Epson Perfection V800 Review

When it comes to scanning tools, there is a wide range of products to choose from, ranging from multifunction printers to dedicated scanners. Depending on your needs, a multifunction device might be the perfect choice, but if you want a dedicated solution that truly does the difference when it comes to the scanning process, you’ll probably enjoy the features of the Epson Perfection V800 scanner instead of relying on an all-in-one printer. This scanner has a rather steep price tag, but it’s intended for professionals that need nothing less than perfection when it comes to scanning files.

Unlike other similar products, this scanner is both heavier and larger, but this shouldn’t be a worrying factor. It’s quite easy to set up the Epson Perfection V800 scanner; all you need is to connect it via USB to your computer and then install the needed software. There is one thing to remember when using this Epson product; you will have to deal with the Epson Scan application when scanning files, although a third party solution might actually prove more useful. 

The Epson Scan works well with the Epson Perfection V800 and it gives you access to three different scanning modes; the Full Auto mode will take care of everything for you, whereas the Home mode gives you the chance to change some settings before the scanning commences. However, if you are looking for perfect scans, you should switch to the Professional mode, where you gain complete control over various settings, such as tonal curve fine tuning or color balance options. 

The scanning quality is something rather impressive, giving you far superior image files than most counterparts, be them dedicated or not. You can work with scan resolutions of up to 2,400 ppi and of up to 6,400 for the optical resolution. This way, you can be sure that no detail of the original photo will be lost. In fact, you can even restore some detail by choosing the automatic color restoration option provided by Epson Scan. Scratches of a photo and dust can also be digitally removed during the scanning process, so that you won’t have to spend time in other apps to get rid of these unwanted artifacts. 

If you want increased control over the settings you can access, you can switch to SilverFast SE 8, although this app is a bit more cumbersome to use than the dedicated Epson application. Either way, you will be able to scan both 8x11 photos, but also 35mm negatives and slides. When working with 35mm film, you don’t have to scan each frame individually; you can add three stripes simultaneously and each one can have up to 6 photos, so that your due tasks will be done much faster than usually. Scanning speeds are also quite good, as it only takes 38 seconds to scan a 2,400 ppi slide. Digital ICE mode will require several scans at a time, so that it will take more time until a final product is delivered on your PC.