A Scanner for 5x7, WP and 8x10 films?

**Hugo Zhang** · 1-Apr-2010, 08:52

My knowledge and experience of scanning is limited to put a print face down on basic Epson (3490?) scanner with auto mode and press the button like a copying machine. I am not happy with the results and I also need to have a scanner which can scan my 57, whole plate and 8x10 negatives since I don't have a darkroom and have to use facilities of a nearby community college for prinnting for a few hours each week when the school is open.

I have spent some time reading people's experiece on film scanning and I am still confused. My needs are simple:

1. I want to be able to scan my films for web use only. I need decent but not great quality. I will not do digital printing.

2. I don't want to spend lots of time on scanning or learning how to scan. So no wet mounting or other fancy stuff as they take too much time.

3. No Newton rings and a scanner which can handle 5x7, whole plate and 8x10 negatives.

Base on what I read, it seems Epson 4990 is a good choice. I have read that people use hair spray on the glass surface before put the film down to avoid Newton ring. Is this true? Do I have to get holders for each size of my films?

Any suggesttion and ideas are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

**douglas gove** · 1-Apr-2010, 09:22

Originally Posted by Hugo Zhang

My knowledge and experience of scanning is limited to put a print face down on basic Epson (3490?) scanner with auto mode and press the button like a copying machine. I am not happy with the results and I also need to have a scanner which can scan my 57, whole plate and 8x10 negatives since I don't have a darkroom and have to use facilities of a nearby community college for prinnting for a few hours each week when the school is open.

I have spent some time reading people's experiece on film scanning and I am still confused. My needs are simple:

1. I want to be able to scan my films for web use only. I need decent but great quality. I will not do digital printing.

2. I don't want to spend lots of time on scanning or learning how to scan. So no wet mounting or other fancy stuff as they take too much time.

3. No Newton rings and a scanner which can handle 5x7, whole plate and 8x10 negatives.

Base on what I read, it seems Epson 4990 is a good choice. I have read that people use hair spray on the glass surface before put the film down to avoid Newton ring. Is this true? Do I have to get holders for each size of my films?

Any suggesttion and ideas are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

hugo...i use a fine misting of hair spray on contrast masks that are sandwiched with transparency for ciba printing...works wonderful...hair spray on scanner glass?...don't know about that doug

**memorris** · 1-Apr-2010, 09:26

You may want to look at the Epson 700 and 750. I se the 750 and have been quite pleased with the results. HAving Silverfast AI makes a big difference, I have found the Epson s/w to be wholly unsatisfactory. However, if you want great results you will need to go beyond basic use, not necessarily to wet mounting but more than simple turn it on and do a scan. My needs are very similar to yours and I have learned enough to get the quality desired from the scans. but when I need a scan for a print to sell, I send it to a lab to be scanned.

**Alex Wei** · 1-Apr-2010, 09:27

Microtek I90 is also a good choice. What I do is to put the negative emulsion side against glass, tape down the corners, no newton ring, just remember to flip it in PS after scan. Use low resolution like 600 dpi, that will give you a file more than good enough for web.

**Hugo Zhang** · 1-Apr-2010, 09:40

Alex,

I don't have PS(photoshop?) or know how to use it. Do I need one? How much is Microtek I90? You just tape any size of film directly on the scanner's glass?

**BradS** · 1-Apr-2010, 10:00

I have been using an Epson V700 that I found in one of the labs here at work to scan 8x10 sheets (this gets lots of strange looks from the lab rats). My needs for scanned negs are, like yours, pretty basic. I only scan negatives to satisfy my curiosity about the negative itself. I can't wait to see how I did. I sometimes go several months between darkroom sessions. I do not make prints from scans and I really don't even care too much to post on the web anymore....

I just lay the negative right on the glass and scan away. Not great but....good enough for flickr for example. The scans are actually a little bit fuzzy. I think it would be better if I were somehow able to raise the neg away from the glass a bit....still thinking about that. Maybethe scanner comes with film holders that I've not found. Anyway, this quickie scan suffices until I can make a real print in the darkroom....

**Scott Davis** · 1-Apr-2010, 10:21

Hugo-

Get the Epson V750. It comes with the appropriate negative/transparency carriers for everything smaller than 4x5, and the full-area mask for 5x7-8x10. For the bigger transparencies, the scanner will auto-focus on the glass instead of 2-3 mm above like with the carriers. the V750 comes with SilverFast AI (I believe - I know you can order it that way as a kit), which will serve as a scanner driver by itself, but is more useful as a plug-in for Photoshop (which might also come bundled with the scanner, at least the Photoshop Elements version).

**Frank Petronio** · 1-Apr-2010, 10:30

If you're not happy with the results and not using Photoshop there is a bit of a disconnect here. If you aren't using Photoshop to edit post scanning then you'll probably never get good results.

At the level you want, scanning contact prints on a consumer scanner and editing with the simple consumer software is probably your easiest and most expedient solution.

**cdholden** · 1-Apr-2010, 17:34

Originally Posted by BradS

<snip>
I just lay the negative right on the glass and scan away. Not great but....good enough for flickr for example. The scans are actually a little bit fuzzy.
<snip>

Brad,
A few shots of bourbon should bring that back into focus.
Chris

**cdholden** · 1-Apr-2010, 17:40

Originally Posted by Hugo Zhang

Alex,

I don't have PS(photoshop?) or know how to use it.

Hugo,
If the cost of Photoshop is a show stopper, check out The GIMP.
It's an open open source application that does a lot of the same things that Photoshop does.
Being open source, it has its limitations. It doesn't have the well paid development team adding features or support for it, but it runs on several operating systems and is available to download for the wee fee of free.
http://www.gimp.org/

Chris