dale_lundy

February 19, 2014

Don't have an iPhone, but thanks for the suggestion. Not sure which direction I'll go when I ditch Android.

February 19, 2014

Thanks. I'll check that out. While using the smartphone gives me one fewer device to carry, I am concerned about battery life as well.

February 18, 2014

My old GPS data logger seems to only work sporadically. In looking to replace it, I can't tell that any new devices have come on the market in several years. I thought of a smartphone data logger, but I've read they burn through battery life and accuracy is questionable. Have smartphone apps destroyed the data logger market?

I'd like to have a data logger that would create a .GPX file that I could bring directly into Lightroom's Map Module without conversion. Any experience you'd share with either a separate unit or a smartphone app?

Dale

August 11, 2013

I typically scan in Professional Mode, but I've not been able to locate the control to get rid of auto detect. I'm probably overlooking it somehow.

August 10, 2013

I am scanning old 620 (about 2.5" x 3.75") B&W family negatives I've received. I'd like to only scan them once, with rare exceptions. So I am thinking over the best resolution at which to scan them. I've started at 600. Any thoughts from your experience?

August 10, 2013

EpsonScan does allow dragging to select the scan area. I normally do that once I see a preview, but I could not get any preview to show. I did discover, however, that I was not positioning the film holder correctly. Now I am seeing the preview and all is working well. However I may not be understanding what both of you are saying. How do you override the auto detect? Is that for a preview? Perhaps that will help me be sure I'm understanding you.

I did try scanning just one negative at a time. (actually two, one in each track of the film holder) and it did much better. The reason is because since I have individual negative frames, not negative strips, placing a frame at the top of the track allows it to be supported on 3 sides, whereas if I place a second frame further down the track, it is only supported on two slides and tends to slide and sag since the film is not cut consistently to fit tightly.

I have so far not found an included black sheet ("the flap"). How does that work? Is this what the V600 user guide calls a "scanning support sheet" in the section on placing the film in the holder? If so, I do not think one came with my scanner. I haven't seen it, and that section of my manual doesn't mention it. Maybe the film holders are different on the two models?

Also, a bag of small black plastic pieces came with the scanner. They were shown on the parts layout, but not identified. They have an arrow on the back, and snap into the film holder. I assume they are spacers to put the film holder at the proper height for focusing?

August 10, 2013

I received a number of very old 620 negatives from a family member. I am looking for tips on how to best scan these on an Epson V700 scanner.

At the time these negatives were processed, the labs cut them into individual frames, and apparently it was done by a guy with a pair of scissors. The frames are all roughly 2.5" x 3.75" but they vary in size (both directions at times) and the cuts are often not straight.

I managed to get four of the negatives into the film holder, but could never get EpsonScan to recognize them and produce thumbnails. (I'm still working through installation issues on SilverFast SE 8). I put one directly on the glass inside the Film Area Guide and it recognized and scanned it but the scan was poor quality (of course the negative likely was, too).

Has anyone used the V700 or similar scanner on this type of 620 frame, and do you have any advice to share?

August 1, 2013

Charles, yes, the Nikon software installed correctly. I did not realize the driver was not working until I tried to open the twain driver. Then I tried reinstalling under compatibility mode, but no change.

Michael, the colornet.com link was my starting point. I followed that a couple of times. It did not seem to work (but see below).

Jos, I had not thought of virtualization, but seems to be a good next step if I had not gotten it working.

Brooks, I had read that the VueScan drivers would work. I appreciate the step by step as that was something I was considering.

It is now working. Here's what seemed to happen. When I would start NikonScan and open the twain window I'd get a message that said there was a hardware error with the scanner (I was fairly certain there wasn't). When I'd close that window, I'd get a message that said it could find no active devices. At that point I'd close NikonScan and try another approach. Finally, early this morning, I left the software open and tried a second time to open the twain window and it worked! It's been working fine since then.

What I did (as best I recall) was to follow the steps necessary to get it to run under Windows 7 x64 with one exception. (<a href="http://www.sevenforums.com/drivers/44994-getting-your-nikon-coolscan-work-w7-x64.html">http://www.sevenforums.com/drivers/44994-getting-your-nikon-coolscan-work-w7-x64.html</a>)

The exception was that based on your first link I booted into the option that disabled driver signature enforcement. (<a href="http://www.colorneg.com/XP/Vista/7/driver-for-64-Bit-Windows/Coolscan/Nikon-Scan/">http://www.colorneg.com/XP/Vista/7/driver-for-64-Bit-Windows/Coolscan/Nikon-Scan/</a>)

Thanks for your comments!

