Stuck Pixel in Film Scanner?

[matthew_rusbarsky]

<p>I just picked up an old Epson Perfection 3170 Photo on Ebay and it seems to have a stuck or dead pixel resulting in a dark streak on MF scans. I paid next to nothing for it and use it primarily for proofing negs, so it's not a big deal. Also, I can clone out the artifact easily enough for the rare neg I want to print from digital. Question: Can any of the dust removal utilities help out with it? I'm a scanner noob.<br>

Finished image for reference (artifact cloned out). Original scan was a 6x9 neg at 2400 dpi<br>

<img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m137/Proteus617/img007a640x.jpg" alt="" /><br>

The artifact extends horizontally across the bottom third of the frame. Tight crop from right border:<br>

<img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m137/Proteus617/img007cropA.jpg" alt="" /><br>

Another from the center:</p>

<p><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m137/Proteus617/img007cropB.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Any ideas before I decide to live with it?</p>

<p> </p>

[carbon_dragon]

<p>I'm assuming it's the same in every scan? Sure it's not dust on the lens or something? Maybe using a rocket blower might clean things up.</p>

[matthew_rusbarsky]

<p>Same in every scan. I'm not sure that its not dust on the sensor, but the fact that it's exactly one pixel wide makes me suspicious. I assume that the slight darkening around the artifact is caused by the interpolation.</p>

<p> </p>

[jtk]

<p>When this happened with old twain (whatever that is) document scanners there was a trick involving a pure white paper and clicking on some kind of maintainance item in the driver.</p>

<p>The scanner would then notice the streak and fix itself. </p>

<p>Not talking about an Epson device and am talking about reflection copy (eg a print), but maybe it's universal. Have you got Epson's documentation and trouble-shooting info? Probably available online.</p>

<p> </p>

[carbon_dragon]

<p>I would at least dig out the manual and check the maintenance section for cleaning out the dust. What could you lose?</p>

[jtk]

<p>1) if that scanners's like my old 3200 it doesn't use a lens...in any case, if it did have a lens any dust would be out of focus.<br>

2) if it's like the document scanner I mentioned the problme isn't dust, it's a mystery in the electronics and it can fix itself with the right methodology. Something like that "stuck pixel" you initially guessed, but different.<br>

3) after you solve that line problem you may want an anti-newton glass carrier, or even the adjustable focus negative carrier from betterscanning.com. Each contributed significantly to 120 film scan sharpness, especially the adjustable focus version.</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>When I had this problem, someone suggested I clean the glass, particularly at the upper most area near the hinges. This fixed it on mine.</p>

[matthew_rusbarsky]

<p>"When I had this problem, someone suggested I clean the glass, particularly at the upper most area near the hinges. This fixed it on mine."<br>

Huh. The "calibration area". Never thought of that. BTW; Epson tech docs have been no help.</p>

[roger_smith4]

<p>Try this- stuck pixels can be dealt with easily using the free action "<a href="http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00D/00DBaS-25115984.zip">Minolta Fix</a> " <br /> Did you also hit calibrate if you're using Vuescan?</p>