Epson FF680 followup ... new software help? Does VueScan work?

[@sethchromick5620]

I've watched all your videos about the Epson photo scanners in preparation for a large family snapshot scanning project I want to take on. Knowing how miserable and throwaway consumer printers and flatbed scanners are (and even worse software that is full of bugs that are never fixed) this gave me some hope that Epson put effort into their "bulk" scanners. Thanks for all the details. Above and beyond.

[@barbarawishart2300]

Hi Wayne, I just bought the Epson FF-680 scanner today. I found all of your videos so helpful. It is so appreciated.

[@cwaynefox]

Glad to help

[@squidge3986]

Thanks again for all the info and effort you've put into this Wayne! Still watching/waiting for any developments from Epson.

[@jekar123654]

I’ve been using a v700 at work for years. Toy day I picked up the fast foto, I dislike the Smartscan output. feature. The best results I’ve been able to get is by using the Epson scan software And selecting “business card” I wish they would allow you to select the professional mode so you can adjust the output to your taste. I understand this isn’t the idea of this scanner it’s intended to be a one button solution. But for those of us who want to be able to tinker under the hood a bit more. This would be a great option. Even allowing us to select the colour profile would be nice. It just feels a little too gimped for the price.

[@cwaynefox]

I also wish Epson would give us more flexibility with the scanner, including color controls, etc. I'm afraid they feel this scanner is intended only for those who no real experience and so they dumb it down ... sort of mistake proof it. also the scanner mechanism is quite poor, maybe adequate for it's purpose, but will never deliver great scans.

[@jekar123654]

Wayne Fox if that’s the case then they should stop offering it at a prosumer price. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great product. But an overpriced one.

[@kardosandris]

Thank you for this and the other reviews of FF-680. I really appreciate your insights. You really convinced me that this machine could help me to digitize my old photos. Although just before I was going to purchase it on amazon I made the mistake of reading some of the worst customer reviews. Some customers were complaining about the huge amount of noise on dark areas of images. I've also read somewhere that it has problems reading photos on curvy paper. A lot of my photos are not perfectly flat, they were cut out from rolled paper. Have you encounter either of these problems? I know that I shouldn't expect perfect quality and flawless functioning at this scanning speed, but if these reviews are right,, that'd be a dealbreaker for me and I wouldn't waste so much money on this.

[@cwaynefox]

Pretty much all snapshots were printed on roll paper, and all of them have a tendency to curl due to tension between the emulsions coated on them. Mine all have a little curl from this and and didn’t see any problems. I had several that were maybe more curled than other, and a few I ran through one at a time because of the curl, but rally no issues. But if they are severely curled I suppose it might be problematic, I don’t have a way to test that.

[@alwayswfpb]

Which external hard drive would you recommend to save a HUGE number of photos? Like thousands and thousands. From there, I want to put on individual flash drives to give certain photos to family members. Starting project July 31st...next Monday...very excited to finally get to this project. Thanks a million for your help!

[@armydlguy]

Wayne - outstanding review - thank you!

[@cwaynefox]

Appreciate the comment

[@marcelthornton8388]

Hi Wayne, thank you for posting all the video's online, it has been very useful. I would like to get the 680 (the 640 is not available anymore) but most of the scanning I want to do is of the old matte photo's from the 60's and 70's where there is a lot of texture. The rest of my photos will be matte from the 90's - 2000's which is less grainy. I am concerned that I will get a lot of spots on the scans, especially from the pictures from the 60's and 70's! Can you tell me your experience with these type of different matte scans if you had any? I tried scanning with my old printer/scanner Canon Pixma MG6250 but they come out really bad, not even worth scanning... so before I invest in the 680 at the hefty price point, I would just like to verify what I can expect from the 680 if you have any feedback? Thanks in advance!

[@cwaynefox]

I'm not sure what you mean by mat finish. Most snapshots were textured, but mat paper (which is very smooth but has a non reflective look to it) isn't as common. When you say they come out really bad on the Canon scanner, bad in what way? fuzzy, bad color, hazy? I haven't used that scanner but very possible you won't see much better results on the 680. However it could be the way Canon's light works that is causing the problem, so an Epson scanner might offer better results. sorry I can't be of much help.

