Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
Having scanned a lot of extremely uncooperative film lately I've made a lot of personal observations and discoveries along the way. Mainly related to the Epson V700 of course but I'm sure some of this applies to many other scanners in the lower price range.
When using the standard V700 film holders for 35mm it is extremely advantageous to tape the edges of the retainers down ... especially around the areas where the little hooked lugs lock them in place. As the scanner heats up during the scanning process and the holders warm up the film will apply more upwards tension and the edges of these retainers will move inwards away from the locating lugs and rise slightly allowing the film to move during scanning ... not good! I tape the areas around these lugs with 3M magic tape as I apply outward pressure to them ... they don't budge during scanning even when the scaner gets quite warm and the tape is very easily removed after each scan. I hadn't noticed this until I started looking closely at the holder and film after removing it from the scanner after a particularly long scan of negatives that had very high density and had scanned very slowly ... these lugs had popped out in several locations and the film had risen noticably!
Reverse roll your film (emulsion side out) and place it in a film container and leave it overnight if possible ... this really reduces bow which is far more destructive than the natural curl that film generally has.
Pick your days to scan if possible. The ideal time is early in the morning on a rainy day when the humidity is as high as possible and the temperature is at it's lowest for the day. (seriously) This has two advantages ... the higher the moisture content of the film the less it bows or curls and the emulsion also appears to benefit from this higher moisture content by expanding slightly and closing up so to speak. What grain there is will be noticably smoother when it's in this state. In a perfect world I would have a room that I could hose down with water before scanning and then shut all doors and windows while I scanned ... not an ideal environment for the scanner itself admittedly but I do believe this would have definite benefits for the afore mentioned reasons.
Air conditioning when scanning is your enemy! It removes all moisture from the air ... ask any contact lens wearer!
These are purely mechanical recommendations for scanning aimed at keeping the film in it's optimum state during the scan. Software choice and methods of use are an entirely different ball game and each person familiar with scanning seems to have there own preferences regarding Silverfast, Vuscan etc. I hope my ramble has been of some help.
When using the standard V700 film holders for 35mm it is extremely advantageous to tape the edges of the retainers down ... especially around the areas where the little hooked lugs lock them in place. As the scanner heats up during the scanning process and the holders warm up the film will apply more upwards tension and the edges of these retainers will move inwards away from the locating lugs and rise slightly allowing the film to move during scanning ... not good! I tape the areas around these lugs with 3M magic tape as I apply outward pressure to them ... they don't budge during scanning even when the scaner gets quite warm and the tape is very easily removed after each scan. I hadn't noticed this until I started looking closely at the holder and film after removing it from the scanner after a particularly long scan of negatives that had very high density and had scanned very slowly ... these lugs had popped out in several locations and the film had risen noticably!
Reverse roll your film (emulsion side out) and place it in a film container and leave it overnight if possible ... this really reduces bow which is far more destructive than the natural curl that film generally has.
Pick your days to scan if possible. The ideal time is early in the morning on a rainy day when the humidity is as high as possible and the temperature is at it's lowest for the day. (seriously) This has two advantages ... the higher the moisture content of the film the less it bows or curls and the emulsion also appears to benefit from this higher moisture content by expanding slightly and closing up so to speak. What grain there is will be noticably smoother when it's in this state. In a perfect world I would have a room that I could hose down with water before scanning and then shut all doors and windows while I scanned ... not an ideal environment for the scanner itself admittedly but I do believe this would have definite benefits for the afore mentioned reasons.
Air conditioning when scanning is your enemy! It removes all moisture from the air ... ask any contact lens wearer!
These are purely mechanical recommendations for scanning aimed at keeping the film in it's optimum state during the scan. Software choice and methods of use are an entirely different ball game and each person familiar with scanning seems to have there own preferences regarding Silverfast, Vuscan etc. I hope my ramble has been of some help.
maddoc
... likes film again.
My observations exactly. Since having moved to Tokyo in June I did not have any film curling problems anymore, the average humidity level was constantly around 60 to 70 % in our apt.
Since having moved to Tokyo in June I did not have any film curling problems anymore, the average humidity level was constantly around 60 to 70 % in our apt.
cnphoto
Well-known
Better Scanning ANR glass inserts sorted all of my negative holder issues / film curling issues.
