Epson Expression 10000 XL with transparency unit

With the Expression 10000 XL Epson has one of the few scanners in its portfolio which can digitize originals up to a size of 40 x 30 cm. The flatbed scanner can process reflective material and with the optionally available transparency unit also transmissive material.

So there are extended application possibilities in the fields of art design and pre-press. In these fields the scan area of 21 x 30 cm of usual flatbed scanners often is not sufficient. Also in the medical area the use of this scanner is possible: For the digitalization of x-rays also a large scan area is necessary.

The Epson Expression 10000 XL has been replaced by the successor Epson Expression 11000XL in summer 2013.

Equipment, accessories and performace data of the scanner

The Epson Expression 10000 XL is delivered in a large cardboard. This contains except the scanner everything you need in order to start scanning documents immediately: Connection cable, power cable, software and an installation manual in 7 languages.

WIth a size of 65,6 x 45,8 x 18,5 cm and a weight of more than 15 kg this device needs a lot of space on a stable desk. In the contrary to most other flatbed scanners this scanner is set up in the landscape format, so the lid is not beeing opened at the small side of the scanner but on the long side. This construction provides more stability especially with the heavy transparency unit than the usual portrait format alignment.

For reflective scans the complete glass area of 31 x 43,7 cm is available. For scanning film material there is the optional transparency unit which can be put on the scanner instead the standard lid. This transparency unit offers a transparency area of 30,9 x 42 cm, so that you can digitze films up to A3 format.

In the delivery content of the transparency unit which is equipped with two lamps there are film holders for the most usual film formats. For the 35mm format there is a film holder for up to 15 framed slides and there is a film holder for up to 4 film strips, each with maximum 6 pictures. For scanning medium formatfilms there is a film holder for 3 roll film strips up to a length of 17,2 cm. And finally, the film holder for large format films can take 4 flat films of 4x5". All other film formats have to be put directly on the glass surface of the scanner in order to be processed.

The transparency guidance - a kind of ruler which is fixed at the edge of the scan area - makes sure for film scans that a fix narrow stripe at the edge of the scan area remains free from the originals. This strip is needed for the measurement of the transparency light before the scan. In the scope of the delivery of the transparency unit there is a lid which can be fixed in front of the light area so that one has a white background when scanning documents.

The Expression 10000XL is connected with the computer via USB 2.0 or FireWire interface. Whilst a USB cable is included in the scope of delivery of the scanner, a firewire cable has to be purchased seperately.

The scanner has a maximum density of 3,8 and an optical resolution of 2400ppi. This is sufficient for document scans, and also large films can be scanned with this resolution. However, the thing is different at small film formats: A 35mm slide scan can be enlarged only up to 30x30 cm without quality loss.

A special feature of this scanner is the auto focus. In the contrary to most other flatbed scanners there is no fix focus level on the glass plate. If you scan mounted slides with thick frames you can focus exactly to the film level anyway so that you always get optimal sharpness. A scanner without adjustable focus would produce unsharp scans in such a situation.

Unfortunately this scanner is not equipped with a hardware based dust and scratch correction procedure like ICE, so that both reflective scans and transmissive scans have to be postprocessed afterwards in the image editing software. It is a pity that a scanner in this price area does not have this comfortable feature included.

For the profiling of the scanner with the optional scan software SilverFast Ai there are reflective and transmissive targets from Lasersoft Imaging available. With these you can calibrate the scanner simply and comfortably. More information about scanner calibration you can find on our detailed site about IT-8 colour calibration.

Except for the transparency unit Epson offers other (optional) accessories for the Expression 10000 XL an. So there is a network interface which with the scanner can be operated in the network by more computers. Also an automatic document feeder is available so that large amounts of documents can be processed automatically. For photo prints, however, this accessory is not recommendable. It is rather recommendable for text documents which can be transferred into a computer readable form with the help of an OCR text identifaction software.

Differences to the successor Epson Expression 11000 xl

In summer 2013 Epson has replaced the Expression 10000 XL by the successor Expression 11000 XL. The successor is identical to the predecessor model from its outer appearance. Also the specification is identical. The main differences are a few simple details:

The Epson Expression 10000 XL has a network interface so that it can be operated from a work group via the computer network. This network interface has been omitted at the successor model without substitution. Furthermore the Expression 10000 XL has a firewire interface. The successor Expression 11000 XL can only be connected to the PC via USB interface. Also the extension possibility of the automatic document feeder has fallen away at the Expression 11000 XL compared to the predecessor.

The Epson Expression 10000 XL has been replaced by a less equipped successor model Epson Expression 11000 XL.

Thus for owners of the Epson Expression 10000 XL there is no reason for chaning to the successor model.

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