OT: Scanner advice and recommendations

[tlwise12]

Looking to purchase a new scanner. Haven't purchased one in years and hoping someone could point me in the direction of a somewhat affordable, but good option.

Thanks in advance
Travis

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

canon 9000f MarkII isn't produced any more but you can still find it new especially if you have a local independent computer store. I found 3 at one store and I'm still kicking myself for not buying all of them. They go for more on the secondary market than if you can track one down in someone's back stock.

[Bliggity]

Many of us (myself included) use the Epson V550 or V600. They are very easy to use and produce great scans. An example is below. The 550 is usually in the $199 range and the 600 just slightly more. Whatever you get, the most important thing is that you buy a scanner with a CCD element, rather than a CIS element. A CIS-type scanner can only can flat surfaces, and it will produce a blurry scan if you try to slab anything with depth, such as a slabbed card. A CCD-type scanner has a greater depth of field, and can scan slabbed cards perfectly.

[Casey2296]

I'll second the V600 recommendation, great scanner at a good price, easy to set up and use.

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Bliggity

Whatever you get, the most important thing is that you buy a scanner with a CCD element, rather than a CIS element. A CIS-type scanner can only can flat surfaces, but it will produce a blurry scan if you try to slab anything with depth, such as a slabbed card. A CCD-type scanner has a greater depth of field, and can scan slabbed cards perfectly.

What Dan said about CCD vs. CIS scanners is MOST IMPORTANT!! So very often I want to scream when I see blurry scans of very nice, graded cards on Net54 and other sports-card-collector sites. I'm very happy with my Epson V330 scanner that I've had for a few years, but I don't know if Epson still makes this model.

[Vegas Cards]

Last year I started selling some of my collection and got sick of taking pictures with my phone, dealing with the glare, out of focus etc.

I did some research and ended up buying an Epson GT-1500 used on ebay for $130 including shipping. Seems to work okay.

[IgnatiusJReilly]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I'll second the V600 recommendation, great scanner at a good price, easy to set up and use.

I third this recommendation. The V600 was a game changer for my collection!

[hcv123]

What Dan said about CCD vs. CIS scanners is MOST IMPORTANT!!

Yes, it makes that big a difference. That reiterated, I use the Canon 9000F Mark II mentioned earlier as well. I have an Epson V370 as a backup, but haven't used it yet.

[trambo]

CCD scanner for sure! I use an Epson perfection v370 and it’s great to scan slabbed cards!

[toledo_mudhen]

Another vote for the Canon (Canoscan) 9000 IIF - Awesome!

I'm pretty sure that the Epson (mentioned) and the Canon are going to be the majority of what "most" people use -

Also - We have a member (NGS428) that did a really good write up on scanner tips a year or so back

That post is here :

https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...hlight=scanner

I checked the link and the download appears to be still working - Very Informative

[RL]

I have a epson v370 I picked up for $50.

its a ccd and works quite well.

[Leon]

I use a Canon Canoscan 5600F. I think it's easy and works well.
From the BST a few years back....

[vintagechris]

For those using the Epson, what do you have the settings set at? I seem to never be quite satisfied with the color

[Jobu]

I bought a used Epson 4990 on Ebay (forerunner to the v600 or v700). A few things to consider:

1) If you buy used, look for a scanner that still has the plastic guides that originally came with it (if there were any).

2) If you might ever want to scan negatives, not all scanners will do that so pay special attention for that feature (the 4990 does a great job with negatives). There are also differences in the size of the negatives that different scanners can handle, which can come into play if you are scanning older large acetate or glass plate negatives.

3) When I scan using my laptop's built-in scan function, the scans are clear but the colors always require some adjustment. Epson has the software for all of its scanners on their site for free download, and when using that to create the scans the colors are much better without touching any settings, so I would be sure to use the software that came with the machine instead of the scan function that comes with every computer.

[Bartholomew_Bump_Bailey]

(Oddly enough just bought a new all in one)

I had to break down and buy one to replace an old Canon MP480 and picked up a Xerox B205. Here's a scan from last night that I used on another post.