Also, taking the time to 'shim' the height of the neg holder until I found the sharpest scan point / focus point is VERY HIGHLY recommended I think. It made a noticable and drastic change to the quality of my scans, personally. I had to shim it 1.5 or 2mm higher than the highest setting.
Also, taking the time to 'shim' the height of the neg holder until I found the sharpest scan point / focus point is VERY HIGHLY recommended I think. It made a noticable and drastic change to the quality of my scans, personally. I had to shim it 1.5 or 2mm higher than the highest setting.
bigeye
Well-known
Though more difficult to use, I've found the Silverfast scanning software produces significantly sharper and better colored scans than the Epson software, in most cases.
- Charlie
- Charlie
bwcolor
Veteran
But.. we are still stuck with the flimsy plastic 35mm holder, even if you use the ANR glass.
ruby.monkey
Veteran
They work well enough.
Another option is to stick with polyester-backed films such as Rollei Retro 400S. Film curl becomes something that happens to other people.
Colin Corneau
Colin Corneau
I was just going to post this. I saw their site and it seems an elegantly simple solution to a lot of issues.
I've had very good luck, sharpness wise, with my v700. It must be the right height as the scans are terrific.
laoyou
Member
I tried SF. It did not align image properly when using multi-exposure. So I fave up. Vuescan does a better job.
maddoc
... likes film again.
ANR glass inserts help A LOT even with the flimsy genuine Epson 35mm holders:
keepright
matthew
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
ANR glass inserts help A LOT even with the flimsy genuine Epson 35mm holders:
I was about to buy those Gabor and may still in a week or so ... but I'm seriously thinking about a Nikon 9000 for the future. There's still a couple left for sale at a place in Sydney but they're so damned expensive here!
The purpose of my post was to help those who aren't lucky enough to have these inserts for the Epson. I noticed when I was scanning last week the weather was atrocious ... raining all day and cool and the humidity was extremely high and the film was behaving perfectly. Three days later it was back to it's curly old self when the weather changed and I also noticed a definite change in the grain structure.
:bang:
katgut@earthlink.net
Established
I use a betterscanning holder for 120, and before anyone runs out to buy one, they should keep these two points in mind:
1. The glass causes Digital ICE to be less effective.
2. When the negs are in place, you can't blow them off or brush them as you can with the stock plastic holders. this is especially relevant to 35mm, where dust seem to be so much more of a problem than with 120.
Everyone gripes about the supposedly flimsy supplied holders, but I've never broke them or had a problem with them. I simply flatten my negatives.
1. The glass causes Digital ICE to be less effective.
2. When the negs are in place, you can't blow them off or brush them as you can with the stock plastic holders. this is especially relevant to 35mm, where dust seem to be so much more of a problem than with 120.
Everyone gripes about the supposedly flimsy supplied holders, but I've never broke them or had a problem with them. I simply flatten my negatives.
RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
ANR glass inserts help A LOT even with the flimsy genuine Epson 35mm holders:
Is your ANR glass textured on both sides? It looks like they're upside down. The ones I got for my MF holder are only textured on one side.
/
russelljtdyer
Writer
Epson Scanning Software settings for the V700
Epson Scanning Software settings for the V700
This is a slight deviation from the original point of this topic, but it does relate to the Epson V700 and the Epson scanning software. I bought an Epson V700 yesterday. As a result, I had a fun and frustrating night yesterday.
After trying many settings, I managed to scan some 35mm color film negatives fairly well. However, I don't feel as though I'm getting the best digital images possible. I'd like to know how y'all set the Epson scanning software for good results. This is what I've come up with so far:
I unchecked the last five items because I found that letting Epson do any processing of the image caused more problems. I find that Adobe Lightroom and other Adobe products work much better. However, I'm wondering if there's value to Grain Reduction. Or is that the same as some other setting in Adobe, such as Clarity? Also, am I missing out on something useful by not selecting Digital ICE Technology? What does that do?
So, as for these settings, is there something I can do differently? Is there another configuration that I didn't list here that I should adjust? Would you recommend VueScan over the Epson software? Oh, and when I use the Epson software, is there a way to set the Target Size and the settings that follow it for all images at once? I have to click on each image to set them.
Epson Scanning Software settings for the V700
This is a slight deviation from the original point of this topic, but it does relate to the Epson V700 and the Epson scanning software. I bought an Epson V700 yesterday. As a result, I had a fun and frustrating night yesterday.
