Epson Perfection 4870 Photo Scanner

by Epson

Product Details

Product Manual [376kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 20 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001B5AK8
• Item model number: B11B163011
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 13, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer What if the quality and power of a high-end, dedicated film scanner were available without the high-end price? What if that product could not only scan multiple slides and negatives, but old photographs as well—giving new life to faded or damaged originals? A remarkable breakthrough in high quality digital imaging, the Epson Perfection 4870 Photo offers the perfect solution—at a truly remarkable price.

With clarity and reproduction comparable to that of expensive dedicated film scanners, this premium product provides the flexibility to automatically scan and restore photos, transparencies, and more. Its built-in 6-by-9-inch transparency unit accommodates film as large as 4 by 5 inches or up to twenty-four 35mm negative images simultaneously. And, its superior 4,800 x 9,600 dpi resolution and stunning 3.8 Dmax deliver intricate detail for phenomenal reprints and enlargements.

Easy Photo Fix Technology

With Digital Ice Technology, which removes dust, scratches, and even tears at the click of a button, and innovative Epson Easy Photo Fix, the Epson Perfection 4870 Photo produces brilliant restorations. A complete digital scanning system, this high-value performer offers incredible versatility. And, it includes convenient high-speed connectivity for easy setup and installation.

When teamed with an Epson Stylus printer, the Epson Perfection 4870 Photo offers the perfect input/output solution. Its phenomenal performance, paired with its extraordinary price point, makes it easy for anyone to create professional quality scans from virtually any original.

What's in the Box
Epson Perfection 4870 PHOTO Scanner; 6-by-9-inch transparency adapter (built into scanner lid); 4 film holders: 35mm slides, 35mm film strips, medium format, and 4-by-5-inch film; CD-ROM with Epson Scan Scanning Software; ABBYY FineReader Sprint OCR software, and Electronic Reference Guide; CD-ROM with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0; CD-ROM with LaserSoft SilverFast SE 6; USB 2.0/1.1 cable; scanner setup poster; Scanner Quick Guide

Product Description

EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo Scanner brings professional quality scanning within reach of everyone who's serious about graphics or photography. An optical resolution of 4800 x 9600 dpi allows a 35mm piece of film to be enlarged to 60cm x 80cm (A1). By coupling this outstanding resolution with a moving transparency unit lamp, this flatbed scanner challenges conventional film scanners on quality and price. OS Compatibility - Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP; Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x, OS X 10.2+

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent product, but more than what average user needs, August 20, 2004

By 

Saam (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Epson Perfection 4870 Photo Scanner (Office Product)

I bought the Epson 4870 scanner to scan my old pictures and negatives. I read many reviews on different scanners. I chose Epson 4870 mainly for the high resolution. I also, liked the firewire option and the speed seemed to be reasonable.
I managed to scan hundreds of films and pictures in the last few months with no problem. The product works excellent, but that itself could be the problem. It is just too good for my needs. The very high resolution would produce files about 100 MB; way too big to adjust the lighting or the color on it. My Intel P4 machine with 256 MB RAM had hard time managing those files. The resolution was much higher than anything my $1000 digital camera could ever produce. Unless you are a professional photographer or you need to make large posters of your pictures, you will never need such a high resolution capability. I ended up using the lower resolution settings and still have very good quality scans. Save your money and buy the Epson 3170.

Here are some technical notes:
The setup on my XP machine was very easy and took only few minutes. I used both firewire and USB with no problem. I noticed absolutely no "stability & reliability problems" as other reviewer has reported. I wonder if that reviewer's machine did not have the muscle to handle the large files. You need at least 128MB of memory. Also, if you use Windows, make sure you have set enough space for your virtual memory (on XP: Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System ->Advanced -> performance ->Virtual Memory).
The black & white setting of the software does not work, but you can use the color setting for scanning the black and white pictures with no problem (you will get a good quality B&W scan).
The Adobe Photoshop LITE included with the package is definitely needed to adjust the lighting and the color. For more repair work on damaged films or for applying special filters, I would recommend the full version of the Adobe Photoshop.

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4870 & Digital Ice, March 16, 2004

By 

Nick Charles - See all my reviews

This review is from: Epson Perfection 4870 Photo Scanner (Office Product)

The "Digital Ice" technology ONLY works with color film--even on a dedicated film scanner, so this is normal. As an inexpensive flatbed scanner that can also handle film scans, Epson has done an incredible job. (Inexpensive compared to high-end scanners) All this in a sub-$500.00 package, with a D-Max of 3.8 is really outstanding and worth the investment if you are an artist or photographer on a shoe-string budget. Worth the price, if you're also willing to tinker with the software settings before making your scans, and you're using Adobe Photoshop to finish the job when the scan is complete...

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars simply amazing, February 15, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Epson Perfection 4870 Photo Scanner (Office Product)

This is my 4th color flatbed scanner, the others were UMAX, HP and Canon and I must say this is the best so far. Out of the box, setup was a snap, very easy to use, excellent color rendition and solidly built. Photography is my hobby and I scanned a 6X7 negative with scratches and applied the Digital ICE technology and I was amazed at the results, It saved me about 20 minutes of touch-up work. The quality comes very close to a dedicated film scanner.
If all you need is a document scanner then this unit is overkill but if you are doing photography or just want the best scanner you won't be disappointed. I am not sure about the editing software that comes with it since I already had Adobe Photoshop 7.0 but the Digital ICE technology is amazing. This unit has USB 2.0 and IEEE/1394 Firewire interface. This is the first unit I have owned with a Firewire interface and it is so much faster than my old units. Epson has made my hobby fun again!