V700 Test Scan's With Modified 4X5 Holder

[michael_hogan]

After looking at the various third party film holders available for the Epson

V7XX scanners none of them seemed to fit my needs - so I decided to modify the

stock Epson 4X5 holder. Using a red hot Stanley knife I removed the centre

brace from the Epson 4X5inch holder. I then dressed the cuts with wet/dry

sandpaper. At this point I had a 5X83/4inch frame. I then had a piece of ANR

glass cut to size and glazed it into the frame with clear tape. Total cost

<$20.00 (AUD).

 

So now I have a large platen of ANR glass to mount my film - from 35mm - to

oversize Polaroid 4X5 T55 negatives. I tested various heights until I found the

best focus for my scanner. Note that I mount my film to the underside of the

glass so there no glass to scan through. I use 3M 2070 low adhesion masking

tape to mount the film.

 

I enclose a 100% crop from a T55 negative. The results speak for themself. At

this stage I see no need to wet mount.

 

-Mike<div></div>

[michael_hogan]

Here is the full frame.

 

-Mike<div></div>

[custom film holders for fl]

I have something similar and the key is to mount on the underside as well as to make sure the glass sits flat in the holder.

<p> Doug<p>

<a href="http://www.betterscanning.com">BetterScanning.com</a>

[ellis_vener_photography]

You'll do even better once you start fluid mounting the film to the piece of glasss you had

made. The noise will be cut down and the actual resolution of detail will go up. You can get

the necessary supplies from either AZTEK or ScanScience

[leonard_evens]

How about the following. It is roughly 1/15th of an HP5 negative, so I think it was roughly the same portion of the full image. It was taken from the lower right quadrant of the negative and I wasn't even focused exactly at that distance. It was scanned with an Epson 3200 at 3200 spi.<div></div>

[jtk]

Ellis, what "noise" is produced optically? Diffusion, yes, but noise?

[michael_hogan]

I want to try wet mounting mainly for negs with scratch issues. Maybe for some 35mm too. But for MF/LF I am getting more than enough detail and sharpness just by using ANR glass and getting the optimal height for the holder - without excessive grain or noise.

 

Wet mounting sounds like it would be time consuming, messy and expensive. I do wan't to have WM in my arsenal for problem situations - I am not sure about WM for everyday use - I think it might be extreme overkill. Take another look at the 100% crop I posted - I don't know how much more detail there is on the film.

 

I can't say it enough; Epson sure have made a fantastic machine - it is a shame they don't make better film holders - it's quite easy to fix the holder though - it took me less than an hour to fix and adjust mine with ANR glass. The scans I am getting are just superb!

 

-Mike