ANR glass

Hey all, sorry if this isn’t the right place for this question but I figure it’s where I’ll find the most film shooters, so...

 

I’m picking up film again after a while away and I don’t have a film scanner anymore. I think I’ll just go with a digital camera as a scanner. I’d like to sandwich strips of film between ANR glass plates on top of a light box. But I can’t find a source for ANR glass plates, just pieces cut to fit in scanner film holders. Does anybody have a suggestion? Is ANR glass sold under another name or for another application?

Hello everyone. I have been using ANR glass sets in my V600 & V800 scanners for some time. The ANR for the 4x5 insert of the V800 was special ordered from a German firm who's address I no longer have. You might search the Net for ANR resources. As to 120 & 35mm, I use the Better Scanning 120 assembly with it's ANR, and the firms 35mm inserts for the Epson plastic neg carrier for 35mm negs. After a bit of "testing", the correct height was quickly arrived at. Results are outstanding !

I believe you might pay attention to having two layers of the ANR glass in the sandwich you envision. ANR glass is a defusing medium and generally is on top of the negative in a scanner. In both of my scanners, this yields a "print" very similar to a Diffusion Enlarger I used in wet lab work for years.

Current price for a V600 scanner (120 & 35) is just at $200, or lower on special deals. The ease of the flat bed is well worth the price. I include a recent scan from my V600 from a 35mm negative. Aloha, Bill

Multicoated anti-reflection glass should have the same effect of subduing Newton's rings. They're caused by reflection interference.

 

A multicoated UV filter glass from a >52 mm diameter filter will easily cover a 35mm frame, and some filter makes have a threaded retainer ring that allows the glass to be easily removed.

 

There should be no need for special glass against the less-reflective emulsion side of the film.

 

Having said that: I find no need for glass when copying film onto a DX format digital camera. The field curvature of a macro lens is more likely to give corner sharpness issues than bowed film. Just get hold of a decent quality glassless negative carrier from an old enlarger. The plastic carriers supplied with dedicated film scanners never had any glass in them, and nobody ever complained of lack of edge-to-edge sharpness - apart from with flatbed scanners that just weren't sharp anywhere.

 

BTW. I've done considerable comparison between digital camera copying and the results from a dedicated film scanner. It's my conclusion that a 24 megapixel camera + good quality macro lens can easily equal, or better, the output of a dedicated scanner, and absolutely trounces the sharpness from any flatbed scanner.

Edited March 28, 2019 by rodeo_joe|1

Thanks guys. Maybe I’m over complicating things. I’ll try it out with a light box and a negative holder.

I still have some 35mm mounts using ANR glass. I used these to mount color slides. They cost a bit more. I recall glass mounts were also available in the 120 formats. I don'T remember seeing ANR glass, but I bet it was available too...cost a bit more too. As the hobby sector for color positives has greatly diminished, it may be hard, but not impossible to find such mounts. It may also spell a way to a copy stand to use a slide viewer etc.

You might try lab equipment firms, such as Edmond Scientific.

The plastic carriers supplied with dedicated film scanners never had any glass in them, and nobody ever complained of lack of edge-to-edge sharpness - apart from with flatbed scanners that just weren't sharp anywhere.

 

I'm guessing you haven't read up that much on the Nikon 8000/9000.

 

The 120 holders are not particularly well regarded, and I've modified mine to use a sheet of AN glass on top. Nikon sold two different types of glass carriers also, and they both still sell for a few hundred each on Ebay. The more desirable of the two, which can be rotated, can cost you 2/3 the price of buying an 8000 in the first place. I've also seen someone selling them modified with AN glass on the source side.

Multicoated anti-reflection glass doesn't have the fine stipple of anti-Newton glass, which can take the edge off definition. AN glass was chiefly intended as an affordable solution for use in slide mounts. Whereas multi-coated glass is more expensive, but only one piece (the emulsion side can usually be plain glass) is needed for film copying applications.

 

Multi-coated AR glass began to see use in the negative carriers of commercial printers towards the end of film's heyday.