Epson Perfection 3200 Photo Flatbed Scanner

The driver for this Epson 3200 scanner is built on PowerPC architecture. While it will work for some applications on an Intel based Mac, there are many Intel based applications with which this scanner will NOT work on a Mac, unless Epson updates the scanner driver. This is unlikely to happen because Epson wants customers to buy newer models of its scanners. If you own this scanner and use an Intel Mac with OS 10.5, you're out of luck. It will not work with most Adobe applications, as well as others.

While Silverfast SE seems to serve no particular purpose, simply using Epson's "automatic" mode produces incredibly accurate duplicate colors of original transparencies (transparencies as seen on daylite box, scans seen on Synchmaster 192n, automatic default prints on Epson 2200 pigment printer.

In other words, used as a plug-and-play system, with absolutely no tinkering or adjustment, it's nearly perfect. Mix and match slides and negatives, the 3200 thinks for a moment and makes the right decisions.

Dust is the reason Jehovah gave you cans of pressurized air. But Photoshop still helps out sometimes.

I get ultra sharp enlargements that match colors perfectly. By "perfectly" I mean "well within 5cc"...in other words, more accurately than can be reliably expected from most photolabs.

A secret: buy your 3200 as a "refurb" directly from Epson. You'll save a bundle and get something that's enjoyed more quality control than if had as a virgin.

I'm glad that some people have had a good experience with this scanner, but I am not one. I own an Epson Perfection 2450 Photo scanner and have been very happy with it. I thought it's "big brother" would make a nice, economical additon to the office where I work.

Boy was I wrong.

Several people have mentioned dust issues. I haven't noticed that but I do have the problem others have mentioned in the professional photography forums on the internet. Some of these scanners come with glass that has not been treated properly and I got one of them. What happens is when you lay an image on the glass, especially a glossy photo, it "sticks" a bit and looks like there are watermarks on the image after it has scanned. It will do this every time and in slightly different spots and there is no way to keep it from happening. I've tried wipping the glass and photos and even cleaning them, but to no avail. I called Epson tech support and they said the glass was faulty and to return it for a replacement.

No thanks, I think I'll try another brand where it won't be a crapshoot as to wether I get a working one or not. I've always loved Epson products but this leaves me a bit disillusioned. They let quality control slide a lot on the production of this model.

There is a rebate on this scanner because it is being replaced by the newer, better and hopefully higher quality Perfection 4870. It has a Dmax of 3.8 over the 3.4 of the 3200, so it should be able to better capture image data from the dark areas of photos too. If you are interested in this scanner, I would try that or the 2450. I've also heard good things about the Canon CanoScan 9900F.

I was also not overly impressed with the color reproduction on this scanner. For some reason it is not as good as the older 2450. I'm a graphic designer and at work I have an 9 year old AGFA scanner that is A LOT slower than the 3200, but it's color reproduction was richer and more evenly balanced. Details in the shadow area were also more acurately reproduced. I tested both on the same photo to reach this conclusion.

Also, only get the "Pro" edition if you want the extra software, otherwise they are the same exact scanner.

Aside from this, I didn't test it's transparency capabilities. It is very fast and would be a good deal for the $ if you don't get a lemon. It's up to you if you want to take that chance. I know my time is more valuable than that.

My objective in purchasing this scanner was to be able to place a scanned photo on the same page as some text. After several sessions,I have not found a solution. Scanning is not the problem; rather, sending a scanned image to another application such as word so that one can combine a word document with the image. The software gives no clue and reaching Epson's technical support is a joke. Consider another brand. I'm selling or giving this one away.

This is an affordable professional scanner that rivals the quality of any negative scanner I have ever used. Its software is great, and is very straight forward. You will not go wrong with this scanner. I am a professional photographer, and have now made this the only scanner I use.