Epson V700 & Vuescan vs Fotohub $13 lab scans

So I got myself an Epson V700 from a fellow Clubsnapper at a very good price (620 instead of 900 first hand). It makes sense that I put in some effort to run some tests and justify the purchase.

The image above is scanned and enhanced using contrast, curves (exposure) and high pass filter (sharpening).

Read on to see how that fare against a typical SGD 13 lab scan from fotohub.

I knew something was not right when I collected the scans from fotohub. Just look at the skin tone of the chap on the left.

The image was suspiciously sharp as well though I conveniently (incorrectly) attributed it to the awesomeness known as Hasselblad.

So I went to scan the same shot on the V700 using the software Vuescan and the following settings.

1. Generic Color Film (There was no option for Ektar 100, so I chose the general profile)
2. Auto- color balance
3. no sharpening (can’t find the bloody option to begin with)

Here’s what I got.

Immediate observations as compared to the fotohub scan:

1. Colors are not as vibrant but much more natural
2. Not as sharp
3. More details though as seen in the sky

It was not fair to compare the raw scan to the fotohub one because whoever processed my scans probably did some sharpening/contrast as well. So i did my own enhancements (simple ones, really) and got the first shot as my final product.

Here again:

Verdict:

Well I definitely like the scan from the V700 much more. Doing my own sharpening makes the photo look more natural as well.

What do you think?

The next step:

I am going to get myself a IT8 scanner calibration targets and calibrate the scanning profile of my V700. It supposedly will yield wayyyy better colors s a result so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Check back this blog post when the targets arrive.

Oh and by the wei (intended): If you rely on fotohub for your scans, I strongly recommend that you think long-term and invest in a good scanner like the V700 and DIY instead. Sure you may not have time to do much scanning but that’s why they invent the function called batch scanning.

And look at it this way. Scanning plus developing at fotohub sets you back about SGD 20. If you are able to land yourself a V700 on sale during IT Shows, you might get away with SGD 788 for it. Now 788/20 gives you roughly 40 units of scan+dev.

Not sure about you but at the rate I’m shooting, I’m going to save so much more in the long run.

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