Epson V850

[Joanna Carter]

How would increasing the dpi affect a greyscale print at say 10x8 inches

Well, the less dots, the more the white paper is visible between them. My Canon 1000 always prints at 1200dpi and it takes quite a powerful loupe to see the dots. The Epson 3880 I believe has about the same maximum dot resolution.

Suffice to say, at normal viewing distance, Most people can't tell if it's an inkjet print or not.

Even if I could, I would never print at such a low resolution as you are suggesting, since 360dpi only lays down 1.5 dots of ink for each pixel at 240ppi which, on a greyscale, would lead to possible interpolation problems for partial dots/pixels and, thus, possibly irregular graduations.

 

[PeterC]

It's been a while since I got back to my original topic on this thread: i've been experimenting with various other scanning techniques with my Epson V850 suggested here on this forum. I tried Ian's technique (see his PDF) with a glass directly on the scanner bed using the Transparency 8x10 setting in Vuescan and the Martin Henson method (see above) on all neg sizes, I shoot with i.e. 35mm, 6x6, & 6x7. None of these methods – in my case – proved as good as the original Epson neg holders. I then turned to camera scanning as I already have most of the gear Nikon Z7, Sigma 105 Macro, Kaiser Slimline Plano light table, and sturdy Gitzo tripod. I used the Durst neg holder from my enlarger with the ANR (original Durst) down and the emulsion up, this meant the neg was absolutely flat. I have the Essential Film Holder on order https://clifforth.co.uk/ – see my set-up.
Looks like my Epson V850 is redundant, the difference is incredible. I have some negs away to be "drum scanned" to compare, but my initial tests show the best scans I have ever seen. Sharpness, shadow detail and dynamic range are simply way above anything achieved on the Epson; I doubt wet scanning using the latter would be better than my results with a camera. I used Color Perfect to convert the negs which is also way better than Photoshop or Negative Lab Pro, at least for B&W.