Vincent at photo-i has completed his 13-page detailed review of the Epson Perfection 3200 flatbed scanner. Find out why this scanner could be the perfect all-in-one solution for scanning documents and your negative/slide collection.

Website: photo-i

“Flatbed scanners have matured, they have become a viable alternative to the dedicated film scanner and at a fraction of the cost. Many photographers are moving into digital capture, but there are a lot of people out there still shooting film. These people also want the ability to scan and manipulate their pictures without breaking the bank. This flatbed scanner with its high quality film scanning capability might just be the answer.”

photo-i have almost completed their review of Epson’s new top-of the-range flatbed scanner, the Epson Perfection 3200. There are now 8 pages of the review online, including some samples of scanned negatives and slides. The results look very, very impressive at first glance - they seem to be on a par or better than a dedicated film-scanner! That’s an amazing performance from a ?350 flatbed scanner…

photo-i are also reviewing the Canon 9900F at the same time as the Epson - expect to see some sample scans from this unit in the next day or two.

Website: photo-i

photo-i have started their review of Epson’s new top-of the-range flatbed scanner. The first 3 pages of the review (out of 10) are now online. The rest will be posted this week.

Website: photo-i

Vincent Oliver over at photo-i is in the middle of preparing a comparitive review of the Epson Perfection 3200 and Canon 9900F flatbed scanners. The review seems to be a work-in-progress at the moment, so keep checking back over the next few days.

Website: photo-i

Following on from January’s news that Epson was releasing the Perfection 3200 flatbed scanner, Canon have followed suit with their equivalent model, the CanoScan 9900F. Both scanners offer a breakthrough 3200 x 6400 dpi scanning resolution. Though I guess it’s not quite as break-through for the Canon…!

Photo-i seem to have the only report on Canon’s Scanner at the moment; here’s a brief excerpt:

Website: photo-i

“Canon, leader in imaging technology, is pleased to announce the CanoScan 9900F a new flagship film capable flatbed scanner incorporating two significant technology firsts for Canon. An optical resolution of 3200 x 6400 dpi is achieved from a new 6-line Hyper CCD and a new advanced development of Canon’s own FARE automatic film retouching technology has been added called FARE level 2. These features combine to deliver unparalleled quality scans together with outstanding productivity making this the best quality, highest performance flatbed scanner yet from Canon. The CanoScan 9900F is aimed at the high-end photographer and graphic arts professional.”

Of the many New Year product releases, one that particularly caught my eye was Epson’s breakthrough Perfection 3200 scanner.

Website: Epson UK

“The EPSON Perfection 3200 brings high quality film scanning with the flexibility of a flatbed scanner. Offering an optical resolution of 3200x6400 dpi, it also features a built-in 4"x9” Transparency Unit and a custom-developed ASIC for high-speed film scans.

The 4"x9” Transparency Unit makes the Perfection 3200 ideal for medium and large format film, and it can also scan up to twelve 35mm originals at a time, making it the ideal solution for both photography enthusiasts and professionals. It’s equally at home in businesses that require a flexible high quality scanner for general purpose use.”

I currently own the Nikon Coolscan IV ED film scanner, which in comparison to the Epson flatbed scanner only offers a resolution of 2900dpi, can only scan 4 frames or 1 slide at a time and is limited to 35mm film.

I also have a very cheap Black Widow flatbed scanner which is slow, noisy and has poor resolution.

And at only slightly over ?300, that’s why Epson’s new offering is so interesting. I’ll definitely be keeping a lookout for photography-biased reviews of the Perfection 3200 to see how it performs.