Epson Denies Claim That Its CCD Film Scanners Are Approaching ‘End of Life’

Earlier this week, Keith Cooper from Northlight Images in the UK published a YouTube video where he claimed a source told him that Epson’s V850 and 1300XL film scanners had reached “end of life” and would no longer be actively produced. Epson denies this.

On Monday, Cooper published a video claiming that there would be “no more film scanning” from Epson as it had “quite high-end scanners.” In an email to PetaPixel, Cooper says that unofficial contacts at Epson informed him about the company’s decision with specific knowledge that he would publish it.

“The key elements from my own point of view are that scanner sales have been steadily falling, and that key components (CCD image sensors) are becoming much harder to source,” Cooper tells PetaPixel.

These scanners are quite old — the V850 debuted 10 years ago.

The Epson V850 Pro Photo scanner is a $1,299 flatbed optical scanner with either a 4,800 or 2,400 dots per inch resolution option designed for photo studios and film developers and is capable of scanning slide and negative film. It has eight film holders: 35mm slides, 35mm film strips, and two each of medium format 6 by 20 centimeter and 4 by 5 inch.

The 1300XL is a much more expensive $3,699 archival scanner that is capable of handling photos and graphic arts up to 12.2 by 17.2 inches in size. It is also capable of handling film scanning (with a separate optical Transparency Unit) and can produce 2,400 by 4,800 DPI resolution files.

Both of the scanners are using a Color Epson MatrixCCD line sensor. CCD sensors (charged-couple devices) have long since been largely replaced with CMOS sensors (metal oxide semiconductor + active-pixel sensor) as the light gathering performance and readout speed (among other benefits) of the latter are vastly superior to the former. That said, CCD images have a “look” that has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, making working CCD cameras a bit of a cult novelty among some photographers. CCD sensor production has slowed considerably, however, as CMOS is the focus of sensor manufactures.

Hearing that Epson was possibly looking to sunset these two scanners due to the difficulty of sourcing CCD sensors, then, did not sound farfetched. However, Epson flatly denies the claim that these products are approaching “end of life.”

“[The the V850 and 13000XL] products are not ‘end of life’ units and are highly recommended for film scanning,” an Epson representative tells PetaPixel.

“Both units are currently available at Epson.com and through select retailers. While inventory can vary in the channel due to a range of factors, currently both models are available. Products are still being manufactured and are available for purchase at this time.”

It is possible that Epson USA, with whom PetaPixel directly communicates, is operating differently than Epson UK and the latter is winding down sales of these CCD photo scanners. Epson claims photographers in North America, however, have nothing to worry about.

Both scanners are in stock and ready to ship from multiple US-based retailers, including B&H Photo.

Image credits: Epson