Epson Perfection 3200 Photo Scanner
January 13th, 2004 byHoly crap. Get your hands on one of these before they are gone. Why am I so excited about the Epson 3200 Photo scanner? Because I just spent $300 (with $100 rebate) on a scanner that competes directly with a $2,400 scanner from Nikon, the Super Coolscan 8000. Another photographer friend of mine sent files from both the 3200 and the coolscan 8000. Add a very minor unsharp mask to the 3200 image and they are visually identical.
This thing is an amazing deal. I’m sure it’s soon-to-come replacement, at $449, will be just as awesome, so if you can’t find a 3200, wait for the new model. The sofware works. The scans are clean and very high resolution (up to 12,000 dpi interpolated, 6,400 optical). The only funky thing about it is the fact that it doesn’t seem to work with firewire on Mac OS X, Panther. It’s not slow using the USB connection, but I have to unplug a printer to use it with USB. Even so I give the Epson 3200 Photo scanner a solid, way solid, 10 out of 10 rating.
P.S. The 3200 photo is discontinued, soon to be replaced by a new model, and has a $100 discount on them until the end of January 2004. See if you can find one, excellent deal. Incredible.