mare..

humberklog

sineadw wrote: »

HP are feckin Sh!te for linux. And windows for that matter. Hope you don't have any problems with the drivers HK. Mine's been a mare..

What're the Drivers? All looks pretty solid. Far to busy at mo to get a go of it so it's just in the boot of the car. It's already got a p[roblem with it's driver so...

No really...what's the Driver?

stcstc

the drivers are the bit of software that allows your computer to talk to the scanner

then there is normally a capture program to actually do the scanning

humberklog

Ah. Gotcha.

Heebie

Epson's scanner software is actually pretty powerful, but it's also counter-intuitive in a few ways, I find. (Maybe you won't find it that.)

Someone provided the links somewhere above to download the installer. (There is probably a single installer that installs everything you need to use the scanner.)

You can use a Photoshop plugin to scan directly into Photoshop... DON'T USE IT! It only supports 8-bit per channel, and you'll be able to get 16-bit per channel TIFF output from the scanner software.

humberklog

Well...that's a bit rubbish...hmmm...

Kintarō Hattori

humberklog wrote: »

Well...that's a bit rubbish...hmmm...

Ye must be doing it wrong! Sorry I have no advice for you as I've never scanned much in the way of negatives or photos. I'm sure one of the regulars will be along soon enough though to set you straight.

BTW - sorry for running off on you so quickly there on Sunday, the monster was hungry and you can't keep that waiting for too long.

humberklog

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Ye must be doing it wrong! Sorry I have no advice for you as I've never scanned much in the way of negatives or photos. I'm sure one of the regulars will be along soon enough though to set you straight.

BTW - sorry for running off on you so quickly there on Sunday, the monster was hungry and you can't keep that waiting for too long.

Cheers for the dongle. Gonna get sorted on Wed. i hope. How'd pics go down? looked great I thought.


Yeah I think I mighta installed wrong driver as there doesn't seem to be a big green button with "Scan Negs" written across it.

Heebie

It's not that simple in the Epson software. Do you have the transparency adapter? If you don't have it, the option won't show up.

If you do have the adapter, you have to put yourself in "Professional" mode in the software, and then select the type of scan you want. "reflective" for photos, and you should have transparancies & negatives if you have the transparency adapter attached.

humberklog wrote: »

Cheers for the dongle. Gonna get sorted on Wed. i hope. How'd pics go down? looked great I thought.


Yeah I think I mighta installed wrong driver as there doesn't seem to be a big green button with "Scan Negs" written across it.

humberklog

Heebie wrote: »

It's not that simple in the Epson software. Do you have the transparency adapter? If you don't have it, the option won't show up.

If you do have the adapter, you have to put yourself in "Professional" mode in the software, and then select the type of scan you want. "reflective" for photos, and you should have transparancies & negatives if you have the transparency adapter attached.

Is the transparency adapter the white board that slips onto the lid on the inside? Between the bottom and top parts?

magicbastarder

nope, that's a white 'backsheet' for non-film scans. the transparency adapter would be the hood with a light of its own built in.

humberklog

magicbastarder wrote: »

nope, that's a white 'backsheet' for non-film scans. the transparency adapter would be the hood with a light of its own built in.

Ah yeah it has that yoke alright.

Anyways, I dug the paper manual out from the darkest recesses of the boot of the car. Quick flick through on way to work and it looks as though there might be some info in it.

Something to do in work so, read up and stuff and stuff.

DaireQuinlan

What does the negative actually look like ? There's detail in that scan in the clouds and trees and the telephone or electrical cables outside. Could be that you just exposed for the outsidey bits and underexposed the interior by quite a bit. The numbers on the edge of the film also look ok.

In short, problem might be with the neg, that might be the best scan that could be gotten out of it. Hard to tell without actually having the neg to look at though.

Fajitas!

Yep, what Daire said - If you invert the image, there's quite a bit of detail there - Any more examples?

DaireQuinlan

Also, looking at it a bit more closely, you've put the film directly onto the glass ? If it's proper B&W make sure it's emulsion side down. If it's C-41 B&W then try and use the holders that come with the scanner if you have them. You have newton rings a go-go there.

DaireQuinlan

here it is inverted and leveled.



There's zero detail in the dark bits, except for all those newton rings.

Actually, can anyone else actually see the image ? I uploaded it to a private album on boards. Dunno if that makes the picture private as well.

Fajitas!

Can't see it here I'm afraid!

Yep, there we go!

magicbastarder

i can see it.

Kintarō Hattori

I can see it and like it actually.

humberklog

Now DQ it's far from Newton's Rings I was rared.

Ooooh the slippery slope into home brew!

Was talking to Sineadw earlier and she mentioned inverting image too. I don't know what that means and whilst I do have PS4 I prefer doing my business on Picasa. Does Picasa have this magical invert button?

So essentially the scanner's doing it's job? You scan it (right side up DQ;);)) and then flick a button and it turns it from a neg to a pic?

Oh I've no holders so just I'm cleaning the neg on my jeans 1st (I am a pro afterall and do have standards) and throwing it onto the glass.

Heebie

I didn't see it before this post. If there is zero detail in the scan.. then you're probably not tweaking the histogram of the scan that much.

When you're working with over or under exposures, you don't actually want to scan the negative so it looks great.. you want to scan it in a fashion to get as much data as possible.. then tweak the data to get see what you want once it's in Photoshop/Gimp/Lightroom etc.. where you have fine control over it.

The interference pattern you're seeing can probably be manipulated a bit to try & minimise it by changing the resolution of the scan. You might also be able to get that minimised further by making sure you use a good film holder (which you probably don't have for it) or by getting two REALLY clean and REALLY clear non-polarised pieces of glass and sandwiching the negative between the two and taping the sides with something like electrician's tape to keep the two glass plates tight, in order to minimise the film curl. (the tape also keeps you from scratching the scanner crystal with the corners of the glass plates.)

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

here it is inverted and leveled.

There's zero detail in the dark bits, except for all those newton rings.

Actually, can anyone else actually see the image ? I uploaded it to a private album on boards. Dunno if that makes the picture private as well.

humberklog

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

What does the negative actually look like ? .

The neg looks like what I posted. That's an exact scan.