After trying many settings, I managed to scan some 35mm color film negatives fairly well. However, I don't feel as though I'm getting the best digital images possible. I'd like to know how y'all set the Epson scanning software for good results. This is what I've come up with so far:
- Document Type: Film (with Film Holder)
- Film Type: Color Negative Film
- Image Type: 24-bit Color [48-bit is highest]
- Resolution: 4800 dpi
- Document Size: W 35.1 H 21.1 mm
- Target Size: W 1536 H 924 pixels
- Scale: 23% [set automatically]
- Trimming: Off
- Unsharp Mask: [unchecked], Level: Medium
- Grain Reduction: [unchecked], Level: Medium
- Backlight Correction: [unchecked], Level: Medium
- Dust Removal: [unchecked], Level: Medium
- Digital ICE Technology: [unchecked], Level: Quality
I unchecked the last five items because I found that letting Epson do any processing of the image caused more problems. I find that Adobe Lightroom and other Adobe products work much better. However, I'm wondering if there's value to Grain Reduction. Or is that the same as some other setting in Adobe, such as Clarity? Also, am I missing out on something useful by not selecting Digital ICE Technology? What does that do?
So, as for these settings, is there something I can do differently? Is there another configuration that I didn't list here that I should adjust? Would you recommend VueScan over the Epson software? Oh, and when I use the Epson software, is there a way to set the Target Size and the settings that follow it for all images at once? I have to click on each image to set them.
Paddy C
Unused film collector
I would definitely use Vuescan over the Epson Scan software.
Once you get used to Vuescan you'll find it a great piece of scanning software IMO. I've found I get much better results through Vuescan (confirmed it again a couple weekends ago when scanning some Portra from a shoot I did).
Just recently I came across and started to use this method:
http://benneh.net/blog/index.php/2008/04/21/better-colour-neg-scanning-with-vuescan/
He's a member here. You'll see right at the top that he's updated to this:
http://benneh.net/blog/index.php/2010/09/25/vuescan-colorperfect-a-guide/
I've downloaded colorperfect and will be trying that as soon as I have time.
There is also a similar method for B&W though I've yet to try it:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/72157608204093047/
Once you get used to Vuescan you'll find it a great piece of scanning software IMO. I've found I get much better results through Vuescan (confirmed it again a couple weekends ago when scanning some Portra from a shoot I did).
Just recently I came across and started to use this method:
http://benneh.net/blog/index.php/2008/04/21/better-colour-neg-scanning-with-vuescan/
He's a member here. You'll see right at the top that he's updated to this:
http://benneh.net/blog/index.php/2010/09/25/vuescan-colorperfect-a-guide/
I've downloaded colorperfect and will be trying that as soon as I have time.
There is also a similar method for B&W though I've yet to try it:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/72157608204093047/
Jamie123
Veteran
If you look at the shadow from the hand on the glass (upper left corner) you can see that the glass surface is shiny and not dull as it would be an the ANR side. It just looks dull because of the even light.
Mablo
Well-known
I would try 48bit. That's 16bit for each channel when 24 bit is just 8bit per channel.
Jamie123
Veteran
That's an awful lot of trouble to go through for a simple scan, though. The good thing about scanning with a Nikon CS 9000 is that NikonScan (which is a decent program despite the naysayers) is that you can save files in the .NEF raw format. This means that you can then use Adobe Camera Raw to make a whole lot of adjustments like white balance, highlight recovery and even get rid of the scanner's color noise.
I know this doesn't help much if you have an Epson but the OP is thinking about getting a Nikon scanner.
RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
This is a pretty good method. I've been using it more and more with my scanning. Once I set up this way, it's good for the whole roll, and I have to resist the urge to fiddle with the Color tab settings. He's right about the profiles, particularly the color profiles. I've found some that are useful (e.g., the Fuji profiles), but mostly they aren't accurate and the labels (Gen 1, Gen 2, etc.) are meaningless to me. I've been getting better (predictable and neutral color cast) results using the 'Generic' profile setting.
/
Paddy C
Unused film collector
I can't disagree. But scanning is a lot of trouble no matter what IMO.
I would love to have the Nikon 9000 (and sort of think I should have splurged for it when I bought the V700), but I have a lot of trouble justifying the price for my needs.