Betterscanning.com holders, worth it?

[sooner]

Hi Folks,

The last time I scanned medium format negs on my Epson 4490 they were blurry, not sharp at all. The negs were pretty curled and warped, yet to the naked eye they looked plenty sharp. Some scans also suffered from Newton's rings. I have contacted betterscanning.com but the new holders now come with anti-newton glass standard, and the price is about $80 all told, and I only paid $99 for the scanner. So, I need some convincing, is this really going to wow me with much better scans relative to the investment? Thanks in advance.....John/sooner

 

[Jamie123]

Is it going to wow you? Probably not. Is there going to be an improvement? I think so.

The holders will help you get the most out of your scanner but they will not transform it into a high end machine.

 

[mfogiel]

sooner
How much have you paid for your MF camera?
If you have paid quite a bit, then get a scanner which does not put your negs at the level of a holga. If not, sell your MF camera back, and stick to 35 mm with a dedicated film scanner. The only other solution is to use your flatbed to scan prints made in a darkroom.

 

[Bluesman]

"use your flatbed to scan prints made in a darkroom"

..and not even that will do your negatives full justice. We just need to realize that none of the (current) digital media will display the tonal spectrum of a good negative properly. And on the web, it doesn´t matter anyway if you have a crappy flatbed home scanner or a pro film thingy. Preprint is a different story - but I have still to see a laser printer that gives the same tonal quality as a paper print from the darkroom. And I have seen a lot of printers trying.

Darkroom copy still rules. Digital is close, but no cigar, Yet.

/Richard

 

[bmattock]

I have the glass insert (anti-Newton glass) made by Betterscanning for the 35mm holder for the Epson 4490. I'm not that thrilled by it.

First of all, it's just a piece of etched glass, although it was not cheap. It does not integrate with the holder - you just substitute it for the cover that clicks on to the top of the film. You can only use it for one of the two 'channels' of film. It does not extend to the end of the channel, so you can only scan four or five frames at a time, not the six that the channel will hold.

But my biggest complaint is that it is not heavy enough to actually hold down really curly film. The basic Epson holder is miserable if your film is at all curly - the film actually pops the holder out of the top cover where it latches in. The glass is no better - you lay it on top of the curly film and it just slides off to one side.

I ended up using gaffer's tape to hold the bloody thing down on the film - at both ends. After scanning, I had to pry the tape up on one end and fish the film out, then repeat. Very slow workflow.

HOWEVER - if you go through that agony, you do get scans that are better focused - since the film plane is reasonably flat.

I realize that Betterscanning makes a MF holder which is the entire holder, not just a piece of glass for the stock 35mm holder. I may yet buy it - it appears to be a good design, and the stock Epson design is not - to say it sucks rocks would be unkind to rocks.

If it truly does hold the film flat, then it could be worthwhile. However, my one experience with Betterscanning, with the 35mm glass, was not that great.

Sorry not to have more info for you. I understand what you're going through - the mf film is great scanned with the 4490 as long as the stuff is flat.

 

[bmattock]

sooner
How much have you paid for your MF camera?
If you have paid quite a bit, then get a scanner which does not put your negs at the level of a holga. If not, sell your MF camera back, and stick to 35 mm with a dedicated film scanner. The only other solution is to use your flatbed to scan prints made in a darkroom.

I think that's a bit extreme. My 4490 (and 2400 before that) were both quite capable scanners for medium format film. The 4490 is not terrible for 35mm, although my Scan Dual IV is better (and faster).

However, for the price, the quality is quite nice. The biggest problem with the 4490 is that the film holders do not properly hold the film flat if it has a tendency to curl. That causes focus errors.

Personally, I cannot afford a medium format dedicated film scanner, so my choice is this - or nothing. I'll take the 4490.

 

[foto_fool]

I bought a V500 new from Epson for $200 and popped for the betterscanning adjustable rollfilm holder. The scans are no better or worse than with the Epson holder but the new holder is more solid, flatter and easier to use than the stock holder.

It sounds like your refurb 4490 may have a focus problem, which you can address with the adjutable-height betterscanning holder easier than with bits of tape on the bottom of your stock holder. Best of luck.

 

[bmattock]

I bought a V500 new from Epson for $200 and popped for the betterscanning adjustable rollfilm holder. The scans are no better or worse than with the Epson holder but the new holder is more solid, flatter and easier to use than the stock holder.

It sounds like your refurb 4490 may have a focus problem, which you can address with the adjutable-height betterscanning holder easier than with bits of tape on the bottom of your stock holder. Best of luck.

I don't want to speak for others, but I suspect that the problem is not the 4490 per se. The problem with focus occurs when you try to scan a very curly film (I mean curly lengthwise, not curly like it tries to roll back up). You put it in the holder and it is so curly, the spring pressure can POP the latch and the film bows up. I have some that is very flat (Tri-X) and some that is very curly (cheap drugstore C-41). With the 35mm film, you can start with reasonably flat film, and the actual heat of extended scanning can make it bow up.

Once it bows - the focus becomes a problem. Gotta find a way to hold it flat, without just mashing it down on the glass (you get newton rings that way).

So I suspect the holder as being the problem - combined with unruly film. Not the scanner as such. The 4490 is a perfectly capable scanner.

 

[kaiyen]

IMO, you need both - the holder and the AN glass from betterscanning. Yes, it's almost the price of the scanner, but it's a perfectly good scanner, does justice to my images (considering what it takes to get up to a Nikon 8000, 9000, much less an Imacon), and the AN glass _does_ flatten the negatives in his holders. For medium format, the film is _way_ flatter than with the little t-locks that used to come with the original holder.

I have a 6x6 slide scanned on an Epson 3200 (so older than the 4490) with the holder and AN glass that was blown up to 4'x4' (yes, 4 feet) and it is _stunning_.

 

[sooner]

Intuitively, I like the idea of putting the neg under glass to keep it flat. The Epson holder just doesn't cut it with curling film. I hadn't really thought about whether MY epson is malfunctioning; it does make a horrid clack-clack-clacking sound sometimes, but otherwise performs fine. A recent scan of some flat MF Portra came out just fine. I don't expect drum scanner results, just the same quite good results others seem to get with their 4490's. Thanks for the replies...I'm now definitely leaning toward spending the money.

 

[aad]

I have a 4490 and the MF holder with glass. If your film is curly it's the best thing you can do to assure decent scans-if your film is flat, it's still nice but not necessary.

The 35mm glass-I was probably the first one with this, and actually provided the dimensions-but Mr.Mattock is right. I ended up with a film scanner.

 

[remegius]

sooner
How much have you paid for your MF camera?
If you have paid quite a bit, then get a scanner which does not put your negs at the level of a holga.

And which scanner, exactly, would you recommend?

Cheers...

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

I have two of Doug Fisher's film holders: one for MF (inc two AN Glass inserts) the other for sheet film for use on the Epson V750. Both when adjusted, outperform the supplied Epson film holders IMHO. I still prefer the results from my Nikon 5000 for 35mm scans.