Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Scanning with AN glass

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Posts
    2,428

    Scanning with AN glass

    I have been looking at some of the rigs in which you tape your negative to AN glass, which is then suspended over the scanner bed so you scan through the AN glass and the negative hanging below it.

    How hard is it to get the tape residue off the negative?

    Can you scan through AN glass, i.e., could you sandwich a negative between two pieces of glass with the AN surfaces on the inside of the sandwich, and the sandwich then shimmed above the scanner bed so it is not touch the scanner bed? This would be an easy way to have a flat negative and no tape.

    How much does AN glass affect the image if you scan through it?

  2. #2

    Re: Scanning with AN glass

    Hanging below won't help with film flatness.
    Tape residue is no problem at all, nothing to remove, really - depending on tape used.
    Yes you could scan a sandwich but I'm not sure it will be helpful.
    I'd work on a way to hold the film under tension with no glass contact at all, or fluid mount instead.
    TMax100 is about the only film that has a problem with newton rings when laying directly on the glass emulsion down.

  3. #3
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    6,286

    Re: Scanning with AN glass

    Use Scotch Magic Tape, the real one; you'll have no residue, and it really holds the film well.
    Scanning through two pieces of glass will likely deteriorate the scanned image.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Posts
    2,428
    Sadly, Tmax 400 is even worse than 100.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    St Paul, MN
    Posts
    620

    Re: Scanning with AN glass

    I've got AN glass from Focal Pointe and have been having trouble with it and Portra. Always Newton Rings. On my 4990 I have the platen-negative face down towards platen-AN glass foggy side against film. Negative/glass propped on pennies off the platen. I thought that's how the directions stated to use it but I still get newton rings. Sandwhiching between glass has made them worse.
    My website Flickr
    "There is little or no ‘reality’ in the blacks, grays and whites of either the informational or expressive black-and-white image" -Ansel Adams

  6. #6
    (Shrek)
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Montreal
    Posts
    2,044

    Re: Scanning with AN glass

    Try ground glass instead of AN, obviously only above the neg. But taped to that, air space below, should be ring-free. The GG might lower contrast slightly, though I've found it easier to manage tonality using this method.

  7. #7
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2001
    Location
    Fond du Lac, WI, USA
    Posts
    8,944

    Re: Scanning with AN glass

    With consumer flatbeds, the sensor and lens are under the glass platen, and the light source is in the lid. If you tape a negative to the bottom of a sheet of AN glass and use feet to hold the glass off of the scanner platen, then you are not scanning through the AN glass. The light is going from the light source and through the AN glass, negative, scanner glass, off a couple of first surface mirrors, through a lens, and onto a sensor. You don't want to put AN glass between the negative and the sensor unless you really have to. It will limit what you can resolve. You'll get smears instead of sharp grain, for example. This might not be noticeable, though, depending on the resolution of the scan.
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Chicago, IL
    Posts
    1,424

    Re: Scanning with AN glass

    I've seen granularity from scanning through AN glass at 1200 DPI on an Epson... So you definitely don't want to scan through it. The "suspended upside-down" method is best.

Similar Threads

  1. anti-glare or museum glass for scanning?
    By PViapiano in forum Digital Processing
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 5-May-2009, 03:52
  2. Scanning with ANR glass
    By Ben Syverson in forum Digital Hardware
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 28-Mar-2009, 06:41
  3. Scanning and printing old BW glass plate negatives.
    By Big Fish in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 14-Dec-2008, 13:19
  4. Scanning Glass Plate Negatives
    By John Flavell in forum Digital Hardware
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 20-Apr-2005, 06:07
  5. anti-newton ring glass for scanning
    By sproggy in forum Digital Hardware
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 13-Nov-2003, 01:43

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •