Epson V700 and film holders

[john_mathew2]

I had a roll of film (6x6) developed today that had a lot of curl in it. So

the scans from this were not sharp. Is it sufficient to just flatten this out

or should I be seriously considering the film holders from Betterscanning.

 

With the film holders is it best to get the variable height with the ANR

insert? AND also the T mount strips? It seems this is important if the scans

are being affected by film curl.

 

I don't do a lot of scanning.

[stu dall]

Hi John. I have the betterscanning work station, and fluid mount medium and large format transparencies. I would definitely recommend it to you or anyone else. The film is kept perfectly flat, and as you already know, that is the first requirement for a decent scan. Stu.

[ellis_vener_photography]

To be kind and generous Epson's film holders for the V700 and V750 simply aren't up to the quality of the scanners. Short of fluid mounting a fine alternative are the holders made by Doug Fisher, http://www.betterscanning.com/ , which allow for both dry or fluid mounting.

 

I would first try hanging the film with a weight on the end for a day or so to see how much of the curl can come out that way. Use gravity when ever possible: it works and it is free.

[john_mathew2]

What about placing the film directly onto the Scanner glass and setting for the film area guide. I could then place a mask around the film as a weight. Is ts not recommended because of newton rings?

 

Also if I plan never to do wet mounting is the ANR glass the better way than using the T strips?

[tom_halfhill]

Pressing the film directly against the scanner's glass will indeed cause Newton rings. Also, the scan will be out of focus, because the scanner is preset to focus at a point just a fraction of an inch above the glass when using the transparency lid. I have put film on the glass only in desperation, with severely warped negatives that wouldn't fit in the film holders.

 

You may be able to improvise your own cardboard film holder that will keep the film flatter while holding it off the glass. I have resorted to this method, too.

[jimsimmons]

I can't speak highly enough about V700 holder I got from Doug Fisher. It's the adjustable height model, and I do use the ANR glass. I also got the T-clips and went through a spell of using them to try and reduce the amount of dust spotting I was doing. But then I was having some trouble getting some end-of-roll shot really flat with the T-bars, so I just improved my dust cleaning processes and have used the ANR glass on every shot since. Flat film, sharp scans, no worries about whether a scan is going to be sharp or not. I feel that my scans are as sharp as the V700 can get them. I know that Ellis and others encourage wet scanning for the very best results, but I've been too lazy to try and, I suppose, happy enough with current result to not feel the urge.

[paulh]

You can get some anti-reflective glass cut at a picture framing shop. Unclip the hinged portion of the holder, lay the film in the holder emulsion side up, then lay the AR glass down on top (AR side towards the film). Either that, or tape the film to the AR glass then lay that into the Epson holders. I do this when scanning Efke film, which can be pretty curly.