ScanMate drum scanner DIY maintenance, troubleshooting, mods

Netsoft2k said:
I am getting better with wetmounting my negatives and now almost always wetmount the film. Everything seems to be OK but I wanted to ask if you "wash" the film after wetmounting it? I use the Kami fluid (tried Scanscience but prefer Kami) and thought it dries clean, it does leave small streaks that I don't like especially on the E6 slides.

Can you please share your tips and tricks on wetmounting and how you keep your negatives clean after scanning?
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You can watch my old video on wet mounting and see if you find any tips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCHS5yiF4Mc

I clean my film with 99.9% ultra pure Isoprophyl alcohol.

When your drum crazes from using Kami fluid, let me know I might have an extra one I can sell you.

Mr.Gale
 
Mr.Gale said:
You can watch my old video on wet mounting and see if you find any tips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCHS5yiF4Mc

I clean my film with 99.9% Isoprophyl alcohol.

When your drum crazes from using Kami fluid, let me know I might have an extra one I can sell you.

Mr.Gale
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Mr. Gale,

I did watch your video to get started and use the tips regularly - thank you. Just as FYI, I have been wet mounting for 1.5 years with Kami with multiple drums and have yet to see any difference on the drums. I am convinced that Kami in itself does not do any harm but it is possible if you mix it with other chemicals (tape, cleaners, etc.) you may get crazing though I have not seen anything. The person I bought one of my scanners from had been using Kami for at least the last 10 years on the same drums that I have from him and again, nothing unusual with the drum.

However, I agree with your approach to be better safe than sorry but since this fluid has been well tested with my drums, I feel 100% safe using it.

Regards,

Pali
 
Has anyone cracked the barcodes on the drums? I even tried to scan one & print a copy of it.. but no. It seems to be just really picky about the barcodes.
 
monkeyfist said:
Has anyone cracked the barcodes on the drums? I even tried to scan one & print a copy of it.. but no. It seems to be just really picky about the barcodes.
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It seems like a regular UPC-A format with a unique serial number to link it to a preview. Perhaps the material you are printing it on is not similar enough. Could you post an image (close-up) of both, the original and the one you printed next to a color target?
 
I was successfully able to fix a UPC on one my drums. I was unable to print it but I found one on a product that I was able to cut and tape onto the drum and it works perfectly. The key is to find a compatible UPC on a shinny silvery material that has very fine UPC code printed on. I think I have a piece of this UPC saved at home and I will try to take a photo and post here if I can find it.

It took me many failed attempts to find one that worked. I have multiple drums so I know the issue was the barcode since my scanner detected other drum just fine.
 
Netsoft2k said:
I was successfully able to fix a UPC on one my drums. I was unable to print it but I found one on a product that I was able to cut and tape onto the drum and it works perfectly. The key is to find a compatible UPC on a shinny silvery material that has very fine UPC code printed on. I think I have a piece of this UPC saved at home and I will try to take a photo and post here if I can find it.

It took me many failed attempts to find one that worked. I have multiple drums so I know the issue was the barcode since my scanner detected other drum just fine.
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So you just ripped one of from a milk carton or something like that? It seems so demanding about the barcodes, sometimes it does not even detect the one drum that has one.
 
Not long ago I purchased an inexpensive tachometer and included a few strips of reflective tape. Perhaps this material can be use to print the barcode. You can search for "tachometer reflective tape" in Amazon or eBay if interested in a sample.
 
monkeyfist said:
So you just ripped one of from a milk carton or something like that? It seems so demanding about the barcodes, sometimes it does not even detect the one drum that has one.
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I know it sounds silly but that's practically what I did. It was on a plastic wrapper of a computer cable. I'll try to look for it and post a picture soon.

I tried printing on photo paper (matte, glossy, laser) and nothing worked until I found a generic one is a silverish plastic material.

Pali
 
Netsoft2k said:
I know it sounds silly but that's practically what I did. It was on a plastic wrapper of a computer cable. I'll try to look for it and post a picture soon.

I tried printing on photo paper (matte, glossy, laser) and nothing worked until I found a generic one is a silverish plastic material.

Pali
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It sounds ingenious 🙂 thanks!
 
Not only did I find the picture, I found the item that it came from 🙂

plo0WdU.jpg


And a barcode search shows that it came from this item that I bought for polishing the drums so it is a double bonus. You get a polish kit and a 100% working UPC code on the package. One barcode is wide enough for 2 drums.

https://www.amazon.com/NOVUS-7100-P...sr=8-1&keywords=novus+7100+plastic+polish+kit
 
How you measure PMT gain at TP46? Voltmeter or oscilloscope? In reference to which ground TP100 (digital) or TP200 (analog)? I'm getting 6-7 Volts AC without reference ground. Does not change if I do gain up/down in monitor program.
 
Hello everyone!

New user of scanmate 5000 here. I have it working on a windows XP machine with the aha 2940UW SCSI card and the CQ from the abc-scan website. I have a lot of questions, but I think it will be better to ask one at a time...

