I've been using Epson flatbed scanners for years, starting with (I think) a 2400 and working up as they introduced new models until I arrived at my current V850, I am aware that many say that flatbeds don't work well with 35mm, simply because the resolution isn't enough. That said, I've been happy with the results to give prints up to A3 from Kodachrome slides. For what it's worth, I've only once in my career produced a 10x8 print from a black and white negative that I was happy with, but that is in part because unlike many (or even most?) photographers I don't like grain. I don't see it when I compose the subject, I don't visualise it when imaging the print, and I just don't want it!
I haven't used a 35mm camera since 2018, and probably only half a dozen films in the five or six years before that, so my experiences are effectively confined to roll film and large format, where the limitations of the scanner are less apparent. There was an article some years ago in Professional Imagemaker magazine, where an Epson V750 (the then top model) was compared with an Imacon drum scanner on a 5x4 black and white negative. The results (from memory) were that the Imacon did produce sharper results (which could be matched by sharpening in Photoshop) but also produce visible grain in the sky. As a result, the photographer (Paul Gallagher) preferred the Epson scanner.
I also have a Plustek 120 film scanner (the high end one. It does produce a better result with my RZ67 negatives than the Epson, but only by a very small amount, and not one that would bother me in practice.
I use VueScan software, and have done for over 20 years. The reason I moved to VueScan was because Barry Thornton extolled what was the software's then unique feature (it may still be as I haven't investigated) to save the raw scan data and reprocess it at any time with different scan settings. The computer I was using at the time meant that each scan of a 5x4 negative took five hours (typed in full to show no typo there!) and most times I needed to go back and adjust the settings. Switching the time to a new image from five hours to under 5 minutes meant I could learn how to do it, and get the optimal results, much more quickly. I have found that even adjacent film images sometime need different settings, even if the negatives look visually the same.
A few years back I was putting together an exhibition of the effects of the Great Gale (UK members will understand) on the local park. The images were on Kodachrome. At that time I tried a few other methods apart from the Epson - a slide copier and simple photographing of the slide using a Sony a7r as the camera. The Epson still came out top for me. Given that the Epson holder can take 24 slides and VueScan can automatically scan them all in sequence without intervention, it was easier as well.
I do have sample scans of the same (colour) negative from my RZ67 from the Epson and the PlusTek, but the sizes prevent any attempt at posting (the largest is 1.6 GB). If anyone is interested, I can provide a link to my OneDrive where they can be downloaded.
That's probably enough to be going on with, but any questions let me know. I'll add further thoughts as they occur to me, or are suggested by how this thread develops (no pun intended)
IMG_7452 by photog711, on Flickr
