Epson ff-680 vs ff-640

UPDATE: See the updated video at • Epson ff-680 vs ff-640... . Epson has resolved two of the problems with the 680 with driver and software updates. I’ve also found a way to get some better scan quality by disabling one feature when scanning.
Link to buy the ff-640 on Amazon amzn.to/2ZFJDfp
l don’t believe Epson is making this scanner anymore so when they’re gone, the ff-680 will be the only option (and in my opinion not as good but still useful and fast if you can’t get the 640, to see why watch the video). If you can’t get the 640 or want the 680, here’s the link: amzn.to/2ZFJDfp

[@squidge3986]

After purchasing the FF640, my heart sank when I saw that there had been a supposed 'newer/better' version released in the FF680. But thanks to you (after watching your video peeking through my fingers!) I can now sleep better knowing that I made the right purchase! Thank you!

[@chrisimamura9946]

Your absolutely correct. I got the 680 at Christmas and noticed the textured photos from the 70s-80s didn’t look as clear as the 90s glossy. I was really impressed with the color restoration, I had a few photos that the color was almost brown and it did a great job on restoring them . The order of the prints was also a challenging due to the way it is fed.

[@cwaynefox]

Thanks for watching the video. Make sure you watch the updated video linked in the description, a couple of settings will probably give you better results with the 680. Also might want to watch my video on using it, kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJPCY2apgKagiJY, where I go over some tips on handling the order problem.

[@some______guy]

Imagine how many scanners Epson didn't sell because of this. I for sure will buy the 640 now

[@arosen1441]

Thank you...you convinced me that the Epson FF 640 is the way to go, and I just received mine, and I am excited to get started on my boxes of old photos. I also hope to scan numerous important documents that I have had to save for tax purposes and other reasons, and thus reduce my paperwork. Thank you for your great advice!

[@cwaynefox]

Glad you found the video helpful. I’ve been very happy with my results for my project.

[@greg_takacs]

I just got mine today and not only can I confirm that you can indeed set up wifi without WPS, I have the scanner running fine on my Google mesh network, the photo numbering also works flawlessly and fine. Sure it scans from back to front but the photos within a batch are then number reversed automatically and end up in the correct order. So two of your assertions and gripes are misleading and incorrect. Since I don't have a 640 I can't comment on scan quality being inferior but I'm very pleased with it so far.

[@cwaynefox]

I don’t believe my gripes were misleading nor incorrect at the time the video was made. New driver software available in may of this year added some options that were not there before (before the only option was to push the WPS button on the router, which most don’t support anymore) to get the scanner on your network. A little tricky and it took 3 times for me to install/uninstall, and it kicked my Mac off the network a couple of times, but I finally did get it to work. Also the software now manages the numbering problem, if you have a big stack you start from the front and continue, and it will manage the numbering now so they end up sequentlially. Unfortunately youtube no longer allows annotations (an unfortunate decision) and you cannot update a youtube video. And as far as scan quality, no way to fix that. I just scanned 220 photographs with both, the 640 did better, in some cases it was substantial. But it’s not like the 680 is horrible, and better than nothing.

[@joes6485]

It's not bullet proof though :) You must NEVER mix scanning in groups and ending each batch desperately. If you are working with groups you must work from back to front in a stack. But if you are always ending the scans then you will be working from front to back. Mixing these two methods will f... up the numbering system. The problem with working with groups are that you will not notice any dust problems (etc) before the end. And if any images gets jammed the scanning process will end and thus messing with the numbering system. So agree a bit with Wayne here in that Epson hasn't really thought this through.

[@studentpower1138]

@@cwaynefox क्या कह रहे......नहीं नहीं कुछ कहा आपने.....ऐशा क्यों कहा आपने....नहीं नहीं लगता है....दिमाग आपे मै नहीं है.....४०० साल पहले इस धरती पर रवीश कुमार नामक शक्स हुए थे....गूगल एक सर्च इंजन था.....जिसमें डाटा को सर्च किया जाता था......आप खुश रहो आंनद रहो ऐशा हमारे स्वामीजी चत्रुभान जी महाराष्ट्र वाले कहा करते थे....अब बो महापुरश है।

[@KordTaylor]

Thanks for the review. Real-world and helpful.

[@steveshafer6414]

Thanks Wayne, very useful comparison.

[@jspafford]

A simple file renamer app would correct the file number. Would take maybe 10 seconds. Some are free. You’d probably want to rename them anyway. Or you could sort via file creation time. Then import into your photo app. And save them all after you color correct. All that can be done with scripts built into photoshop and a lot of apps. WiFi is dumb. Maybe you can use a Epson config app to program the wifi via usb.

