Have you ever scanned old antique glass negatives?

[jdrose]

It was suggested that I scan my antique negatives and then adjust the contrast

digitally.

 

Have you had any success scanning glass plate negatives? What equipment or

technique did you use?

 

Thanks.

[michaelging]

Something like a epson 4990 which will scan negs up to 8x10 is a good one. Contact printing in a darkroom is also a good way to do it.

[mona_chrome]

The only problem I had was getting Newton Rings due to the glass surfaces being in contact.(Assumes you are scanning on a flatbed)

 

I recommend two things. First, lay your plate, emulsion down, on the flatbed and then use something to slightly raise the lightsource so it is not in contact with the glass plate. If you still get newton rings, then I suggest that you shim up the emulsion side of the plate off the lower glass of the scanner--even a piece of office injet paper will be enough along all of the edges, just eliminate the contact of the glass surfaces--both sides.

 

My flatbed seemed to be fine with the emulsion side in contact with the lower glass. Yours might need shimming up for both the newton rings and focus, as most flatbeds require the image surface to be slightly raised--you just have to test this.

[beauh44]

There's a good article on scanning by Ctein in the current issue of Photo Techniques magazine (Jan/Feb issue on news stands now). He touches on glass plates, basically suggesting scanning them in 16-bit mode and telling your software you're scanning slides - even if it's a negative - in which case he suggests scanning as a positive and inverting in PS. He doesn't mention Newton Rings but does suggest masking off the edges and/or underexposed areas of the plates with black construction paper. That's about all he says about scanning plates but the rest of the article is very good too. Good luck!