Epson - Perfection V600 Photo Scanner - Black

I've used the Epson V600 to scan color photos and negatives and black and white negatives. In every case. It is speedy even scanning at 600 dpi. The light it uses to scan negatives requires no warmup time. Each scan is flawless; only rarely do I have to adjust the brightness and contrast curve, and only on a previously "impossible" negative (the church ceiling lighted only by windows is just as it was scanned, with no corrections.) It's like it does all the thinking for me. The spot removal function works wonders, though it does add considerably to scan time. so you need to keeps a dusting brush handy if you have neglected your negatives. I have not used the front-panel buttons because the way I placed it on my desk makes them unhandy, but the included EpsonScan software gives you total control of functionality. I do worry about the film carrier, which seems fragile because Epson put slides and film function on the same carrier (see the second photo.) I would have preferred the solution of my previous Epson scanner, which had separate masks for slides, 35mm film strips, and 120 negs. Well worth the price, especially if it has the stamina of my old Epson 4100 scanner, which gave me more than a decade of reliable service.

I am using this scanner with MacOS 11.3,Big Sur. I had to download the drivers from the Epson support website as I knew I would. That process went smoothly and the scanner was up and running very quickly. I have scanned color slides, both Kodachrome and Ektachrome, color print negatives, and, color prints. I have been very happy with the ease of operation and scanning options available through the Epson Scan2 application. I have not downloaded or tried any of the other software utilities that are available on the Epson website.

I bought the Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner to digitize Kodachrome slides and color and B&W film negatives. After successfully scanning over 500 film images, I am favorably impressed with the V600 - especially given the cost. The scanned images are very true to the originals. With a little practice and investigation of how the scanner captures images, I am very pleased with the outcomes. Two considerations: Learn how to best capture your particular images. Some of the features are less than intuitive, but can be easily learned. A bit of patience is handy. Understand the more images scanned and the scanned resolution will determine how long the scanning actually takes. Second, the supplied Epson photo editing software works, but I recommend shopping for a more recent photo edit software in the $50 - $100 range if you want to do a really great job of improving scanned images. Overall, I readily recommend the V600.

Film photography was getting a little expensive for me so I decided to scan my own negatives which led me to purchase the v600 scanner. It was in my price range and I liked the color. Best decision I have ever made, I have more freedom on how my negatives are scanned and the scanner hasn’t disappointed me yet.

I purchased the Epson Photo V600 from Best Buy about 14 days ago and found almost immediately that Digital ICE does not work with my new iMac that is running MacOS 11 Big Sur. In fact, Digital ICE did not work with the last version of the MacOS 10.5.5 Catalina. I was pleased when I learned that Silverfast was offered for free to correct this problem; however, it's the cheapest version of Silverfast, Silverfast SE and it's outdated (rev 8.8.0.24) from November 2020. So my software is six months old, and my scanner is seven days old. When I tried to update it to the latest version, which is now Silverfast 9 SE without paying the full price, which is $99, there is no discounted rate for registered users, which I am. However, since Epson made a deal with Silverfast, then there's no discounted updates or discounted upgrades. It's like we're not really registered users -- Epson is the registered user, and we received a gift. I don't want a gift -- I want a scanner that works as advertised. The selling point of this scanner is the Digital ICE dust and scratch removal, as it's promoted on both the Best Buy and Epson websites. They even have the Digital ICE logo emblazoned on the bottom left of the front of the scanner. I am very disappointed and displeased, and if I cannot get a discounted version of this update or a discount on an upgrade to SE Plus, for example, then I am going to return it Best Buy as I have nine days left to return it, which I am certainly going to do. I'd rather wait for Epson to come out with a new version of an affordable flatbed photo scanner than have one that doesn't work as promoted. If you have a Mac that's running Catalina or Big Sur, then I recommend that you consider an alternative. Otherwise, be prepared to shell out more than $100 to update it, and even more to upgrade it. I don't understand why Epson continues to sell this product when Digital ICE stop working on the MacOS years ago as well as offering an outdated version of Silverfast that can be updated or upgraded at discount.

I'm only giving this two stars, because I've discovered it will crop the edges of photos when lined up with the edge of the glass, as you would when making a xerox copy (see pic). I dug around in the manual and it says, if this happens, to move the picture about 3 to 6 mm from each edge when scanning. I thought the idea of butting up pics and docs into the top right corner (where the arrow is) was to keep it aligned! I find this extremely annoying, and fortunately, I've had this less than a week, so it's going back a.s.a.p.

The Epson V600 is great scanner for a multitude of reasons. If you need it for single document scans, you could get away with a cheaper scanner but the quality of scan in this scanner is amazing. Apart from that, it works well as a photo scanner as well if you want to digitize photo books. I personally use the V600 for film scanning and although there are better but more expensive ways to go about film scanning, it is a good way to get my foot in. The problem really only arrives in the film scanning software. As of now, Epson Scan 2 is only available for MacOS users and it greatly reduces the time for scans in higher resolutions, with Windows being my main operating system, I can only use Epson Scan 1 and I find myself waiting 15+ minutes for 12 (twelve) 35mm exposures at 6400 DPI. Other than that, this is a great scanner for anyone looking to do sharp scans of anything really. And for those using this for film scans, The Epson Scan software comes with its own negative coloring but I find that the colors usually don’t come out the way I want them, but can be fixed in whatever editing suite you prefer to use. Pictured are some of my own film scans using the V600 after color processing on Lightroom

Artists be warned... If you are going to be scanning large artwork or photo this scanner is Not for you. Just bought it and scanned a piece of art a little larger that the platen. There was a darkening around the edges...after several tries. If you need to make multiple scans to recombine in Photoshop it won't work well. Very disappointed... wast of money for my needs.