The first thing i am wondering is about the size in pixels of the files. I have done an scan in B/W 16 bits tiff that is 19208 x 24072 pixels. It is a 4x5 sheet and il looks just fine, i would say. When I tried to do the same with a color sheet, the file it produced (2,66 gb) could not be opened. What does this mean? Does the limit only count for colour files?

Best regards: David
 
Welcome David! You'll absolutely love the scanner. Regarding the resolution, there is a limit due to hardware buffer on the scanners. The maximum you can scan in 16 bits RGB is 10500 pixels in a single pass. However, you can scan the negative in two passes and stitch it in Photoshop to get your desired resolution.

Read up on an earlier post by Fernando regarding some general information on the scanners to help you get started.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2278381&postcount=8

Pali
 
Ok I sorted out things. Green output is usually strongest so you must turn pots max and adjust gain for weakest channel usually Blue (up to 3VDC) and then turn Green down with pot to 3V and then Red. Or if you see some color tint in shadows then few turns on appriopriate pot clockwise.
 
Thanks for the answer!

-Another question: What is the best way so scan B/W with CQ? I had very cool results scanning color negative as slide (16 bit tiff) and then inverting in Color Perfect (i will post some soon), but i am not sure how to scan B/W properly.

-And another: Does CQ always assign srgb profile? I though it was possible to assign adobeRGB or even prophotoRGB.

-And last for today: Every time I mount the drum and do preview, the black line is located in a different place inside the preview screen. Is this some kind of malfunction? Something i can do about it?

Thanks a million: David

Bonus: Some website I can host pictures to be able to add them to my posts at this forum?
 
Here are some answers David.

-Another question: What is the best way so scan B/W with CQ? I had very cool results scanning color negative as slide (16 bit tiff) and then inverting in Color Perfect (i will post some soon), but i am not sure how to scan B/W properly.

I scan them as Positives 16 BIT Tiff and convert using ColorPerfect. Remember, this plugin is not only for color Negatives 🙂 There is a thread here to share drum scans. I look forward to seeing your results.

-And another: Does CQ always assign srgb profile? I though it was possible to assign adobeRGB or even prophotoRGB.

CQ will embed the profile if you have the embed profile on. I usually leave the setting to "Monitor Default" and then convert the 16 BIT Tiff to Adobe RGB in photoshop. There is a way to get the profile directly embedded in CQ but I find that CQ doesn't do a great job with profiles and it's best to leave profiles off. The only exception is the actual scanner profile that is used by CQScan which is an advanced setup that you should come back to after a few days of getting used to the scanner and software.

-And last for today: Every time I mount the drum and do preview, the black line is located in a different place inside the preview screen. Is this some kind of malfunction? Something i can do about it?

This is a rookie mistake and I am sure most of us did this when we first started. You are most likely not mounting the drum in the correct spot when it's locked. When the drum is locked, make sure the black line is facing towards you.

Thanks a million: David

Bonus: Some website I can host pictures to be able to add them to my posts at this forum?

Flickr is my choice and it's great!
 
Thanks Netsoft2k.

Here it is a test I made yesterday from a wedding I have shoot this summer in Iceland (I always shoot a 4x5 portrait. This wasn't the one selected, so I used it to perform tests). It is ektar 100. What do you think about the performance of the scanner?

Dry mounted, emulsion against the drum. I calibrated the focus point on the film and scanned as positive, 16 bits RGB tiff, 5000 dpi with aperture 1 and autofocus off in two halves that I later stitched together in photoshop and converted in colorperfect. A bit of color correction in lightroom but no sharpening applied in any step of the process until I exported with lightroom. I mean that the screenshots are unsharpen.

pepinaco by david barreiro, on Flickr

Some screenshots from lightroom at 100%:

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 13.00.06 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 12.59.54 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 13.00.51 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 13.01.49 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 13.01.28 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 13.02.16 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Best regards: David
 
Another test: Arista edu ultra 100 scanned just the same way than the previous one, as Netsoft2K has recommended. This is a shoot that a friend has given me to test, as it was damaged during development as it can be appreciated. Perhaps the grain has also been affected, as it looks quite big for a 100 asa film. Anyway:

siggibw by david barreiro, on Flickr

Screenshots:

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 14.03.45 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 14.03.10 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 14.02.59 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 14.02.46 by david barreiro, on Flickr

The next time i post photos will be in the other thread (I have found it). I just though that being this two posts meant for technical questions it would be ok to place them here. I basically dont know it the performance of the scanner is ok or not, although it looks quite good to me. I have not even opened it to clean it, but i will do it soon.

Best regards: David
 
Wop wop!

First problem encountered after 4 days of testing. Banding in the sky! Does someone know what this can be? There are two photos stitched together. The one with the sky presents that patter (banding?). I am scanning another one right now.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/NZHdmo]
[img]https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5613/30845492742_0c74c77e2a_h.jpg[/url]siggisimone by david barreiro, on Flickr[/IMG]

Screen Shot 2016-11-13 at 18.22.28 by david barreiro, on Flickr

Best regards: David
 
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