I have a Nikon 5000 Coolscan. All the discussion about the flare being caused by dust, or the camera in the optic block...I
still had flare after cleaning mirrors, lenses etc...I finally opened my Nikon, desoldered the sensor (Sony ilx142a) and
ground off the glass using 220 carbide, on a glass sheet (wet sand slurry)in my kitchen sink. You have to be careful as
soon as the glass begins to cut through as fragments will cut the gold trace wires. I switched to 220 water proof paper and
switched to width wise strokes. Dip the sensor in water (face down) and tilt to allow glass bits to fall out. Next, carefully
pot the wires with epoxy, allowing it to drain onto the wires. Minimize amount to prevent running out into sensor surface.
Prop on end to let epoxy set without running out in surface of sensor. After one end is done, do the other end. I used a
10x loupe to check progress. Finally, clean the surface of sensor by flooding with detergent, water jet and then wiping
with a wet foam makeup applicator. The sensor itself is surprisingly robust. I soldered machine pins in place so I could
easily plug the chip in and out as needed. The performance of the scan is amazingly improved. No flare at all.
Pinhole tests had shown multiple reflections above and below main image of each pinhole. After deglassing, totally
eliminated artifacts. Now I can take advantage of the 16 bit AD and boost shadows without leakage of highlights.