Thoughts on quality? (of the scan) Setup was easy peasy lemon squeezy.

*edit* I'm still working on loading good quality scans on here lol and those are 2 different "attempts"

[Bliggity]

Originally Posted by vintagechris

For those using the Epson, what do you have the settings set at? I seem to never be quite satisfied with the color

When I first started using my V550, I thought the colors were too dull and were not accurate to the card that I was scanning. For me it was a simple fix. Using the Epson software, from the main scan screen, choose the "Tone Correction" button (circled in red). Then choose "High Contrast" from the tone-curve menu. The color match was perfect. I tried a bunch of different settings, and just this one change was the best and most accurate.

[Zach Wheat]

Agree with the comments above regarding scanners. I have used both Epson and Canon scanners. I prefer the V600 although both produced good results.

Mike (Bartholemew Bump Bailey) it looks like your scanner has an auto-crop scan feature. That is convenient for many things but annoying when it comes to scanning graded cards as it crops some of the holder.

The Canon scanning software has options to size the default scan so you will get all the edges of the entire holder.

[irv]

I believe the OP is a member here as well and I also believe he has the same/similar thread here too?
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1174390

[BobbyStrawberry]

Reviving this thread as I'm looking into getting a scanner. It appears that the Epson V370 and V550 have been discontinued, but the V600 is available.

Any other thoughts/recommendations would be appreciated! Thanks

[Carter08]

I picked up the v550 off of eBay used for $100. I have no idea what I’m doing with setting and yet the machine has decided to make very nice scans despite my incompetence. Highly recommend that and I imagine the v600 is just as good or better.

[Charger74]

Picked up an Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner at my local Best Buy. This thread sold me on it, so made the purchase. Super Happy with the scanner and appreciate all the comments on this thread, made the choice easy!

[Snowman]

Another +1 for the Epson V600. I love mine. It's super easy to use and produces beautiful high-quality scans like the one below.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Bliggity

When I first started using my V550, I thought the colors were too dull and were not accurate to the card that I was scanning. For me it was a simple fix. Using the Epson software, from the main scan screen, choose the "Tone Correction" button (circled in red). Then choose "High Contrast" from the tone-curve menu. The color match was perfect. I tried a bunch of different settings, and just this one change was the best and most accurate.

I do something very similar. The contrast is pretty drab with the default settings. For those who use a Mac, I'd recommend downloading the Epson Scan 2 software for it. This is what my screen looks like. Also worth noting is that there are a couple of ways to adjust the contrast. You can either click on the 'Detailed Adjustment' link and change the 'Tone Correction' from 'Linear' to 'High Contrast' in the pop-up window, or you can just manually adjust the Contrast slider from the Advanced Settings window. I usually set the contrast manually to something like 20 or 25. Here's an example below of the 3 settings side-by-side of the same card. The one on the left is using the defaul contrast settings. The one in the middle is using the 'High Contrast' tone correction like Bliggity suggests above, and the one on the right is using the manual contrast slider adjustment set to 25.

In the Main Settings window, I select 'Scanner Glass' as the Document Source, 'Reflective' as the Document Type, '48-bit Color' as the Image Type, '400 dpi' as the Resolution, and 'Standard' as the Scanning Quality. I keep the defaul settings for Color Management with 'Display Gamma' at 2.2, the 'Continuous auto exposure' box selected, and the Auto Exposure Level set to medium.

[toledo_mudhen]

Still a big fan of the Canoscan 9000F -

[BobbyStrawberry]

Thank you for the many helpful replies. I decided to go with the V600.

I have a related question: what might you recommend for cleaning off dust/surface imperfections on a slab? I recall reading a thread about it on here at some point, but my searches came up empty...

[toledo_mudhen]

I have been using this for several years - from minor polishing to deep scratches - works great!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/271699457867

[rugbymarine]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Thank you for the many helpful replies. I decided to go with the V600.

I have a related question: what might you recommend for cleaning off dust/surface imperfections on a slab? I recall reading a thread about it on here at some point, but my searches came up empty...

I use an extra microfiber cloth meant for cleaning eye-glasses