I get far sharper scans out of my Epson 4990 when I put the chrome in the holder image up and then flip it over in Photoshop. I speculate the middle of the chrome bows up and by putting it in the supposed wrong way, gravity flattens it out.
I am wondering if there is any downside (pardon the pun) to putting the emulsion side the wrong way in the scanner. I have not noticed anything, but was wondering if it might affect contrast, color, etc.
I do this also with the 4990. I haven't noticed any downside, other than the extra time it takes to flip the scans in Photoshop.
Brian Vuillemenot
I used to do this until I started scanning between two sheets of non-glare glass placed directly on top of the 8x10 tranny adapter guide. I find this set up works quite well. You can see some actual pixel crops of an 8x10 color neg scan on my blog -- but there are some big images there, so give the page a second to load, www.jack.omniblog.com
Last edited by Jack Flesher; 15-Nov-2006 at 18:12.
I'm still chained to my 2450.... (sniff!) Had a huge problem with Newton's rings, tried flipping the film and still got them when the film popped during long scans. The solution for me, was to use tape on the ends of the film sheet, putting a little tension on the film so it doesn't "pop" when it heats up. I put the film in emulsion down so the tape only touches the back of the sheet. This is a bit of a PITA, but it seems to have eradicated the Newton's rings...
Jack,
Would you please share the details of your two pieces of non-glare glass?
Short version so folks will actually read itOriginally Posted by Henry Ambrose
Wanted to try anti-Newton glass on my 4990, but it is pricey. So I got the idea to try it out with "mock" anti-Newton glass and went to a framing shop and bought two sheets of anti-glare framing glass (They had scraps and it was really cheap, like $5.) There are 4 types -- green (UV) or clear with either one or both sides anti-glare -- I went with the clear, one side. I had it cut to fit directly on my scanner's glass top -- I think it was 8-7/8 inches by 11-7/8, but will have to measure it to get the exact dimensions. Anyway, it is the same size as my scanner main glass. I figured if results suggested it might work, I would spring for the real stuff...
I set the 8x10 transparency, or "full area" scanning guide as Epson calls it, on the scanner, set one sheet of AG glass on top of that, AG side UP, toward the neg. I set the neg directly on top of that, then place the next sheet of AG glass on top of the neg, AG side DOWN. In the end, you have the neg sandwiched between the AG surfaces of the two sheets of AG glass. This way you get NO Newton rings on the neg. The shiny side of the bottom AG glass is held above the scanner glass itself by the thickness of the full area scan adapter, thus preventing Newton rings at that surface and the shiny side of the top glass faces up but is still below the glass in the lid that houses the tranny lamp, so no Newton rings at that juncture either.
You need the two sheets to sandwich the neg, because any place the neg is not in contact with the AG surface will blur the scan notably as it gets further away.
Anyway, it works pretty darn well as can be seen by the crop I posted on my blog per my last post... I am probably going to order the real AN glass anyway, but wanted to prove the concept before laying out the cash for it!
Cheers,
Last edited by Jack Flesher; 15-Nov-2006 at 20:06.
I think this is a fairly well-accepted technique. I've read about it other places and I've been doing it that way for several years. I'm not aware of any downside. I've always assumed Epson says to do it the other way just because of the need to flip when it's done the "wrong" way.
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
Jack,
When you say anti-glare glass, are you referring the "museum glass" sold by places such as Aaron Bros. for framing? I would like to try your method, but want to make sure I get the right stuff.
Sorry Harley, I don't know for sure, but I suspect any anti-glare glass will work. I just went ot my local frame shop and asked for anti-glare framing glass. They asked me which kind: UV or clear, one or two sided? If it helps, you can tell the anti-glare side easily on the stuff I am using.
Last edited by Jack Flesher; 15-Nov-2006 at 20:41.
Jack: I tried using a piece of anti-glare glass after reading a post on this forum. The person posting mentioned about holding down the slide with coins in the corners. I bought the glass and tried the method. I did not see an improvement. On the contrary, the image was noticeably less sharp. I guess shooting through an extra layer of glass and the anti-glare coating affected the scan.
The anti-glare coating on my glass has a very slight frosted look to it. Is that the type you are using? Maybe I got the wrong kind.
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