[@marcelthornton8388]

@@cwaynefox Hi Wayne, thanks for your reply. Matte finish is the textured paper that was used many years ago in South Africa where I am from but also in the UK where I moved to in the 90's. I get lots of reflection spots using the Canon scanner but I think it is mostly due to the Canon's light. I used an Epson flatbed scanner about 15 years ago that delivered much better results but that device is long gone. In any case, I purchased the 680 online this afternoon, it will be delivered next Wednesday so I will test it out and let you know the results. It may also be beneficial to others in my situation. I just dread having to scan thousands of 120 negs from the past so would prefer just scanning the pics. Let's see the results and I can always post a link to a comparison to show the results. Thanks again!

[@4pix]

The 'auto rotate' option only works for images containing text.

[@timm8311]

Is the Epson Fastfoto the only real option out there with a photo feeder? Not seeing any real other options out there. I also see you are using your 680W versus the 640. On a previous video, I think you were leaning a bit towards the 640? Any special reason? Thx for the safe wishes. Back to your family. Looks like this will be longer than expected unfortunately for all.

[@negocios0rsk]

Wayne: What are the techniques for digitizing old delicate photo albums (11”x 14” pages) with photo corner tabs and lots of context written on the pages?? These start in the 1930s. I’m thinking to copy each page in a flatbed scanner or rig a camera jig of certain quality. What software could I look at? BTW: The Epson FF680w made fast work of the loose photos! Thanks for your fine videos!

[@cwaynefox]

We have used a good high resolution digital camera (Sony A7r3) rigged up like you mention with a couple of lights at about 45 degrees to photograph dozens of albums for clients with good success. Key is to make sure the sensor plane of the camera is parallel to the album. As you mentioned, most of these albums have more than just photographs, and what is written around them or under them has meaning. I have several scrapbooks my wife made when she was a girl that I'm hoping to get digitized this way.

[@negocios0rsk]

@@cwaynefox Thank you for the honor of the reply! I will follow up on your suggestion. BTW: My four siblings are really enjoying my work on our parents’ photo albums. I’m sharing them from cloud access. Your videos helped me select the Epson FF-680W. I’ve been very pleased with it.

[@minigpracing3068]

Thanks for this. Do you think Vuescan can fix the contrast issue with the FF-640? In the comparison videos it looked like the 640 was crushing the near black areas into black, and it would be nice to pull a little more detail out of those areas.

[@cwaynefox]

The pro version of VueScan does allow controlling of the color and contrast so it might help a little. I think the scan mechanism itself just isn't that good (it's designed for speed, not for accuracy) and that's part of the contrast problem. Also the blacks on the video probably aren't as bad as they actual scans, they lose a little in the process of making the videos. But a flat bed scanner will most likely pull out better detail. To me this is about convenience and sharing, and I don't think it hurts the experience of my grandchildren seeing their parent when they were growing up.

[@minigpracing3068]

@@cwaynefox Thanks, I bought a 640 yesterday and hoping it gets here soon.

[@johnpeterka8355]

Thank you for your video. I purchased an Epson v850 last Wednesday to scan old photo prints and repair the scratches and marks. However, I could not get the Epson, VueScan, or SilverFast software to recognize the ICE feature built in to the scanner. Do the FF680W enable ICE to fix old photos?

[@themaker1000000]

Thanks for the video Do not know what software you are working with. I installed today and it only scans the back side that is written on it. Then he gives exactly the same name to both of them, and adds a letter. And thus know what belongs to what.

[@cwaynefox]

thought it was pretty clear. I have reviewed the use of this scanner on several videos, and certainly what you describe I have covered with the included fastFoto software and is the expected behavior. But this video also covers the use of VueScan with the scanner, and what it's limitations are. With VueScan you can scan all the backs or none, but not selectively based on presence of writing, and doesn't name the back and front with the same file name and add a letter.

[@themaker1000000]

@@cwaynefox Well it was not clear sorry..but if you got one that work very well. Why go for something that does not?

[@cwaynefox]

@@themaker1000000 Testing VueScan was to see if the scanner could deliver higher quality scans. I assume you haven't seen all the other videos I have done regarding the FastFoto scanners, where the issues regarding scan quality are demonstrated. I had several requests to see if VueScan might overcome some of the quality issues ... which it does not. The problems are inherent to the scanner itself and not a problem with the software (as I pointed out in this video). The scanner is designed for speed, not quality, and delivers an acceptable and pleasing result for most who are just trying to get their snapshots digitized. If you want a better quality scan, then using a flatbed scanner is a better choice (and will take considerably more time).

