How long do you wait after processing before scanning film?

Austerby

Well-known
Local time
8:53 AM
Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Messages
1,069
How long do you wait after processing before scanning film?

I'm usually eager enough to see the results that I scan whilst the film is still bowed or curled. I should probably re-scan when I do this. It's one of the reasons I like Ilford film and despaired of Rollei film - an FP4+ or HP5+ is so well-behaved compared to a Retro 400 for example.

I'm trying out Tri-X at the moment, which I find bows a lot (ie along the vertical axis when hung up to dry) then curls alot (ie along the horizontal axis) when cut into 6-frame lengths.
 
can't wait either. i wait till the film is dry, then cut it, put it into the sleeve and flatten it for 15 minutes between some heavy large books before i scan it.
 
Usually I wait overnight, but if I'm in a hurry, I quick-dry with isopropyl alcohol and scan right away..
 
I cut my film (typically Tri-X) in strips of 6 and put them in Print File pages, then I put the whole page in my v700 to make a contact sheet of sorts. Then take the page and roll in opposite direction of the bend/arch of the negatives, tape and wait a couple days...Because the process take a few days to get the Tri-X bend/curl out, the contact sheet kind of cools down the anticipation you speak of
 
Process and dry. Sleeve. Then weigh down with a pile of books. Scan the next day. If you rush it, you'll get Newton rings where the curled film is too close to the glass. Unless you've spent extra for glass holders. A little delayed grat goes a long way.
 
I keep the film rolled emulsion side facing outside at least for half a day before scanning.
 
Using good weights and a small space to dry the film, you can mitigate the curl by placing a small hot pan of water under the film. This slows the drying of the emulsion and will allow the film to sit much flatter.

Phil Forrest
 
I usually develop my film in the early evening, then hang it to dry in the bathroom. Initially the film curls terrible but the next day its nice and flat.
BTW I hang a small fishing weight at the end off the film pulling it straight ;-)
 
I usually develop at night around 11 pm. Cut and start scanning in the morning before work. Finish scanning that night.

I've come to accept that my scans will be sub-part - that I'm missing a bunch of detail due to curling - but if I think I really have something nice I can always try flattening and rescanning. So far thats only happened 2 or 3 times. Most of the time the results are good enough as is. Or I'm shooting film which doesn't curl as much.
 
I have taken a different approach. I am just now sleeving and filing negatives that have been in their envelops since the 90s:D
I am trying to get all my negatives in chronological order (fairly easy), then I need to match up all the prints in the albums to the corresponding negatives (not gonna be so easy).
I want all my prints to be kept in display boxes so the kids can thumb through them, but I want them numbered so if I want another print or a scan, i know where the negative is.
 
Back
Top Bottom