Epson V600 and ANR glass

[Sid836]

I am about to get ANR glass for my epson v600 film holder. I have noticed that these ANR glass plates are placed on the film. The maker suggests placing curvy film with the emulsion side down. Does that have an impact to the quality of the output? I had noticed that for black and white film the contrast gets higher when scanning with the emulsion side facing down. Does anyone have any experience with the ANR glass plates and 135 film? Is it worth it?

 

[Erik van Straten]

It is absolutely worth it. It keeps the film flat.

Do not use the film holder. Remove the white pressure cushion from the top part of the scanner. Just lay your negatives (I cut them in pieces of 6 frames) on the glass plate of the scanner with the emulsion side down. Then lay the AN glass with the dull side down on the negatives. Take care the negatives are right under the hole of the top lid of the scanner. Use the professional modus. Document type: film. 16-bit gray. 3200 dpi. All other settings off. First make an example scan. Modify the hologram, and then: go!

Erik.

 

[Sid836]

Thank you very much Erik. Your photo looks wonderful. One more question though, would Epson Scan work without the film holder? Should I get an AN plate for 6x6 film, or two for 135? Would the 6x6 sized one cover two stripes of 135?

 

[Erik van Straten]

Yes, it works without the film holder. Mine does, so ... I have an AN plate for 135, but I guess that a 6x6 plate will work too.

I only scan frame for frame. I only scan the frames that are worth it. Over the years I have learnt to judge the negatives just by looking at them with a strong loupe.

When scanning, don't forget to use the built in densitometer. A wonderful instrument that will help you to find the right tones.

Erik.

 

[Sid836]

I will get the 6x6 glass then. I also shoot medium format and if it works so nicely for 135, it would certainly make things better for MF too.
I scan just the frames that worth it too. I make a quick scan of the entire stripe and then get the ones that really worth something.

 

[Gregm61]

Erik, can I pick your brain?

I just took delivery of a V600 scanner and the ANR glass to try and duplicate, to some extent, the quality similar to what you achieve, which is consistently just about as good as I see anywhere you see scanned images being posted on the internet.

The one difference is going to be in the base material as I have been shooting Ilford ISO 50 film, but have some initial rolls of TMAX 400 I plan on running through my Leica M4, M6 and Contax IIA over the next several days.

I think I figured out pretty much all of the software where you described the settings you use. I also own Vuescan and so will almost certainly give it a try too.

Other than adding the white background, do you do any "finishing" work in Photoshop or similar program in terms of touch-up/dust removal/sharpening, or are you just utilizing the controls in the Epson software for histogram, lightness, darkening, etc?

I plan to do a little initial testing with the dust removal both on and then off, figuring the sharper setting overall may be with it off, meaning I'll be left with some touchup work to do.

 

[charjohncarter]

I use ANR glass from Better Scan; I do the emulsion side down with the 135 holder and the ANR glass on top. With the curve down you are not flat, and you have a chance of Newton Rings. I have also used 135 negatives on the scanner glass, either way, with the ANR glass on top.

I do this when I have a curved negative that won't flatten in the holder. I had Tap Plastic make me a 3x9 inch of 1/8 inch plastic that I butt against the side of the scanner and then I can butt the negative against the plastic. I then place the ANR on the negative. This keeps the negative square so the scans are straight.

 

[Erik van Straten]

I do not know Vuescan, except when you mean the software of the V600. O, yes, I use Photoshop, sure. I have a very old version of Photoshop Elements 2. I turn the pictures until they are straight, then I cut them and make a white border around them. I give some sharpening (Unsharp Mask 1,0 pixel at 343%), I remove the dust with the Smudge Tool (I love that thing). Finally I make a web version, much smaller. So the pictures in my files are different from the ones you see on the web.

With the V600 a holder is not necessary. It has autofocus. I just lay the negative on the glass plate (emulsion down) and cover it with AN-glass.

Erik.

 

[Gregm61]

I played with a few negatives last night after getting everything set up, laying them flat on the glass like you mentioned with the ANR glass on top. It got a little too late to do much anything else. This evening I plan to spend some more time with it.

Creating TIFF from the scan at ISO 3200 gives one pretty good-size, detailed files to work in Adobe Camera raw, where there's a very nice dust-removal tool I'll most likely try with it.

 

[Erik van Straten]

I simply make Jpegs, 16-bit grey at 3200. All options are OFF, except the histogram adapter. I always use the densitometer to find the right histogram setting for A. lights, B. blacks and C. grays. This is the most complicated part of the workflow.

It is much better to remove dust in Photoshop.

I like this way of working because it is very much like wet darkroom printing wich I did for many years.

Erik.

 

[Gregm61]

Thank you!