Review: HP Scanjet G4050 Introduction

Scan made with HP G4050

Chichester photographer, Tobias of Tobias key Photography review his latest scanner:

So after a few years service my Epson 4990 scanner died and I was forced into another scanner purchase, for scanning my 120 black and white negatives. For someone like myself, a scanner purchase is a thorny issue. One of the downfalls of mainstream film use was the time and expense involved in getting a negative into digital format. Now, a long time after the horse has bolted, there are a good range of affordable flat bed scanners that claim to do that job at previously unheard of prices, like the sub £200 Epson 4490 and HP G4050 up to the far more sophisticated Epson V750 at over £500.

I decided to buy a scanner at the cheaper end of the market to proof negatives for drum scanning. I felt that if I was to ever want make a big enlargement of a particular negative I'd either have a wet print made or get a drum scan. To my logic getting a V75o was pointless as I'd never be confident in using a consumer flatbed for a large canvas or exhibition print, my flat bed would really be little more than an alternative to contact sheets and 7x5's. And it is with this in mind that I'm reviewing the G5040.

Next: Installation and First Impressions