[@superjeffstanton]

Please elaborate

[@justin427aex]

This video helps me out in my decision on buying the printer

[@greg_takacs]

You can configure wifi without wps, you have to set it up via USB but it's doable.

[@cwaynefox]

Interesting. I haven’t heard of this ... any recommended sources on how to go about it? thx

[@greg_takacs]

@@cwaynefox files.support.epson.com/docid/cpd4/cpd40192/source/scanners/source/network/tasks/connecting_epson_config.html

[@cwaynefox]

@@greg_takacs I read through the document, and my scanner does not have a connection mode switched mentioned in the document so I don’t believe that document is referring to the ff-680. The back of my scanner does not look like the pictured image. However, new firmware released in may after I made this video added the capability of connecting to wifi without the need a WPS capable router. The latest version of Epson FastFoto also solved the numbering problem, as long as you scan from front to back it will manage the numbering so the files are sequential. Scan quality is hardware related, nothing they can do to fix the reflections the scanner if picking up off the surface of textured prints.

[@greg_takacs]

@@cwaynefox the process is the same, without the switch. I just plugged in my scanner via USB, had the software configure the wifi and I was on my way.

[@matsjonsson4019]

Thank you. You answered everything I wanted to know.

[@cwaynefox]

Thanks. make sure you watch the update video linked above, Epson has fixed a couple of problems. Also have a full video on the process of scanning snapshots, mainly about how to use the software. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJPCY2apgKagiJY

[@DelmonTarask]

Unfortunately the 640 is either double the price or the same price as the 680 right now

[@GSIMONIN6]

Had a hard time figuring out what one to buy.

[@tsmemphi]

Well, regarding the texture problem on older photos, I can't agree or disagree, since they were never very popular in Europe. So I guess it's more an US problem, in the rest of the world the pictures were just glossy and that works perfectly with the FF-680. Furthermore, I can tell you as IT professional that WPS (key method) is a secure standard to connect new devices to a wireless network and it's also common in most internet routers. So, it's finally a smart solution to bring a device online without forcing the user enter the Wifi key somehow annoying. Regarding the order of photos the feeder of the FF-680 takes the pictures, I really can't follow your problem. I guess even you collect your old photos in the wood box from old photos (back) to newer (front) - so you just need the grab the photos from back to front and in the perfectly same order you get the pictures scanned and stored on the disk.The same counts for photo folders, if you start with the oldest to the newest you pretty much get the perfect photo order digitally. That's the most sense making way to handle it. The old FF-640 just brings chaos in the digital photo collection, because it stores the photos in the wrong order.

[@cwaynefox]

Appreciate the comments, but coming into this 5 years later, maybe there is something you might have missed from those of us who used the scanner when it was new. first, if you’ve used the 640 and you having trouble getting the pictures in order, then you are doing something wrong. They can be scanned and maintain their order perfectly. And if you used the 680 when it was first released, you would realize you could not scan the photos and maintain their order. You could scan from back to front and keep them in the correct order except backwards,. In the 640 the photo scanner was the back scanner and the document scanner was the front scanner. You put the stack into the scanner face down, so your first picture would be pulled in 1st, and the images were scanned in perfect order. In the 680 the photo scanner was moved to the front scanner (document scanner on back), so you put the photos into the scanner face forward. but it still pulled from the back of the stack to the front. So it would scan the bottom picture in the stack first, the 1st picture in the stack last, and the files were numbered accordingly. Of course, if you would have watched my follow up video (linked in the 1st line of the description), I explained this issue pretty thoroughly, and also show that this problem was resolved with a software update. So yes, now it is no longer a problem, you can scan them from front to back. But notice if you scan a stack of pictures the first picture scanned is the back of the stack, and the last picture scanned is the top of the stack. But then when you finish scanning, the software has kept track of everything, and voila ... the file names have been corrected in the software. This is even the case if you continue to add stacks to the scanner. It keeps track of everything until you tell it you are finished scanning, then it names the files in perfect order.. None of the filenames of the photos in the folder correspond to the actual position they were scanned in, they now correctly correspond to their position in the overall stack. As. far as WPS, when I did the video many routers didn’t have WPS, and even now it’s a problem with many of the mesh systems out there. Glad you’re an IT professional, but nearly all buyers of this scanner are not, and are clueless as to WPS. Again, this problem was resolved with a software update, so if you don’t have WPS or for people that don’t know how to connect via WPS (which are many) it’s not an issue anymore.

