How to scan the WHOLE NEGATIVE STRIP on an Epson 3200?

[johnny_tergo]

I have tried to search this, but I can't seem to find the proper

thing to type into the search... SORRY Let me try to explain what

I am trying to do. Basically I am trying to scan the whole negative

to get a proofsheet look. I am looking for a way to scan the entire

surface of my negative strip/sheet/roll, that means including the

sides of the film where the Type/Number/Sprocket Holes and all that

good stuff are. I thought it would be simple enough to just

purchased a 8x10 sheet of glass, place the negative on the flatbed

under the light and place the sheet of glass over it to keep it

flat... Nice idea, but I get horrible looking scans and NONE of the

details that I want from the negative are showing up. Does anybody

know how to do this and make it look nice?

[gary_coyne]

That's because your glass is between the light and the negative strip. Remember,

when scanning negatives, your light is coming from the top. Also keep in mind that

the negative "window" for scanning is much smaller than the glass available for

reflective scanning.

 

I understand what you are trying to do and I know why what you did didn't work, but I

do not have any ideas for how to make it work beyond having a custom support

created (or doing it yourself) from one of the original structures that Epson provides

for negative scanning.

 

Good luck,

 

Gary

[johnny_tergo]

I understand that the area for scanning negs is smaller than the glass area for reflective scanning, however I did place the negs under the light source and then place the glass over the negative in that area. The glass may be displacing and refracting the light and that might be what is giving me the problem but the negs are definetly under the right light source. It might also be a problem that the negatives when in the original film strip holder are not directly flat on the glass surface like they are in my method.

 

I think you are right the solution is making another type of neg holder, or buying one specific for that if they sell one somewhere. Somebody must know how to do this, since I see it in almost every magazine around. It seems like a really trendy way to display photos right now. Somebody help!

[johann_fuller]

Simply cut out a card mask the same size as the film scanning area ( the size is given in the software) place 3 stips of 6 exp in the hole directly on the glass , close the lid and scan. If your film is curled and wont lie flat use a thin sheet if non relective picture frame glass over the top to hold them down. If you want to do high res scans with no newtons rings - replace the scanner's glass with some anti reflective glass and sandwich the film between the two textured surfaces. This is OK for making digital contact sheets but the 3200 is not realy any use as an actual film scanner unless you are using 5x4 film.

[johnny_tergo]

Thanks Johann. I am shooting 4x5 negs, so I am fine in that respect. What purpose does the card mask serve? Is that just giving me a refrence point of where to place the negatives? I am not having a problem getting the negs in the right area of the scanner, I am just having trouble getting the scans to scan right. Colors are waaayyy off! If I scan the same thing in the film holder it is great, as soon as I remove it and lay it on the glass it looks horrible.

[johann_fuller]

I turn off the scanner color control, scan in 16bit and do all the adjustments in photoshop.

[john_wire]

I just returned a 3170 because the 120 film holder only scans from front to back, not side to side like the 3200. This means the 120 film has to be cut to match the carrier dimensions as opposed to running an uncut roll through the 3200.

 

I tried to scan directly under the lid scan area and nothing would work. I think the film scanner software is looking for the two reflective squares on the underside of the film carriers and if they are missing, the scanning software thinks it is a normal flatbed positive scan and the results are bad.

 

I wonder what the new 4000 will do?

[johnny_tergo]

Ahhhhh!!!!! "The two reflective squares" that might be it!!!!!!!! I am going to try and buy another one of the slide holder and then I will butcher it by cutting a hole in the center that would fit my negs with the thin sheet of glass over it to hold it down. That way I have the two squares there and the center is open for the negs... I will let you know what I find out.

[steven_dusk1]

Make sure you don't cover the calibration area!

[johnny_tergo]

I made some mounts last nite out of matte board, and the problem was that I did not cut out the area for the calibration area. Once I cut out that area all was good. The thing that was mentioned about the little reflective tabs has nothing to do with it. The tabs are on the upper side of the trays so they do not seem to affect anything. I took a piece of black matte board, cut it out to the factory tray size, cut out the calibration area and the area directly under the lid light and then cut a piece of glass to fit into the cut out. Worked perfectly! I only had a minute to mess with it last nite as it was already late when I got home and then extreemly late when I finished the mount. I will try to get some scans tonite and post up the results. Thanks for all your help.