Although photo prints were meant to last for a hundred years, many of our old albums have now started to deteriorate and disintegrate. The result is priceless memories on the verge of getting lost in the sands of time. For this reason, a high-quality photo scanner is a must-have for every home.
Epson is one such company that produces very high-quality photo scanners. As one of the world’s largest printer, scanner, and imaging technologies companies, which of Epson’s many offerings is right for you?
Here is our list of the best Epson photo scanners you can buy today, helping immortalize those precious memories for endless years to come!
Best Epson Photo Scanners:
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1. Epson Perfection V600
This scanner is built to digitize 35mm and medium format film, photo prints, and so much more!
The Epson Perfection V600 is a color photo scanner designed to scan 35mm and medium format film, photo prints, as well as any getting through any other general scanning duties you may be in need of.
The V600 is a flatbed scanner, here to help make your photo scanning dreams come true. The maximum resolution at which the scanner can make copies of prints is 6400 x 9600 DPI. The largest document width that the scanner can handle is 8.5” and the largest document length is 11.7”.
What makes the V600 particularly special is the addition of the Digital ICE technology. This is a hardware technology that is aimed at removing scratches and dust elements on prints and films that degrade the quality of the scans. The scanner’s predecessor, the V500, also has this feature.
So, what’s new on the V600? Digital ICE on the V500 could manage this correction only for films while the V600 does the same for both film and prints.
On the downside, the V600 can scan only four 35mm slides in one go. There is no multi-feed option, so this greatly increases the timeframe if you have several of these films in your collection and you need them to be scanned.
But this downside is outweighed by a pretty nifty upside: the integrated software comes with an array of Auto and Manual features. A lot of times poor exposure settings under difficult lighting situations can result in bright backgrounds and under-exposed faces. The V600’s Auto mode can automatically correct these. It can also do a professional job of adjusting tones, restoring color and contrasts which is a major problem with old prints with washed-out colors.
The surprising thing is that the V600’s scanner can pick up subtle details like the luster of fabric, indirect light, etc. much quicker than other comparable flatbed scanners, making this a great choice.
2. Epson Perfection V850
If you need absolute perfection in quality, this scanner is worth the investment.
The Epson Perfection V850 is Epson’s top-of-the-line photo scanner, a professional option that pops at the top of almost every photo scanner list! This scanner offers an optical resolution of 6400 DPI.
The V850 is capable of scanning slides, prints, and film. The largest image it can scan is 8.5” x 11.7” and it has a maximum color depth of 48-bit. There is a built-in transparency unit that can scan a maximum size of 8” x 10”.
Internally, the built-in film holder can hold up to two sets of film. These film holders can accept a variety of film types. These include 35mm slides, cuts of 35mm films, a variety of medium format films, and even 4 x 5” films.
Additionally, there is also a separate film area guide that can hold extremely large films of a maximum size of 8 x 10”. The convenience of these film holders is that you can continue to scan one set while loading film into the other. This greatly increases the speed of the film-to-digital conversion.
Performance-wise, the V850 has a 4.0 Dmax rating which means the V850 promises very high dynamic range. Dynamic range performance is best in the regions which are in shadow, and here the V850 performs admirably.
(For those unaware, dynamic range refers to the number of details captured in shadows and highlights!)
Much like the V600, the V850 also comes with Digital ICE technology. This technology helps correct scratches and dust in your old worn-out photos as much as possible when scanned.
Despite the V850 retailing at a hefty price tag of over $1000, there is no doubt that this is one of the best Epson photo scanners around, if not the best.
3. Epson FastFoto FF-680W
If you have a large quantity of photos that need scanning, this is your most efficient solution.
If you have a whole pile of photographs you need to scan, the Epson FastFoto FF-680W is named “FastFoto” for a reason! Appearing like a regular photo printer rather than a scanner, the Epson FastFoto FF-680W is a sheet-feed desktop scanner rather than the flatbeds we were talking about earlier. You can insert a whole stack of photographs and let the scanner do its thing.