August 1, 2013

I decided to tackle one approach at a time. So I got a FH-3 off eBay. It arrived yesterday. As expected, the 126 film fit in the holder, though I had to manually reposition the film for each frame, which was also expected. It took a while to learn how to get a consistently good scan, but my first impression is I'm satisfied with the results, and it may be one of the least time-consuming ways to do it.

That still leaves me with some old prints (no negatives) and some individual 620 B&W negatives to scan. I'm guessing that the best choice for those is the V700 or V750, but I'd like to listen to anyone who wants to weigh in. Thanks for your comments so far!

July 31, 2013

I tried to use the Nikon Coolscan 5000 today for the first time since I went to Windows 8 x64 and the driver is not working correctly. I've tried several things, but nothing has worked so far. If anyone has had success getting it working under Windows 8, I'd love to hear how you did it.

July 31, 2013

One decision point on an Epson V700 vs V750 is that the V750 comes with calibration software, albeit discontinued. (The other is whether the Silverfast SE Plus 8 is a significant enough jump to make the V750 attractive.)

Of course calibration is good. But, it appears that doing it right involves buying multiple expensive targets for each type of scanning. I haven't calibrated or created a profile for the film/slide scanning I’ve done on the Nikon Coolscan 5000; I’ve edited in Lightroom or Photoshop to correct color. Naturally it would be nice not to have to do that regularly. But given that I’m scanning old family photos (negatives, slides, prints, color, B&W), many faded and needing color restoration, and in some case it’s impossible to even tell the film type, it’s hard to see that spending a great deal of money on targets is likely to be worth the cost.

So…

<ul>

<li>If you have a V700 or V750 and didn’t calibrate it, how is that working out?</li>

<li>If you have a 750, did you calibrate using the Monaco software? What targets did you need to get? (I’m assuming a target is not supplied?)</li>

<li>If you calibrated either model using something other than the Monaco software, what did you use? Has anyone used the lprof software from SourceForge.net? It creates profiles, but I’m not sure if it calibrates.</li>

</ul>

July 28, 2013

I think I'll focus first on the 126 and the MF since I have the most of those two.

For the 126, clearly the Coolscan is the better machine to use. Marc and A.T. recommended using Gepe slide mounts. I've not been able to find these anywhere with a 126 size opening. Do you mask, or does the stray light coming through the opening not cause a problem? Les recommended the FH-3. In theory it should cut off only 2mm on each side, roughly similar to what you'd lose with a 126 slide mount. But since the 35mm frame is centered and the 126 is not, I'm wondering if that's all you'd lose or not. On the other hand intuitively it seems this should be faster than doing a slide mount for the volume of film I have.

For the individual negatives (roughly 2.4" x 3.5"), it seems I'd need to go with either a V700 or V750. Of course that would also do the prints. There seems to be some sentiment that a film holder from betterscanning.com is better than the one from Epson because height adjustability lets you set focus precisely. That puts me back to a V700 vs V750. From what I read the hardware difference seems slight. Whether Silverfast is better than EpsonScan seems to be a matter of debate.

July 25, 2013

Les, thanks. I have seen that filmscanusa.net has some holders that require you to modify the MA-21. I didn't see that your approach would require this, and you've confirmed it.

Given that 126 film is 35mm wide, it seems it should fit in the holder just fine.

<ul>

<li>The 36mm frame is 36mm x 24mm.</li>

<li>The 126 frame is 28mm x 28mm.</li>

</ul>

That would tell me that width is no problem, but that a small amount of the bottom and top are likely to be cut off. Is there someone with an FH-3 who has tried using it on 126 film who can verify this?

July 25, 2013

Les,

I took a quick look through the box of old film I'd inherited and it wasn't exactly as I remembered.

<ul>

<li>126 - Most of the old film I inherited is 126. All my old pre-DSLR film is 126, so that is far and away the largest group.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>110 - I didn't find any 110 but I know I had some that I'll find as I go through, but apparently not as much as I thought I remembered.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>MF - I had some individual negatives I'd forgotten about (measure about 2.25" x 3.25" image size). But those would take a different scanner anyway.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Disc - I inherited more discs than I thought. Not sure exactly how to begin scanning these.</li>

</ul>

So...

<ul>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>For scanning 110 is there any modification or anything unusual necessary?</li>

</ul>

Dale

July 24, 2013

I agree with both of you that if I can find a way to use the Coolscan, that would be best. I've read that at least the 110 and 126 can be done with an FH-2 holder, except that those aren't available.

