120 Film holder for scanning 6x6

[ginny_e]

<p>I frequently shoot rolls of 120 film in 6x6 frames on my Hasselblad and Holga. I use an Epson perfection 4990 flatbed to scan in the negatives but the negative holder that came with the scanner has a pretty tight frame crop. I'd really like to include some of the edges of the film (including things like the frame number, "kodak" stamp etc.) into the scanned images. I've done a bit of searching for a negative holder that would allow a larger part of the film edges to be scanned but I can't seem to find anything on the Epson site or elsewhere. Does anyone have any leads on a holder I could purchase to use with my scanner?</p>

 

[peterbcarter]

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

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>If this is just for effect, then why not scan the edges of a film and paste them onto your scans?<br>

If you hack away the edges of a 120 filmholder enough to reveal the frame numbering, then basically, you ain't got a filmholder no more. What you've got is a bit of plastic that ocassionally has some film flapping about in it.</p>

[peterbcarter]

<p>Not necessarily true. For example this scan....</p>

<p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2784/4549504281_8663aa766b_d.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Was done with my fluid scan holder. The neg is held onto the glass with the fluid, actually sandwiched between glass and mylar. No flopping....</p>

[John Seaman]

<p>I've sometimes just laid the film on the scanner glass, with the curl pointing upwards to avoid it touching the glass except at the edge, and causing Newton's Rings. It's necessary to weight the film down with a couple of coins, say, just clear of the frame being scanned, to keep it as close to the glass as possible without touching. Also use dark card to mask the unused area to avoid flare, taking care not to block the calibration area to the top right.</p>

[sumo_kun]

<p>The 4990 can scan up to 8x10 sheets so get the 4x5 holder and modify it or use the floppy 8x10 mask thing and lay the film direct on the glass as per the instructions. No need for special adapters etc</p>

[BernardMiller]

<p>I'm with Peter. Betterscanning.com.</p>

<p>I just recently purchased one of Doug Fisher's holders for my V750, and it's excellent. There are directions on the site for modifying the holders to take in the film edges.</p>

[noah]

<p>There's no need to paste film edges into film scans. This reminds me--the other day I saw a display in a store. The photos had 4x5-style film edges, but they were clearly not 4x5 proportion--they were closer to 3:2. And on top of that, they had frame numbers!</p>

<p>If you do copy and paste film edges, at least be consistent in terms of format!</p>

<p>Wet mounting works very well, though I do it on a drum scanner not a flatbed. But I imagine it's really the way to go. Short of that, you could probably adapt an old enlarger neg carrier, have a machine shop make you a holderto your specs, or just make your own out of mat board.</p>

<p>Putting the film right on the scanner glass will be a nightmare and cause issues of film flatness and newtons rings.</p>

[ginny_e]

<p>Thanks for all the great responses!<br>

I will not be adding frames in in PS. I am pretty proud of the fact that I still shoot medium format film and I like the authentic feeling I get from knowing it is truly original, at least for myself if not for the sake of the craft.<br>

I checked out betterscanning.com and that looks promising. I did email him about what I am looking for and he responded:<br>

"People who want to do that usually buy one of my single channel film holders<br /> and then modify it themselves." He linked this page which talks about the modifications toward the bottom, including caveats: <a href="http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/insert.html">http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/insert.html</a><br>

My only worry about that is that I will be spending $80 on a precision piece of equipment just to possibly ruin it by attempting to modify it myself. I may try Noah's ideas with an old neg carrier or mat board first.</p>

[BernardMiller]

<p>I still think you'd be better off with one of the Betterscanning film holders. It really wouldn't be very hard to use a quality file and careful measuring to carve a bit out for doing full-frame scanning of a frame or two. You might just cut out a part of it, leaving the rest of the channel in place--that will hold your film just fine, although you won't get the film rebate in in the uncut areas.</p>

<p>The problem with doing the other methods you mentioned might come in getting something that's exactly the right height to keep the film in focus. With Doug's holders, you can do fine adjustments to get the optimum focus. And his holder really keeps the film flat--not perfectly flat without the ANR glass, but pretty darn close.</p>

<p>That's the thing, if you really do end up messing up the holder, you could just file out the rest of the channel and use the ANR glass. The disaster might actually turn out to be a benefit--you'd get a complete strip that you could use for scanning your film edge-to-edge, and you could use the ANR glass method for nearly perfect flatness!</p>

<p>You're right, it's an 80 dollar gamble--but I think it's pretty low risk with definitely tangible rewards.</p>