[@themaker1000000]

@@cwaynefox thank you

[@GSIMONIN6]

I’m so confused now! If I get 680 is it going to be difficult to use? Wrong storage/another software for this and tht. Why so much trouble?

[@cwaynefox]

Pretty easy to scan your photos. Here’s a video about the scanning process ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJPCY2apgKagiJY

[@berniemoskowitz1438]

can you scan an album page with the epson FF680w scanner? what about with VueScan?

[@cwaynefox]

Doubtful you can scan an album page with the FF scanners. VueScan doesn't change anything, just a different software package driving the scanner. Flat bed scanner or a camera copy setup is the best solution. We scan a lot of albums in my store, and have a Sony camera setup as a copy station that we use with good results.

[@berniemoskowitz1438]

@@cwaynefox Thank you!

[@stephaniejoyce4427]

Thank you so much Wayne for all of your understandable info! I’ve watched tons of your videos and recently purchased the 680. I’m not computer savvy but can try! Can you in simple wording Help direct me to HOW do I get scanned photos onto a disc or Bluetooth device or something! Feel so dumb but hopeful you can direct me. Again, if I get them scanned…. Do I take something to a discount place to have converted? Thank you , thank you….. Stephanie

[@cwaynefox]

these scan as Jpegs files onto your computer, wherever you select them to be saved. They can be handled just like any other computer file. Easy to copy them to a thumb drive, transfer them to a cloud service, etc. You can copy them and burn them to a dvd using dvd authoring software (although DVD is not a good long term solution as they degrade over time). I recommend uploading them to a service such as flicker or iCloud.

[@plugh42trident]

Thanks for this! I've been reading about all the pros and cons with this scanner. Regarding the file size. Couldn't you just import all the photos into lightroom, then select them all and export at jpgs?

[@cwaynefox]

Yes. If you have the time, scanning as 600 DPI tiffs, then importing into Lightroom, organizing, and exporting as jpgs is a good workflow.

[@alice16887]

My ff680 scanned photographs have a light thick band across the top. I tried wiping the rollers and glass with the dry microfiber cloth but that did not help. Some scanned photographs came out crooked, how can I insert rescan or replace that specific photo without having to delete it and affecting the sequence or order number?

[@alwayswfpb]

Ok, I have the FF680, now what do I need to buy to save it on a flash drive to give scanned photos to family members. Using ONLY your directions...kinda confused. I have a Lenova laptop IdeaPad S540-13IML

[@cwaynefox]

pretty straight forward, you scan them to a folder on your local drive, then use Window to copy them from that over to the flash drive.

[@alwayswfpb]

@@cwaynefox Thank you! ⭐️

[@anonymoso]

Wayne: I bought a 640 in 2017 with every intention of scanning thousands of family photos. Three years later it is still in the unopened box! But one of my winter projects is finally scanning the photos. I've watched your videos on the 640 and 680 and I'm wondering if maybe I should "upgrade" to the 680. Should I? I would definitely like the convenience of wireless. But not at the cost of scan quality or a poor scanning process.

[@cwaynefox]

Did you watch the other videos about these 2 scanners? Personally I finally settled on the 680, just because I like the way it closes up to keep dust out, and once they fixed a couple of the big issues with software it was very functional. the 640 might still have a slight edge on poorly exposed originals because the enhancement seems to introduce less noise. But if your originals are decent with just color fading the color restoration is equal on both scanners. As far as wireless, sounds like a good feature until you start working with it and realize you have to have it sitting next to your computer, since you have to interact with the computer every 25-30 prints as you scan through a box. And direct connect might be slightly more efficient/faster. I think there are features I haven't worked out yet that might make wireless convenient, as all I've done so far is scan the 4000 snapshots.

[@jaclee6]

is there a place that rents epson fastfoto scanner for reasonable price?

[@cwaynefox]

Not that I'm aware of.

[@petergordon4666]

Wayne, Thanks a lot for this . My question is slightly off topic- any suggestions for scanning slides, negatives up to 120 size?

[@cwaynefox]

I have had good results with an Epson Perfection v700 (pretty old) as well as the newer v850. While I haven't actually tested it, the Epson Perfection v600 should provide excellent results and is certainly more affordable..

