sreed2006
Well-known
I have had some negatives laying flat under my biggest book for a week, and they still want to curl up. That makes it really difficult to get two strips at one time into the Epson flatbed scanner's negative holder.
So I went to the hardware store and got some square steel tubing, cut two pieces to length, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and solved the problem.
I call this new invention "FETHO", for "Flatten 'em the heck out."
The tubes wrapped in plastic:
fetho_0 by sreed2006, on Flickr
The curled negatives:
fetho_1 by sreed2006, on Flickr
Flattened one at a time:
fetho_3 by sreed2006, on Flickr
Put the top over the negatives, easily:
fetho_4 by sreed2006, on Flickr
And they're ready to go:
fetho_5 by sreed2006, on Flickr
Now, scanning curled negatives is not a major pain.
(I know this is obvious so I won't be applying for a patent.)
So I went to the hardware store and got some square steel tubing, cut two pieces to length, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and solved the problem.
I call this new invention "FETHO", for "Flatten 'em the heck out."
The tubes wrapped in plastic:
fetho_0 by sreed2006, on Flickr
The curled negatives:
fetho_1 by sreed2006, on Flickr
Flattened one at a time:
fetho_3 by sreed2006, on Flickr
Put the top over the negatives, easily:
fetho_4 by sreed2006, on Flickr
And they're ready to go:
fetho_5 by sreed2006, on Flickr
Now, scanning curled negatives is not a major pain.
(I know this is obvious so I won't be applying for a patent.)
tj01
Well-known
The Canon 8800f have individual sleeves on hinge, much easier to load.
ray*j*gun
Veteran
I love the way my V500 scans but the neg holders are a real PIA....thanks for the tip!!!
sreed2006
Well-known
@ray*j*gun: I also have an Epson V500 scanner, and also think the neg holder is bad, bad, bad. But, this was a cheap solution.
sreed2006
Well-known
UPDATE - I posted this on the "I Shoot Film" group on Flickr, and another user was kind enough to point out the guides built into the Epson negative scanner, on the right side of the holder. Slide the right end of the negatives into the slots under the guides, and it only takes two hands to load the negatives into the holder.
notraces
Bob Smith
Why not buy a piece of AN glass from focal point, or Doug at betterscanning.com? Works great for me - I have two pieces of 120 size glass, and two 35mm size. Keeps the negs very flat.
sreed2006
Well-known
These particular negatives had a very strong tendency to curl. I don't have ANR glass, but is it heavy enough to keep really pesky negatives flat?