Epson took care to try its best to minimize any potential for tearing or damaging your precious photographs. This machine excels at scanning 5″ x 7″ and 4″ x 6″ photos with an adjustable feeder at the top.
The software that comes along with this scanner helps you organize the images you’ve scanned, such as categorizing by year or topic. If you also need to scan documents, the program can convert documents into scannable PDFs, allowing you to use the search tool on the computer to find text within the document easily!
The software itself applies some edits automatically to improve the quality of the photographs you are scanning, but you have the option of saving both the original scan and the edits the program has done.
For those that need speed and a whole box of photos scanned, this is your most efficient bet.
4. Epson Perfection V19
This is not a jack of all trades but rather an expert at one!
Despite the elusively small footprint, the Epson Perfection V19 is a very high-quality scanner! Known for its pretty impressive photo scan output, the Epson Perfection V19 is a great choice for those that really only have one need: scanning photos.
The Epson Perfection V19 isn’t chock full of features or elaborately complex, it really is designed for only one purpose and only one goal. There are no film-scanning or text-scanning features. There is no fancy program or additional software.
It’s just a scanner that, well, scans photos. But its appeal is that the Epson Perfection V19 is perfectly designed for its one purpose and the quality output is amazing. They have a Color Restore option on the scanner to help bring colors back to life in old faded prints, as well as an Advanced Mode that allows you to do all of the adjustments manually. Scans are extremely true-to-original, with only very minor color shifts that require some serious pixel peeping to notice.
5. Epson Expression 12000XL-PH
If you scan a large variety of sizes, this photo scanner can handle most all of it.
Not everyone has a need to scan only small prints. If you have larger photographs or art that needs to be digitized, check out the Epson Expression 12000XL-PH! This photo scanner can handle tabloid-size prints at 12.2” x 17.2” with a maximum resolution of 2,400 x 4,800 DPI.
With various adapters or holders for additional purchase, you can hold up to 30 large slides, 48 35mm negatives, eight frames of 4” x 5” transparencies, and six medium-format transparency strips up to 7.1” long. Phew, that’s quite a lot!
This large-format scanner is very easy to use, with the device itself only featuring a small handful of buttons. The included software is the one that handles all of the heavy lifting! This scanner also doesn’t require any sort of warm-up time, so you can just plug and play.
Although its scans are a bit on the slower side, the quality and detail rendering is quite impressive.
6. Epson WorkForce ES-300W
If you need a document scanner more than anything, with a photo print scan here and there, this may be a good option.
Now, the Epson WorkForce ES-300W isn’t actually a photo scanner – this is a document scanner. But if you’re a layman user who tends to scan more documents than not, but would like a machine that can also scan the occasional photograph, this will become your desk buddy for sure!
The Epson WorkForce ES-300W can be used as a totally wireless and cable-free unit thanks to its Wi-Fi capability and internal battery, making this a scanner you can easily take with you anywhere. Although its primary purpose is for scanning documents, receipts, business cards, and other such paper mediums, it’s not the worst when scanning photos.
This scanner is quite fast, able to scan 50 images per minute. The photo scans aren’t the most detailed or best color rendered, but you can fix this up in a post-processing software of your choice (such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom). This scanner is a great option for a working professional who needs to scan documents more so than photographs, but will also have the once-in-a-while need to scan an image!
Which of the Best Epson Photo Scanners Is Right for You?
With these top six on our list, which one should you invest in?
Well, since we’re talking solely about photo scanners, our overall favorite is the Epson Perfection V19! Although this scanner doesn’t really do anything fancy, its quality is superb for photographic mediums. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day, right? The Epson Perfection V600 is also great with its inclusion of Digital ICE tech.
For those with a large stack of prints needing some digitization, the aptly named Epson FastFoto FF-680W is your quickest solution. But, if you’re looking for an ultra-high-end option to scan your priceless memories, you get what you pay for with the Epson Perfection V850, full of useful technology to bring old photographs back to life.
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