Can't get frames to line up on Coolscan 5000

[noimmunity]

I just tried feeding my first full 36 exp roll into the Coolscan 5000 through the SA-30 adapter last night.
I had a heck of a time trying to get the right frame offset for the whole roll. When I had previously tried 6-frame strips with the standard adapter, the Coolscan did the offset automatically.
I know it is possible to set the offset manually, but there are several complications. The first is actually getting the first frame right. On a full roll, there is a huge leader, and i can't seem to get the Coolscan to pass over that. Finally I just cut the leader off, then manually tweaked the offset setting. But then near the end of the roll, the frames were slightly off.
I'm using Vuescan, and cannot find full documentation on how to use it (the Vuescan help index is very limited).

 

[noimmunity]

Okay. My update on this:
Vuescan started experiencing strange sorts of instability even when using the stock feeder for strips of six frames. I was beginning to think my copy of Vuescan had become corrupted.
So I installed and used Nikon Scan. (Why don't people like Nikon Scan?). Before feeding a roll through, I cut off most of the leader. It worked marvellously.
Then I went back to using Vuescan and it worked, too.
Go figure.

 

[KenD]

I have come to believe that instability is a fact of life with the Coolscan 5000. I am using Nikon Scan (Windows Version... may be a big part of the problem) and get frequent lockups with the 6 exposure strip feeder.

 

[Kevin]

Firstly, try not to cut through any socket holes.

Sometimes it helps to prescan the first frame of the roll and/or reverse the entire roll.

If some of your negatives are very light and there is no clear border between frames then this problem will happen mid-roll as well.

 

[sanmich]

I'm facing the same problem exactly.
I want to use vuescan because of it capacity to scan from preview without re-eating the film.
But damn! I can't get the detection of the viewing area right.
I mean, within the viewing area, you can just manually set the picture ofset, but how the heck do you force "it" to present you the right viewing area??:bang::bang:
It sounds incredible that there is no manual way to do it...

 

[maddoc]

This is what I do (Coolscan 4000ED + SA-30 / Vuescan):

- cut the leader (1 - 2 mm before the first frame) leaving the sprocket holes intact.

- insert the film and start Vuescan, set batch-scan "OFF" and in the "input" page set "frame-space", "frame-offset (?)" to "0"

- preview first frame (resolution "auto" to speed up things) and check for the frame alignment. I always start with crop-settings "auto-crop" and crop-size to "35mm film"

- adjust frame-offset one click, the off-set can only be adjusted in about 1mm steps using the slider-button. Entering different values manually into the frame-offset field is asking for trouble.

- pre-scan again and check if it is correctly aligned. I sometimes have to repeat the "frame-offset" adjust / preview sequence up to 3 times until it fits. If I can't handle it with "auto-crop" setting, I choose manual-crop and adjust the frame myself with the "Y-offset" / "X-offset" slider buttons.

- Enter the target-directory and other settings and set batch-scan to "List", enter the frame-numbers", press "scan" and check from time to time the processed frames.

 

[imush]

I used 5000ED and Coolscan IV before this, and never had lockups... But my friend who borrowed it once reported a similar problem, so I think it is Windows-specific. I use Mac at home (also used vuescan for Linux before I had a Mac, but never used Windows).

Frames can sometimes shift a bit, but mostly this happens when the advance is uneven (one old Russian camera's film advance is afflicted with incurable gout), or the negatives are underexposed or have a completely thin side, e.g. if you shoot a subject on dark scene, so the scanner cannot figure out the frame edge.

 

[sanmich]

This is what I do (Coolscan 4000ED + SA-30 / Vuescan):

- cut the leader (1 - 2 mm before the first frame) leaving the sprocket holes intact.

- insert the film and start Vuescan, set batch-scan "OFF" and in the "input" page set "frame-space", "frame-offset (?)" to "0"

- preview first frame (resolution "auto" to speed up things) and check for the frame alignment. I always start with crop-settings "auto-crop" and crop-size to "35mm film"

- adjust frame-offset one click, the off-set can only be adjusted in about 1mm steps using the slider-button. Entering different values manually into the frame-offset field is asking for trouble.

- pre-scan again and check if it is correctly aligned. I sometimes have to repeat the "frame-offset" adjust / preview sequence up to 3 times until it fits. If I can't handle it with "auto-crop" setting, I choose manual-crop and adjust the frame myself with the "Y-offset" / "X-offset" slider buttons.

- Enter the target-directory and other settings and set batch-scan to "List", enter the frame-numbers", press "scan" and check from time to time the processed frames.

Thanks Gabor,
Works fine!

 

[dfoo]

I use the same technique as Gabor. The only time I end up with issues midroll is if I accidently overlapped two frames (ie: took the film out mid-roll and then didn't wind on far enough when re-loading).