tibu Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Hi all, As a photographer I pay a lot of attention to the frame. I often put characters or objets very close to the border of the frame. I usually don't re-frame my photos. The framing during the shot is very important for me and must be respected during the scan process. I own a Nikon coolscan V for about a month. I only scan B&W negatives. I was very surprised and irritated to see that the scanner does not respect the 24x36 size of the film. 1,5 mm at the top and the bottom of the frame is purely MISSING ! I get a 21x36 ! ... bye-bye the cool informations at the border of the frame. The Nikon Coolscan V does not scan at full frame size ! Is there a special film mount to correct this problem ?? The scanner software doesn't change anything ... Vuescan or NikonScan 4.0. I suspect it is a mechanical problem of film scanner. I just can't understand why 10% of the film is missing ... this is just incredible and impossible to work with it. If there is no solution ... then I will throw away the LS50 and buy a simple flatbed scanner like the Epson 4870. I will then be sure to have my all frame. A little picture to help you undrestand the problem. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beau 1664876222 Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Thierry, I was disappointed to find this as well -- apparently making the CCD a little narrower than 36mm was deemed a worthwhile shortcut by Nikon. I was accustomed to the problem on my Coolscan IV so it was not a big surprise with the V. When a frame truly can't stand to be cropped, I will sometimes use the film-holder accessory and do two scans with the film moved a little up and down. Then I merge the little strip back into the picture. A real pain, but not necessary very often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvarko Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 does LS40 exhibit this problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric friedemann Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 With the masks, my LS 8000 is the same way. Nikon out and out lied, and is propogating the same lie with the LS 9000, saying the scanner will scan an area of 25.4 x 37.5mm for a 35mm frame- see tech specs: http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=98&productNr=9237 And, If I scan a 6x4.5 area to leave a black border around the 35mm frame, then crop, the scanner totally screws up the color balance and density. Nikon Digital Tech Services freely admits that its scanners won't do black border 35mm scans. So why is the lie still on the website? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik_dahlbeck Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Now you're getting me worried... Does anyone have a clue as to how the LS-40 performs in this regard? Hmm... Could that be why the frame is longer in the longest dimension (that is, proportions 3.x:2)? I always have to crop the image in order to obtain 3:2 (=24:36) proportions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann_fuller Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 I made my own mask for the rotating film holder on the 9000 - I get exactly 24x36 with a bit of care. It does screw up the exposure but this is a good thing as Nikonscan screws up exposure anyway and deliberatley clips the highlights in negs. With a DIY mask I get the full tonal range. BTW - what camera are you using that has a 100% VF so you can compose for the whole of the film area in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joachim Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Hi, I have the Coolscan IV and that has the same problem, it is the mechanics of the holders. With the MA-20 (used for mounted slides) you can scan the entire slide. (Slide frames are typically something like 23x35, which is less than the neg-size). For negs there are two options: The SA-21, which is very convenient but one looses a bit at the top and the bottom of the frame. The manual says, the scanning area is 23.3x36.0, which is a larger area than reported here, but I don't have a precise measure to confirm that. The other neg-option is the FH-3. It comes with the Coolscan IV but needs to be purchased sparately for the Coolscan V. The FH-3 goes into the MA-20 (slide holder). With that one you definitly loose less at the top and bottom. The manual says 24.0x36.0 for the scanning area. This one is less convenient than the SA-21 to load the negs, but when I care for the extra area I go for this one. Since my cameras do more than the nominal 24x36 I never get the unexposed outer space around my negatives. For my needs this is good enough. With photoshop I can draw any border around it ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tibu Posted May 24, 2004 Author Share Posted May 24, 2004 Ok, thanks for all your answer. I will try to find the FH-3 film holder. BTW, does anyone noticed the same problem with Minolta or Canon scanner ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_zallini Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 The Minolta 5400 can go full frame plus a hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tibu Posted May 24, 2004 Author Share Posted May 24, 2004 Well, it's a shame I didn't know about this problem before ... I would certainly not have bought the Nikon LS50. The Minolta 5400 seems a better choise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric friedemann Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 I've been considering adding a Minolta 5400 simply because it allows 5400 d.p.i. scans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tibu Posted May 24, 2004 Author Share Posted May 24, 2004 yes 5400dpi seems interesting but the most important feature I see with the minolta is the 24.6 mm x 36.7 mm scan area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot_n Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 The Minolta Scan Dual III will scan full frame if you file out the neg carrier. (But it's not a very good scanner.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbaida Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 The Minolta Scan Dual III is very good scanner, but it will not scan full frame with the neg carrier. The carrier crops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack paradise Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 "I will try to find the FH-3 film holder" If you do, be sure to give us feedback on how it goes with this holder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tibu Posted May 24, 2004 Author Share Posted May 24, 2004 Sure I will Jack. No problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsbc Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I just find out about this last night using my brand new coolscan V! Anyway I am disappointed - the quality of scanning slides is great but not so for negatives due to the clipped highlights. Plus the need to preview first and then scan. (for some reason, I suspect Nikon Scan rather than the machine), the settings can vary from film to film, if I inject a negative strip, the machine always scan it as a positive. All the framing is then screw up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourfa Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 B&H claims the LS50 <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=310476&is=REG&si=inc#goto_itemInfo">includes</a> the FH-3. You're sure it's really not included? Curious if I need to order one when I get this scanner... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beau 1664876222 Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Andy, It's definitely not included. B&H just made a mistake there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tibu Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 Absolutely right. No FH-3 in the box. Only the SA-21 and MA-21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourfa Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 alright, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_tuthill Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 In a comp.periphs.scanners post dated 9 July 2004, Kennedy McEwen measured cropping on his LS-4000 using the same SA-21 motorised film feeder, and determined that the active (uncropped) area is 23.5mm high, slightly exceeding Nikon's 23.3mm spec, and greatly exceeding Thierry Burlot's report of 21mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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