[@petergordon4666]

@@cwaynefox Thanks for this. The v600 is so much less expensive, that I think I will give it a shot. Your site is very helpful. Thanks to you I also used the Elgato capture device. Keep up the good work for fellow geezers who spent so much time behind the device and need to leave a little something behind for all that effort.

[@plugh42trident]

If you still have the negs as well as the prints, is the time saving worth while scanning the photos as opposed to scanning and reversing the negs in lightroom?

[@cwaynefox]

If you want to make a print larger than the original it might be, since there is a lot more resolution in the negative than the print. But if you want to just be able to show them on a TV or computer or to make the same size print, or maybe one size larger I don’t feel I would gain enough to make up for the extra time it takes to scan the negatives. (I have a video about that here ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIPTiKKQeLOqqNE ). One other time the negative might be a good choice is if the color and fading of the original is so extreme the color restoration of the scanner doesn’t yield great results. Typically negatives will degrade much slower than the prints from those color negatives.

[@TheDijjer]

Hi there Wayne. I’m going nuts. I’m trying to upload the photos I have already scanned into my Dropbox account with no luck! The message box comes up stating that it is copying them but doesn’t budge!!! Any idea what the problem might be? Thank you.

[@cwaynefox]

Not sure. I assume your dropbox isn’t full?

[@katherinebetts8593]

Wayne, I have tried to find an FF680W and none are to be found. Is there a recall or issue that has caused the supply the be completely gone??? Epson has no suggestion on when they will be back in stock. I was concerned if I found one that there was a hidden reason?? Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

[@cwaynefox]

Epson has had some serious issues with production because of the pandemic. I’ve been waiting for a p900 printer for nearly a year. Quite possible the 680 has fallen victim to this as well.

[@donnatotten5854]

I couldn't find one either. Check out Epson store for refurbished ones. Keep checking back with them often. I just bought one for 400. Has year warranty. good luck!

[@armaniusmaximus]

Great review!! Does the FastFoto also come with document scan software and organizer like the Epson document scanners? I'm interested in also using a scanner to organize documents and receipts. Thank you!

[@cwaynefox]

It comes with a program called ScanSmart for documents. I haven't really tried it out because I use the software and scanner from Neat (cloud document storage). Here's a link ... epson.com/scansmart-document-scanning-software

[@Mrbluesplayer43]

How is this scanner with textured prints? Many of my old photos from the 70s and 80s have that dreadful textured paper which causes high lights with flatbed scans. Does this work any better?

[@cwaynefox]

Most of my snapshots are textured as well, no real issues.

[@Mrbluesplayer43]

@@cwaynefox I've had a Canon DR-2010 document scanner for many years, which is very similar to the Epson fastfoto 680 and native 600dpi also. Although not specifically designed for photos after watching your video using VueScan i thought I'd try it out. It works well except textured papers cause highlights also. I'm now trying to decide if it's worth swapping this out for the Epson. If the Epson was 1200dpi native resolution I'd have no hesitation, but at the moment I'm left wondering if I'd be swapping like for like.

[@mib20000]

why is this tiny scanner so expensive 600 bucks?

[@Doc8404]

Wayne, do you have issues with the scan smart software where during scanning, a window displaying " Unable to receive data " pops up. This crashes the scan smart software and i have to force quit the software. Im using a M1 Mac Mini.

[@cwaynefox]

I haven't seen that, but I haven't tested it on an M1. Is this the latest release (I think January of 2021)?

[@gregm.846]

Hi Wayne....would you comment on this scanner as a document scanner since you've spent a fair amount of time dinkin' with it? After my photos I'll be done with it for that purpose but I scan a lot of documents and books. Would ya mind?

[@cwaynefox]

I've done some document scanning, seems to work quite well. If I get time I'll see if it can work as a good document workflow solution.

[@johnlentokone7318]

How does the Epson FF680 with old photos with honeycomp pattern like in this video (3:57) kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpmwoX-khNyhprc ?

[@cwaynefox]

Most old snapshots are on linen or lustre surface papers, which can exacerbate reflections like the video you showed. This is caused mostly from light sources coming in from and angle to prevent glare, Scanners are able to light more directly and scan a very narrow band, which typically alleviates most of the problems. All of the photos used in my videos had either linen or luster textures on them, similar to the one you linked.

[@nphoenixcrimefighter]

My 640 is scanning everything squished (or maybe stretched). I've cleaned it several times but no luck. Any ideas?

[@cwaynefox]

How old is it? A call to Epson might help.