Nikon Coolscan IV ED - Overscanning?

[der.chris.tian]

Hello,

I just bought one of these because I was told with it I could scan negatives plus a
bit of the film's ground material in order to get a uneven, black border around the
image. Example: click


Well... until now, I fail with this. The provided holders have frames which are too
small. But when I see that this guy can do it with this scanner I start to struggle again.


Does anyone have an idea how he was able to do this? What am I doing wrong? As
for the software I use a trial version of vuescan and set the crop to maximum.

Maybe he filed out the holders. I'd do that as well, but atm I don't know how to do it
accurately.



Suggestions, anyone?

 

[Matthew Allen]

Sorry, can't help with the scanning, but you need to remove the ")" from the end of your first link to make it work. Good luck finding a solution.

Matthew

 

[EmilGil]

Possible solutions:

1) Mail the guy you are referring to and ask him. (BTW, how do you know he used a CS IV?)

2) Use Photoshop; set a black background colour and expand the canvas a suitable amount. You won't get the unevenness of your example unless you fiddle around a bit but pretty close.

IIRC, I used a Coolscan 4000 (very similar to your CS IV) and got black borders without any fuss. Can't say why you're having such big problems with this. I only wish I could find a 4000/5000 or IV/V for a reasonable amount of money...

 

[der.chris.tian]

Yep, I already mailed the guy. But if I will get an answer.... I don't know.

I don't want to use Photoshop for that. Are you sure you got the black border because of the ground material?

 

[furcafe]

I use Ed Hamrick's Vuescan software & w/that, you can easily set the scanning area to be larger than the image area (even when the negatives/slides are in holders).

Hello,

I just bought one of these because I was told with it I could scan negatives plus a
bit of the film's ground material in order to get a uneven, black border around the
image. Example: click


Well... until now, I fail with this. The provided holders have frames which are too
small. But when I see that this guy can do it with this scanner I start to struggle again.


Does anyone have an idea how he was able to do this? What am I doing wrong? As
for the software I use a trial version of vuescan and set the crop to maximum.

Maybe he filed out the holders. I'd do that as well, but atm I don't know how to do it
accurately.



Suggestions, anyone?

 

[der.chris.tian]

Hm. I think I already see edges of the holders within the scan when I set the crop to maximum. But I'm not sure. How do you do what you've described?

 

[Charly]

It's easy! File out the holders using a fine file dipped in soapy water.

However, IMO, it's a touch pretentious. Each to their own - but I do think that scraggly edges distract from a picture.

 

[peterc]

If you use the SA-21 film strip feeder you can get a scan of more than the exposed area of the film.

 

[der.chris.tian]

Maybe there are different versions of the sa-21, but with this one it isn't possible I guess. The frame in the holder is too small. At least it's height. It's 24mm. Not enough for bringing up the ground material.

 

[peterc]

Quick and dirty full frame scan with SA-21.

 

[der.chris.tian]

"a uneven, black border around the image"

So where are the borders at both top and bottom? ;-)

 

[peterc]

Sorry, top and bottom are white. the scanner masks out the sprocket holes.

 

[der.chris.tian]

Does the scanner or the holders mask the sprocket holes out? I could maybe file out the holders but if this is based on the scanner itself, I'll have a problem I guess.

 

[kaiyen]

The SA-21 is the feeder. It is not the holder. There is no frame.

I am pretty sure I can do a full border around mine, but I'll give it a try tonight.

allan

 

[peterc]

In the SA-21 the masking along the sprocket holes is what keeps the film flat.
If you use the MA-20 with the FH-3 strip holder you might be able to modify the FH-3 to show more of the film but you might end up with film flatness problems.
I'd probably be easier to scan with the SA-21 and fill the top and bottom white bars in PS.

 

[der.chris.tian]

Peterc, these bars aren't original, but from the scanner. I don't want that. I think if i filed the fh-3 holder, I'd be cool with 0,5 - 1mm each side, so this shouldn't be a problem in terms of flatness. But I think I'd have to file out the dividers as well. That might be kinda complicated, but we'll see...


Kaiyen, there is a frame inside the sa-21. Just have a look.

 

[historicist]

Hi, I've got one of these scanners too. It does indeed capture slightly more than the full frame of film, and you do get borders with either the strip or single mounted slide frame holders.

I've always thought that the reason why the border isn't black all the way around in the example above is because it's negative film, this always happens with mine when I scan negative film. With slide film, you do get black borders all the way around, always, with the same holder so it can't be the holder masking anything.

I've always thought it was because unexposed slide film will be black, but this doesn't explain why on negative film it is black between frames but not on the top and bottom. So I've no idea why it does this, but if you like the borders at least you can shoot slide film.

 

[kaiyen]

Yes, it has a frame inside (it's obviously not just wide open with nothing on any side 🙂 but I thought it allowed for larger than 36x24mm scanning on all 4 sides. But I can't be sure without being in front of it.

gl,
allan

 

[der.chris.tian]

Historicist, it doesn't matter if you put in slides or negatives. The sizes are the same. It just doesn't strike out with slides because the ground material is as black as the plastic of the holder. With both there is the same problem.

With negatives the image has to be inverted. That's why both top and bottom of are white.

 

[historicist]

Ah, mystery solved! Your mind is much sharper than mine seems to be at this time in the evening...

Though I have to say what that guy on flickr gets is the same as what I get with slide film - www.flickr.com/photos/historicist

from the second page onwards there's pictures scanned with a coolscan iv, if they don't have borders and were taken with slide film it's because I had to crop it due to not holding the camera straight (I have a real problem with that).