Epson Perfection V550 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative & Document Scanner with 6400 DPI Optical Resolution

The media could not be loaded. My mom passed away about 5 years ago and my dad has taken it so hard that he threw out all the family photos so he wouldn’t be reminded of her. Luckily, he found the negatives, so I’ve been digitizing them.At first, I just wanted to get started right away and didn’t want to spend much money, so I went ahead and ordered the Kodak Mobile Film Scanner for $39. It was the cheapest one out there. With further investigating, I decided it probably wouldn’t be the best solution if I wanted to have good quality. I had looked up on youtube how to make your own scanner using your phone, glass from picture frames, a tablet (for the light), a box, and some tuna cans. I downloaded the Kodak app and tried it out. The quality was terrible! So I figured the Kodak Mobile Film Scanner would be about the same.So I decided to search online and read reviews on amazon for the best scanner out there. After all, if I’m going to spend all this time scanning thousands of negatives, I might as well make it worth it and get quality good enough to print if I wanted to. The problem with reviews, though, is that everyone has different standards of quality. I read some reviews on the same items that say the quality is great, while others say it’s horrible. So I decided to base my decision on customer’s photos of the results of each product.So before the Kodak even arrived, I decided to order the Epson v550. It is a flatbed scanner but also does negatives. (I received the Epson days before I received the Kodak, even though I ordered the Kodak a couple days before ordering the Epson—both on Amazon.)The Espson v550 is the latest model and costs less than its predecessor (v600). Comparing the Espon v600 ($200) with the Epson v550 ($160), they are pretty much the same. The only difference is the software. The v600 has the capability to get rid of scratches and imperfections on negatives AND photos that are scanned (with Digital ICE software), while the v550 only despeckles negatives. Since I wasn’t worried about photos, I figured for $40 less, I’d go with the v550.If using one of the negatives holders, like for the 35mm film, it is very easy and you can simply place them and press scan. The 35mm holder can fit two strips of negatives. If using 110 negatives, which does not come with a film holder, you have to either place them directly on the glass, or buy an adapter. Since I had a lot of 110 negatives, I went ahead and bought the 110 adapter.Using 35mm film, one thing to keep in mind if you want the negatives to be scanned in a particular order, is that it scans the bottom negatives first (the ones closest to the edge of the cartridge.)Software Settings:Full Auto Mode is really easy, just press the “start” button on the machine and it automatically scans individual frames (provided you are using the templates [holders] that they provide with the correct film.) I scanned 413 frames in 8 hours. All I did is place the negatives in the cartridge and hit the Start button on the machine and walked away for a few minutes. It did the rest. I did have to do the initial settings on the first run. It scans each frame, one at a time, so it takes about a minute per frame. This was on the setting to make the end result 4x6’s at 300dpi, and I didn’t have Digital ICE checked. Digital ICE removes scratches and flaws on the negative.To get out of auto mode, press the “start” button (or open the software), then click “pause” with your mouse, and change to “Home Mode.” Full Auto Mode is great for 35mm film, but if using another size, like 126 or 110, it has to be done in Home Mode. On Preview you have to select each frame in Normal preview mode, otherwise it cuts the frames in half.I found that 3200dpi was best for the 110 negatives, which makes it over 300dpi once it is enlarged to 4x6 inches. I didn’t try any higher, though. In Home Mode, it will go up to 4800dpi, but in Professional Mode, it will go up to 12,800dpi, but doesn't do negatives.One thing that is very frustrating is that after you select each frame, you have to click “All” before scanning. Otherwise, it will only scan the last frame that you selected.“Remove dust” sometimes blurs the eyes, as though it registers eyes as dust spots, so I make sure it is not checked in Full Auto Mode.“Digital ICE” makes it really slow, but is very good at removing scratches. “Color Restoration” is pretty good, too, for adjusting color. For large batches that don’t have a lot of scratches, I just use Color Restoration, but for negatives that I want to spend more time on, I use both Color Restoration and Digital ICE, then I go further into Photoshop.Pros and Cons of the Espon v550Pros•Produces excellent quality photos.•Digital ICE and Color Restoration features in the software are excellent as well, and saves time from having to photoshop. (You will still need to photoshop some, depending on the negative.)•Has the capability to scan a multitude of different sized negatives, as well as regular photos and documents.•Easy to use.•The actual working part that you do yourself is not much, so it’s fairly quick compared to if you were sitting at the table with your phone, taking photos of each individual frame, especially if you are scanning 35mm and have it on auto mode.Cons•It does not come with the 110 template, so you have to buy a very expensive adapter or make your own, or have them on the direct glass, which can make the negatives move around a lot.•When selecting the individual frames, it is very difficult to see because it shows it so small. It would be nice to zoom in a little bit. It can zoom in, but only on one frame.ConclusionOverall, the Epson v550 is well-worth the money spent. It is excellent quality, easy to use, and pretty fast. It is really amazing that it can turn a 1/2” size negative into a 4x6” (up to 8x10 inch [at 4800 dpi]) photo.I've included some images for the review that compare the kodak mobile scanner with this one. You can clearly see the difference. I've also included a video showing how to use it with a 110 negative adapter.

This is really more of 4.5 because of some of the confusing descriptions. This scanner comes with DIGITAL ICE LIGHT, not the full DIGITAL ICE technology. "Light" means that the technology only works on scanning negatives, not photos. I didn't find this out until I was reading through the user guide online and read another review on the Epson site.This is the first scanner that I have bought specifically for photo's. Once you figure it out, it is really easy to use and provides great scan quality. I love all the options you have when scanning, it fits every one of my needs. I can scan quickly for documents or less important photo's, or I can get quality files when I scan important photo/negatives.My father passed away last year and I have digitizing all the old family photos so that we can get the stories and names of everyone before we lose any more family members and their memories. I was using a general scanner and spending way too much time having to crop out each photo. This scanner does an AMAZING job of auto-cropping each photo (if there is at least 1/4" between each photo) or letting you tell it where to crop and then saving each one in it's own file. It also has a lot of auto enhancing features that work on most photo's. There is no user guide that comes along with the scanner (most items don't anymore) and the user guide online isn't great, but there is a lot of information on line to supplement the information. Since this is my first photo scanner, I don't have anything to compare it to directly.The quality of the scanned photos is great, but the quality of the scanned negatives is AMAZING. I am scanning negatives that are 65 years old! They are as clear as day and the ICE "technology" seems to be working great. The downside is that this scanner only has ICE Light, which means that the "technology" to remove scratches only works when scanning negatives, not photos. This seems odd, since most scratches are going to occur on photos and not negatives, and most items to be scanned nowadays are going to be photos. It seems like any product that is manufactured from here on out should be with that in mind. This is the latest release of these scanners and has the most options, so it is really odd that it didn't have the latest technology.