I scan using an Epson flatbed. I started with a 2400 I think) and moved through the models until reaching the V850. As I only scan medium format (a small amount) and large format (mainly) I find the results perfectly acceptable. I do have a Plustek 120 scanner, which does give slightly better results with 120 film than the Epson, but not markedly.
My method is pretty primitive. I use VueScan, scan at a high resolution and use VueScan to "sample down" the image giving a file size of about 335,000 KB as reported by Windows Explorer. The unreduced scans and raw files from the scanner are 1,380,000 KB. I keep the raw files.
My reason for using the raw option in VueScan is that VueScan lets me import the file and apply any curves or film types to that, rather than having to rescan. Reading a large file is faster than scanning a large negative. My first 5x4 scans on an older computer took 4 hours to complete, and that was the original impetus to switch to VueScan. When I didn't know what effect different settings had, having to take another 4 hours to see if a small change made a difference was ever so slightly tedious.
The one thing I have found is that VueScan's film presets do make a difference to the scan, but I have also found that switching film types does help, even when scanning consecutive negatives from the same strip (when I scan 6x7s).
Please note that I rarely use colour film. And as I haven't really posted much here, if you want to see my scans take a look at my very much in progress
web site where I can guarantee that all the scans are old ones...