Marc, I appreciate your suggestion. I have a lot of 126 negatives from various family members and mounting them would take far too long, I think. Also the link seems to show glass-mount slides and I actually had to remount some older glass-mounted 35mm slides I had because the Coolscan wouldn't handle them--though perhaps Gepe has non-glass mounted versions. I haven't had time to check yet. The V500 for prints only probably would make sense if there is a solution to the negative problem.

David, so far I haven't found any holder for the Coolscan that will handle 110 or 126 except I saw one the other day that required modifying the MA-21, which I might do, but would prefer not to. If anyone knows of a holder that would handle either size I'm anxious to hear about it. I agree that I'd rather use the Coolscan if I can. The main reason for thinking about going with either the V700 or the V750 was that I have found holders for 110 and 126. The discs will likely be a problem regardless, but fortunately I was given very few of them.

July 24, 2013

The question of scanner choice (V700 vs V750) has been much discussed. However I have a specific question that I have not seen addressed.

For 35mm I use a Nikon Coolscan 5000 with NikonScan software, editing in Lightroom, and occasionally Photoshop. So 35mm is not an issue. I have no MF.

I have inherited from family members (a) old family photos (no negative), and (b) assorted negatives -- 110, 126, disc. I want to get very good scans from these, as this will likely be the only time they will be preserved.

I am deciding between a V700 and a V750 for this purpose. I understand that either wet scanning or adjustable height holders from betterscanning.com seems to mean more than which scanner to choose. However I still need to choose one.

Given I can add wet scanning to the V700, and the V750 coating doesn’t seem to make much difference, the only significant difference seems to be software. (If your experience disagrees, please say so.) Is there a substantial advantage in the software on the V750? I am running Windows 8 64-bit. I expect I'd still edit predominantly in Lightroom.

Any experience you’d share on either machine scanning prints, 110, 126, or disc on either machine? Any reason you'd recommend one over the other for this purpose?

February 27, 2012

I travel to southeast Asia frequently. At times they weigh my carry-ons -- and with a DSLR, extra lens, and laptop computer with charger it doesn't take much to hit the unbelievably low carry-on weight limit. It doesn't seem to take so much anymore to hit my back weight limit either, carrying a backpack.

I'm looking for a vest that is

<ul>

<li>lightweight (read comfortable in HOT climate)</li>

<li>inconspicuous in an airport -- i.e. not obvioius that I'm carrying photo equipment</li>

<li>will hold Canon Xsi, 18-55, 70-33, flash, cell phone, and pocket contents</li>

<li>easy on-and-off for going through airport security</li>

<li>preferably not too expensive</li>

</ul>

I know many people don't like vests. I used one at one time but gave it up because though it was handy, it looked far too conspicuous. But since I don't carry a bag to keep things light (my backkpack is a standard multi-purpose backpack) it would be handy to be able to have a vest that I was comfortable in shooting in for a day without the hassle and back weight of a backpack.

The Scottevest so far is the only thing I've found that seems to fit this description. Does someone have any experience with it, or with some other brand that fits that general description?

I could not find what seemed to be the best place to post this. Apologies if it is not the correct location for it.

Dale

January 17, 2012

Though the older posting didn't solve this particular problem, it was informative, so I've bookmarked it.

It turns out the problem was with the crop box. I never use the Layout section on slides since I use the slide feeder. I only use it on strip film to rotate the image properly since I do all my actual cropping in Photoshop or Lightroom. It never occured to me to think that the crop box might have been changed inadvertently since I never purposely touch it. Yet that seems to be exactly what happened. So much for forgetting it's there.

Thanks much for both posts!

Dale

January 15, 2012

I have been scanning some slides on a Nikon Super Coolscan 5000. Suddenly it began scanning only a small strip of the slide, not the complete slide.

Here's the situation.

<ul>

<li>Rebooted since I had a lot of things open. Problem persisted.</li>

<li>Powered the unit off and on, then restarted Nikon Scan 4.</li>

<li>MA-21 slide mount adapter has problem. The problem showed up first on the MA-21 slide mount adapter. I had scanned a number of slides just fine, then suddenly every one began having the problme.</li>

<li>SF-210 slide feeder has same problem. I inserted the SF-210 slide feeder and the problem shows up on each slide fed.</li>

<li>SA-21 strip film adaptor does not have problem. Strip film scans just fine.</li>

</ul>

Any idea what might cause this, or how to fix it?

Dale

January 12, 2012

I did notice a moire pattern in the 110 and 126 samples I tried to scan directly on the glass. I thought until I read your post it was a fingerprint that had gotten on several of the frames. Now I see it's not that at all.

