What should I do with Epson V850 holder?

M_alice

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Jul 5, 2015
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Hello
I have a chance to use v850 to scan my negatives, mostly MF and B&W. After checking MF holder I can only agree with all I have already read on forums. Those new holders are simply too small. I’m sure that we have here some v850 users who has to do something about it. Please tell me, from your experience, what can I do with those holders.
a) Just deal with it, it’s not that bad…
b) Order old holders from v700 scanner. You can also place a piece of real AN glass on top of negative to flatten it (I’ve seen it done with v500).
c) Just modify holder like described here:
http://www.stockholmviews.com/epson_v850/epsonV850tweaks.html
Remove all those plastic tabs. Maybe I should also remove “glass” and replace it with some real AN glass?
d) Just forget holders. Place negative directly on scanner bed. Have you tried?
e) Use some wise DIY holder.

Any help will be appreciated.
 
I will say this - I was hesitant to shell out the cash for the betterscanning dual MF holders but I'm very happy that I did. They just arrived a few days ago are most certainly worth it. The holders now come stock with the ANR glass and are infinitely adjustable on top of being extremely well made. Doug, the man behind the holders, was very clear, upfront, and outgoing with making sure I was happy. I ordered one holder on a Monday with priority shipping and think I had it by the end of the week. If you're not very concerned with budget I highly recommend them.
 
Personally I have been happy using the supplied holders, unmodified. The 120 needs careful positioning to sit on the tabs then be clamped by the lid. There is no need to press against the holder's glass. The middle position gives best results in both the 35mm and 120 holders which tells me that my positioning is correct, as far as the makers are concerned. All my V850 scans are tagged as that both 35mm 120 and large format on my Flickr and in the Flickr V850 group.
Would I get a flatter negative, and consequent improvement across the frame, using other holders, perhaps, but I intend to try the technique suggested by Mark Segal in his excellent overview of "current" (some S/H well regarded scanners eg Nikon and Minolta are included) scanners. That is using the scanner bed and a strip of "museum glass".
If you have not read the .pdf of the overview I suggest you do, it contains much information, well presented, and is more reliable, IMHO, than the mass of comments and bold statements about what to do (this thread excluded from my sweeping generalisation) and how to do it and no other way is possible. eg my extract precis: The Imacon is good, very good, but not a leap of quality commensurate to the cost, although for some the last 10% or so is worth it whatever the cost, it certainly stayed my lust for that "upgrade".

https://luminous-landscape.com/epson-v850-pro-scanner-context/
 
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