Glass options for Nikon 9000 with 120 negs

[ted_c]

<p>I see that there are a few options for using glass to maintain flatness of 120 negatives. After only a couple of scans last night with the standard 869S I haven't noticed any problems, but I'm anticipating them based on comments from this forum. Using glass is to avoid focus problems, right? Or is it to avoid Newton Rings? Or both? Or does using glass potentially introduce Newton Rings and that's why you then need a special type of glass to avoid Newton Rings?<br>

Nikon offers the FH-869GR Glass Rotating Holder, which is available for purchase online (in stock at retailers, around $340ish). This is a nice quality holder that allows the scanning of one image at a time, and can handle a longer negative strip (as in 5-6x4.5 images in a strip - the standard holder can only load a negative with 4 or less 6x4.5 images because of the sprockets on the end that would do damage to a longer negative strip.) This holder also obviously rotates but I haven't utilized that capability yet.<br>

Nikon also offers the FH-869G Glass holder, which has a larger glass area (non-rotating) that can handle 3 - 6x6. It would sell for about $100 less than the 869GR but doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere. I don't have any experience with this one.<br>

<br /> I've see that another option is to take the standard 120 holder (FH-869S) and buy glass from Focal Point for it.<br>

http://www.fpointinc.com/glass.htm<br>

Seems like a lot of people like this solution and it is more cost effective than spending $340 on the 869GR. I have a couple of questions to the people who have gone with this solution. Is making this modification to your 869S reversible, in that if you wanted to return the 869S to the original condition you could or are you making a permanent modification to the 868S? What is the best way people have found to put glass into the 869S? And what glass do you recommend, the AN glass or the clear glass? I assume one needs a piece of glass on top and below to sandwich the negative, right? If so, is it AN glass on both, AN glass on the bottom and clear on top, etc.?</p>

<p>What do people think of the wet-mount options for the 9000? Is it worth the effort and expense for great quality scans (to get close to a drum scan quality)? ScanScience or KAMI?<br>

Are there other options I'm not aware of?</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

<p>if you want near drum quality scans fro mthe Coolscan 9000 you needto use the AZTEK fluid mount holder withthe KAMI fluid and mylars.</p>

<p>next you needto get better scanning software: LaserSoft SilverFast AI6 Studio and scan at 16 bit per channel deth using a large color space . I recommend either EktaSpace or Chrome 100 from http://www.josephholmes.com/profiles.html</p>

<p>And finally you need a really, really good target to build your scanner profile from. If you don't wantto go offthe deep end with a Hutchcolor HCT target , The Fuji ( even if you have only Kodak film to scan) target from SilverFast is very good and makes profiling the scanner a less than 1 minute affair.</p>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>Fluid scans are best, but I don't do them for every image - just the best ones. I use the kit from Scan Science - it works well and it costs much less than the AZTEK/Kami setup.</p>

<p>http://scanscience.com/</p>

<p>As for software, I make linear scans using NikonScan. I then invert if it's a neg and make color corrections with Photoshop plugins from CF Systems. That's about $330 less money than Silverfast and the results are excellent. I've used Silverfast on my flatbed scanner and it's nice, but I don't think it's worth $400 for the Nikon 9000 ED. YMMV.</p>

[beau 1664876222]

<p>I have the Nikon non-rotating glass holder and I haven't gotten great results with it. <br>

Probably operator error, but I feel like I can see the glass in the scans, and there are usually newton rings, which are very difficult to fix in photoshop. <br>

Perhaps I should try fluid mounting -- is there a way to do that using Nikon's glass holder or do you need to buy special equipment?</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>Get your name on the waiting list at B&H (maybe others too) for the non-rotating holder. Buy it as soon as you get the email notification. If you wait, you will be out of luck. Scanning is so incredibly time-consuming, scanning several frames in one setup is a welcome situation.</p>

<p>The Nikon holder has two kinds of glass. The lower glass is clear with an anti-reflection coating, like a camera lens. The upper glass is etched for anti-Newton Ring properties. If you build one yourself, make sure the glass kit is similar. AN glass has a pattern which is easily resolved by the scanner, and will affect sharpness if used on the bottom surface.</p>

<p>My film tends to have a slight arch which keeps the center of the emulsion side of the film away from the surface it's resting on. Consequently, it works best for me if I place the emulsion side down and a mask on the top. The mask serves to keep the film from touching the AN glass (upper). If it touches, you will get faint Newton's Rings. The emulsion side is less reflective and only touches at the edges of the film, hence Rings do not form on that surface. If the film is buckled, the only solution is to use the non-glass holder (or fluid mounting).</p>

<p>Once placed, the film can be adjusted by tapping the edges of the holder. Always use gloves with a glass holder. Fingerprints are very hard to remove from either glass (or the film). Use an anti-static brush and canned "air" (or an oil-free airbrush compressor) to remove dust. An halogen lamp makes it easy to see dust on surfaces. Only the film and inside of the holder needs to be really clean - it is out of focus on the outside.</p>

<p>The Nikon scanner is grain-sharp. With the glass holder it is uniformly sharp from corner to corner. If your images aren't sharp, the problem may start 15mm behind the eyepiece. You have to be really careful shooting medium format to get the best results - good is not good enough. That means a solid tripod, cable release, careful focus and shooting with the mirror locked up. Camera shake induced by the mirror (or focal plane shutter) is well outside the potential resolution of the LS-8000/9000 up to about 1/125 second.</p>

[ted_c]

Thanks for these tips. So one clear glass on the bottom and etched on top is the way to go? That makes sense. Is the non-

rotating glass holder better than the rotating one or are they equal in quality but the non-rotating one is superior because it

offers scanning multiple frames? IMPORTANT QUESTION: I have some long strip negs... Will the non-rotating one work with

long strips or does it have a problem like the 869S? Is the focal point solution possible to do without damaging or

permanently modifying the carrier?

 

Is there a way in Nikon Scan to batch multiple scans one after the other with little intervention? Is batch not a good idea if

I'm trying to get the best scan of each image?

[robert_martin5]

<p>Ted, you will have newton ring problem with the glass carrier on some negatives - I get newtons rings on about 10% of scans using the Nikon FH-869G carrier. I now scan using AN glass for both top and bottom glass and no newton ring problems. I don't know how much this affect image sharpness, but it's adequate for what I am doing - I do not see any apparent pattern from the AN (etched) glass. I have not doubt that wet mounting will give better results, but it's also a lot more time consuming. </p>

[photom]

<p>I recommend dull film side down on top of film frame (mask) provided. This keeps the film off the plain glass surface. The AN glass on top is not as much of a concern which is why it is AN glass. This is the instructions that come with the scanner I believe and I never have rings.</p>