[@michaeltang899]

tks for imp info i need to know b4 i mske.dission

[@jennifermedia6288]

thats good news as I have the 640. Preferred wired anyway, Also how do you stop the machine from jamming as mine seems to have now.

[@herewegofans]

3:10 Nailed it! WPS?? Next

[@cwaynefox]

the follow up video linked in the description explains that the WPS issue has been resolved in a firmware/software update.

[@morrisann4800]

So Disappointing. I just bought the 680 to replace my broken 640. 😢

[@kelliefeyas2690]

Hello Mr. Fox - I have learned a lot about my ff-680w scanner and how to organize photos from you - thank you!! I have a question that I hope you or someone can help me with.....When I scan a batch of photos I have them automatically go to a folder on my Mac. Then I go to that folder and adjust dates if necessary. Lately, the scanned batches are not in the order that I scanned, and additionally, when I adjust the date on a picture, that picture doesn’t move/adjust to it’s place in that folder. Hope my questions makes sense? Thanks for any insight!!

[@cwaynefox]

Are you saying the dates when scanned aren't in the right order and also after. you edit them they're not in the right order? How are you adjusting the dates? (there are several dates stored in the file metadata). Are you using Mac or Windows?

[@kelliefeyas2690]

@@cwaynefox - Say I scan a batch of 20 photos - I have the option on to send them automatically to a folder in my Mac Photos. Then I scan say a batch of 30 photos, they also go automatically to that same folder in my Mac Photos. There, in that folder on my Mac, is where I would adjust the dates. However, the now fifty photos in that folder on my Mac or in a mix-match order, NOT in the order that I put them in the scanner, making it difficult to adjust the date by looking at the physical photo with the date on it. Should I turn off the auto send to Mac Photos and adjust the date (the date may show up as the date uploaded or sometimes the date taken), then send over to Mac Photos? Thanks so much for your time reading this!

[@kelliefeyas2690]

@@cwaynefox - Hello again - let me try to word my problem hopefully a bit clearer: When I scan photos from my Epson ff-680w they go automatically to an album in the Photos App on my Mac, but they are in a different sequence than I scanned them. I understand that Mac uses different metadata to sort them. Is there a way to disable this, so they are loaded in the order I scanned? Or is there another way to have them load in the album in the same order that I scanned them? Thanks for any advice you may have.

[@tfiphoto2536]

Kellie - did you resolve this issue? We are having the same thing happen with random resequencing of the scans after a session.

[@cwaynefox]

I haven't been able to duplicate this, but maybe I"m not understanding. My process is to pull my images all into Lightroom, and then rearrange them according to the order I think they were taken. Most of my snapshots have a date that was exposed into the corner. I then use Lightroom to rename them sequentially so they'll stay in order when I upload them to my Synology cloud server. I'll try to find some time to experiment more with this to see if I can figure out what's going on.

[@Johnsouthshore]

The 640 looks to be over twice as much as the 680?

[@cwaynefox]

haven’t checked lately. the 640 hasn’t been produced in years, and I’m sure is only available used. I’ve been ok with my 680, check out the linked video in the description. 640 prob still wins.

[@CoconutPete]

do you know if the ff-640 will work without the input tray?

[@cwaynefox]

There is no input "tray". There is only one paper path, you stack prints in the feed side, the prints are pulled across the scan bar and exit out the bottom.

[@CoconutPete]

@@cwaynefox I found one on eBay but doesn't have the top input tray (that's what they call it) so curious if it would still work without it.. thank you

[@CoconutPete]

@@cwaynefox Have a quick update - I received my power cord in the mail and was able to get my FF-640 working without the top input tray... I've only tried putting about 10 photos at a time, but if anyone else is wonders it can work without the top tray

[@TomerDuek]

i bought this only yesturday and the wps is still a problem in ff680 and the texture is still not solved , and no pdf

[@cwaynefox]

I had trouble with the WPS and not sure what I did to figure it out. What type of router do you have? For PDF's are you using the Epson Document Capture software? Works great for me.

[@TomerDuek]

@@cwaynefox i don't use Epson pdf capture I have to linq router with 5ghz wife I'm not sure what kind it is

[@KeithAchorn]

I know this video is a bit dated now, but I am very curious/concerned about the photo quality issue. I have a 680 from a few years ago (when it was first released) and am about to start a large job with it. Unfortunately the 640 appears to be selling for over $1000 online at the moment. I'm hoping that in the past 3 years, Epson was able to at least fix the quality issues with software updates. I'm sure many here would love an update from you about whether this is the case.