How to scan 24*65mm (Hasselblad X-Pan) negatives and transparencies?

[pierre_andr__grandchamp]

I would like to find a scanner capable to digitize 24*65 mm and 6*6

cm negatives and transparencies. Can someone recommend a scanner and

the necessary software?

I was about to buy an Epson Perfection 3200 for this purpose, but I

came across the data sheet of the HP 8200c and its 4800 dpi

resolution. But no mention of the size of the illuminator, no info on

the negative carriers...

Who can help me?

Thank you in advance!

[beauh44]

Hi Pierre, About a year or so ago, Hasselblad offered as a promotion the Epson 2450 scanner to go along with the X-Pan. Since then, the 2450 has been discontinued and replaced by the 3600, I believe. It supposedly has a little higher resolution, but the CCD sensor is the same, so I suspect it just passes over the target a bit slower. The 2450 can probably still be found somewhere - Ebay, perhaps. Anyway, I figure if this scanner was good enough for Hasselblad, then it ought to work pretty well. FWIW, I own the 2450 and scan Hassie 6X6's all the time with it and it works great for me! Best wishes . . .

[nicholas_wybolt]

Pierre-Andre',

 

I concur with Beau regarding the Epson 2450 / 3200 for scanning XP transparencies. Scott Bourne's "Photofocus" magazine has had a couple of articles on this. Look here http://www.photofocus.com/zine7/2450.html for an example.

 

-Nick

[sk_arts]

Any scanner which covers the 24x65mm area is capible of scanning that size. You do not need a special scanner. What you would want is a custom mask, however. I am sure if you put a post in for ideas how to do this, you'll get many. You can use drum scanning oil, but that's a mess from what I gather.<P>

 

Here is my idea on the mask:<P>

 

Materials Needed-<BR>

2-ply black Matte board<BR>

Black construction paper or opaque, stiff, black plastic. Must not be thick, thinner the better. But sturdy for longevity and quality.<BR>

Black Masking or Gaffers tape (black to avoid the possibility of reflections)<BR>

Exacto knife, razor blade with a straight edge or better yet, matte cutter<P>

 

Cut a window of the actual image size of your negative/slide in the same locations on both the matte board and the construction paper/opaque plastic. Make note where you plan to tape the hinges, and place the long side of the window running perpendicular with the hinge.<P>

 

Cut two 1/4-1/2" strips of construction paper a few millimeters over the length of the windows long edge. Measure the excess film from the image out, including the sprocket holes to the film's edge. Line up the strips with the window on the construction paper, not the matte board, so that it does not over-lap. Then carefully tape the strips to the construction paper, though letting the amount which you measured from the film's edge untaped so that you can slide your film strip into the mask while being held into place by the tape on the two sides.<P>

 

Hinge the mask as you would a matte on an image, place construction paper/plastic side down against the glass of a flatbed scanner. Film scanners I would not recomend. You may be able to build a similar device made entirely of thin opaque black plastic or paper and placed into a medium format holder. In any case be certain the the side which the two strips are on always faces the CCD to avoid focus problems.<P>

 

If the two-ply matte board does not fit with the TPU down, use the thinner material that was used on the objective side. However, I chose matte board to add weight for flatness.<P>

 

I have never done this, but it shoul work. I welcome any ideas on how it can be better.<BR>

-----<BR>

On one page I read the HP8200c claims you can scan more than one 35mm slide. I do not know if it is large enough to carry 6x6, but you should not have any problem with 24x65.

[fotografpeterlundberg.se]

What about cutting the neg/positive in half and use a regular filmscanner like the Canon FS4000us for example? Then merge the two scans with PS or a similar program?

 

Regards

Peter

 

( I know it feels a bit weird cutting originals, but hey... its the final output that counts! )

[chris_eve]

Don't cut the originals, for any merging software to work there has to be some overlap!!

 

In the Vuescan instructions there is mention of modifying the neg carrier from an FS4000 to enable the scanning of panoramic negatives. I've not studied this in detail, but I suspect, having done this, one then makes two slightly overlapping scans of the negative, for later merging. Vuescan has the ability to offset the start point of the scan, so by shifting the start of the second scan to the left (and or maybe the start of the first scan to the right, depending on how you've got the fimstrip in the holder), you should be able to achieve two perfectly registered overlapping scans of the same panoramic negative. You'll probably need to "lock exposure" and a couple of other things to ensure a perfect match, but once you've developed a workflow for your scenario a 4000dpi scan should be only minutes away :-)

[switchedcraigmageephotogra]

what ya want mate is an imacon flextight 343 with the xpan

holder :-D

[ed_hopper]

The original HP PhotoSmart scanner driven by VueScan does a great job and is easily the most economical solution. However, it's also now a well known solution, so it's become harder and harder to find good prices (e.g., at E-Bay) on the old scanner.

[stb]

It can do it with an optional holder.