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Scanning for the first time.


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I want to try scanning Black and White Negatives for the first time.

I will be using an old Canoscan 5600F scanner.

How must I load the negatives into the carrier , the Emulsion side towards the scanning plate or the emulsion side facing away from the scanning plate.

A silly question I know , but I have not tried this before.

Thank you.

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Either way works. If they're reversed, flip them left to right in software.

 

If you view film from the back side, the orientation looks correct. Theoretically that side should be towards the glass. If they're in contact with the glass, put them emulsion side down to avoid Newton's Rings, and flip them in software.

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The emulsion side of reversal (slide) film is textured, corresponding to details in the image. It's possible that the texture would affect copying from that side, especially using a macro lens and digital camera, with which the depth of field is extremely shallow. I haven't tried it, but it would be easy to test, with a camera setup anyway.

 

Neither color negatives nor B&W have any noticeable 3D texture in the emulsion. The dye layers are much thinner than in reversal film.

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Having the negative in the scanner with the wrong side down will be very apparent if there is any writing in the image - store signs, license plates, etc. The wiring will appear backward. Also right-handed people will suddenly be "southpaws".

 

The instructions for my Epson V600, a flatbed scanner, say place the shiny base side DOWN. The wording and any wording in the film should appear backward when viewed from above. I assume this would be the same for most flatbed scanners.

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Some scanners show to put the emulsion side down, and flip the image in software automatically when scanning film. There's nearly always an indication on the film-holders of which way round to mount the film.

 

As already said: film is right-reading from the base - non emulsion side. But since film-base thickness can vary, the emulsion side should technically always be at the reference (focal) plane of the scanner. Whether the scanner-maker bothers themselves about such finesse is another matter.

RTFI.

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look at

Canon U.S.A., Inc. | CanoScan 5600F

 

Didn't your Canoscan come with some film holders? If not, perhaps you can find some on eBay and such.

 

Scanner Parts for Canon CanoScan for sale | eBay

 

That will make it more easy and rational....

 

I sometimes use my CanoScan 9000 for quick and easy scanning although the result is more useful for web use than for archive.

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Ok-----Success.

The scans however are not of stellar quality , but they are good enough for my purposes , bearing in mind the age and quality of my outdated old scanner.

JDMvW , yes I do have film holders for the scanner , I called them the "carrier" in my original post , I however did not have the manual for this scanner , thanks for the link.

Once again , thanks to all of you who responded to my question.

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The scans however are not of stellar quality , but they are good enough for my purposes

 

Absolutely - one needs to understand what one needs as opposed to what is supposedly "possible"

 

When I was in Federal service, we used to call it "Good enough for government work" :rolleyes:

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