I was not aware of wet holders or of scanning fluid until you posted in this thread. I've done more reading, and it seems apparent, as the photo you posted attests to, that this is going to be necessary to get a decent quality scan. I've been convinced to pick up the supplies, find a place to order some scanning fluid and give it a try.

As I understand it above the scanner glass platen you'd have the height of the cardboard legs, the sheet of glass you lay the film on, then the film (and then the acetate cover). I'd assume the clip frame glass must be fairly thin not to overextend the height beyond the scanner focal range.

I appreciate your help!

January 12, 2012

I see. Although I got an adequate scan from laying the film directly on the scanner glass, there may be increased sharpness from a small height adjustment. I have to admit, I don't understand, since a document/photo scan focuses on paper/photo laid directly on the scanner glass, why the focus would be optimized to be above the glass, not on it.

The curl I have on the 126 film is edge-edge, and is fairly severe in the first batch I looked at. Can something be done about that, or does the suction of the fluid take care of it?

I notice the V700 is fairly expensive. Is the quality significantly better than the 3170? I don't know at this point the contents or quality of the 126 strips which make up the bulk of my older non-35mm strips, so that would play a role as well, I'd imagine.

I looked on the BetterScanning website after reading your post. It looked like the Better Scanning option would be easier to get the height adjustment. Beyond that, though, is the time and effort to use yours and it about the same, or does it vary by any significant amount?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Dale

January 11, 2012

Impressive from a 110! Most of my really old photos are 126's, but presumably the same process would work. Two questions:

Does the reason to layer for optimal height has to do with scanner focus? Since there is no focus adjustment, it must autofocus. In that case, why not lay the glass directly on the scanner glass?

Also, does this take care of film which is curled (as some of mine seems to be) or is something else necessary?

Dale

January 11, 2012

Per-Christian, so far as the slide holder, do you mean the MA-21? I can see how mounting the negatives as slides would work. On the other hand, since I need to scan them all to be able to see what I want to keep, it would be very time-consuming. I had to remount a number of glass-mount slides to scan them and it wasn't fast. Still, fast and efficient may not be an option.

I know there is an FH-3 film holder available for the Nikon but I don't know if it will hold 126 or 110.

Peter, I looked at the site. If I read and see correctly, the glass is on top, the film under that, and the acetate underneath?

This sounds time-consuming and messy. However there may not be a method that isn't, so having some way to do it may be better than none at all.

You said "If you use the fluid I suggested, you can use clear acetate, otherwise a sheet of clear mylar will have to be used." (Where can one get a mylar sheet?) Does that means the mylar replaces both the acetate and the scanning fluid? It sounds like that would be much less messy and faster? But I'm wondering since that isn't the preferred method.

I just found the following statement on the Epson web site a few minute ago -- "To scan 110 film, place it face-down on the document table. (Your images and any wording on the film strips should appear backwards on the side that faces up). Be sure to position the film directly underneath the transparency unit window located in the scanner cover." That sounds fairly simple, except for the fact that the negatives are curled, therefore I will have get a piece of glass or something transparent to hold them flat in order to see if this works. Presumably the same thing would work for 126.

Dale

January 10, 2012

I have Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED and an Epson Perfection 3170.

The Nikon works well for 35mm. However I have that almost complete and now need to look at old 126 and 110 film. I'd rather scan it on the Nikon, but the Epson doesn't do a bad job and I'm guessing that the quality of the negatives will be the limiting factor anyway for that film.

I see no way to scan this film in the Nikon.

The Epson has some plastic film holders that the 126 film will slide into, however it crops off part of the negative, and could well scratch it sliding in and out.

I saw on one website some holders, but they were fairly expensive for a piece of plastic, and they required that you modify your Adaptor on the Nikon, something I'm not willing to do.

Has anyone had any success in scanning either of these film types on either scanner, or a similar scanner?

Dale

December 26, 2011

Thanks. I see now. When I tried these earlier they did not appear to do anything. It appears that I needed the right combination to be able to set it. it would not respond when there was no film fed into the scanner. When the film was fed in and I selected all the frames the bit depth simply showed none, so I could not set it to begin with. It would work when one frame was selected, but that required setting frame by frame before saving. However when the film was fed in and I saved it before any frames were selected, then it saved fine, and now is the default for all frames. I think that is what Richard was saying to begin with, I just wasn't fitting all the puzzle pieces together.

Problem solved. Thanks everyone for the assistance!

Dale

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