Epson V750 Sheet Scan, Up Sensor or Down Sensor?

[RedSun]

Not sure if this is a FAQ. I scanned some roll film with the holder and top sensor. Then I tried to scan the film without holder. The top cover was removed to expose the top sensor.

But with the top cover removed, the film is not flat, but curved. So I just wonder if I should scan sheet film (or any other film without holder) the same way as positive print and use the bottom sensor instead. Then the top cover would be in place to push down the film/print to the flat.....

[towolf]

I think you are mistaken what the cover does.

The cover lid contains a lamp and a diffusor that goes through the film into the CCD sensor strip in the bottom housing. This is transparency scanning mode for film. In print scanning mode there a light source next to the sensor so light can bounce of the print. This is reflective scanning mode.

The foam pad can only be used in the latter mode obviously and you need other methods to keep the film flat and in focus. One way is using the black plastic holder frames or a piece of (AN) glass on small 2.5-4mm spacers.

[RedSun]

"Mistaken" may be too strong a word here..... I've scanned quite a bit roll and sheet films. Here I just want to experiment with scanning the roll film without holder.

Sheet film is no problem because it is flat. But the roll film (120) is very curved. I want to scan the film with the edge marks. So any film holder would defeat this purpose.

A glass or glass film holder is another option. But this introduces another issue with dust....

[djdister]

Scanning roll film without the Epson film holder will require either sheets of glass, the wet mount accessory or something like the anti-newton film holder that betterscanning.com sells.

[RedSun]

I have the wet mount. May want to try it...

[gnuyork]

Not sure if this is a FAQ. I scanned some roll film with the holder and top sensor. Then I tried to scan the film without holder. The top cover was removed to expose the top sensor.

But with the top cover removed, the film is not flat, but curved. So I just wonder if I should scan sheet film (or any other film without holder) the same way as positive print and use the bottom sensor instead. Then the top cover would be in place to push down the film/print to the flat.....

As far as I know there is no sensor in the top of the lid, just a light source, so by putting that cover on to scan film would not work out so well (but I have never tried it).

[Jim Andrada]

For what it's wort...

Of course you can scan a negative as if it were a print. You'll get an image alright.

The big issue I believe is how suitable that image will be. The reflective white faced foam pad doesn't reflect anywhere near as much light as the scanning lamp in the cover puts out. Also the light will be taking two trips through the film so you'll have more losses due to film base + fog. All in all I expect you'll get a scan with muddy highlights and lower contrast.

But of course I could be wrong. Give it a try and tell us what you get.

[Pali K]

I wonder if OP has removed the top lid of the scanner or just the film holder. In any case, if you want to scan with the film border you have two options. Dan already pointed out the first but if you want to use the high resolution scanner with holders, you will need to cut edges of the holder with a utility blade to expose parts of the film edges. For example, you can shave off the edges for a part of the holder that would otherwise cover 1 frame of your negative. The film can still be clamped outside of this edge-less area.

If you have ANR Glass and wet-mounting kit, then that would be the better, but more time consuming way to go.

Hope this helps.

Pali

[koraks]

Removing the top cover would probably prevent the scanner from scanning in film mode; that is, if the cover remains connected to the scanner but is simply left up, then the film scanning mode should work, but instead of the controlled diffusor light source in the lid, the ambient light would be used to illuminate the film. This will surely impact the quality of the scan, since ambient light will generally be a lot weaker than the light source in the lid, and it may be less even as well. For scanning edge marks, I concur that just a few plates of (ANR) glass would work, and just leave the lid on. The light source is specifically intended for film scanning and the software is optimized for getting good results with that light source.

[towolf]

I measured the light in the lid to be EV 17. Quite bright.