Originally Posted by
oysteroid
Yes, that holder with anti-newton-ring-glass would certainly be better for holding the film flat. I am surprised that you feel that you need to get the included plastic holder closer to the glass than it can possibly go in order to get optimal focus. Mine is optimally focused with the little adjustment things pointed toward the "O", which is basically the middle setting. Taking them off entirely is the lowest setting. Pointing them toward the "+" is the highest setting. But you can get levels in between with little paper shims if you like. Anyway, if yours truly has a focal point below the lowest setting, this points to rather poor consistency between different samples of these scanners.
But as far as flatness goes, I don't really have any problem. I just stick the negatives between some pages of a heavy textbook and stick it on a warm radiator if they are curved and they flatten right out and remain quite flat in my holder. I get consistent focus across the frame. This is for 4x5 sheet film though. I haven't tried that with roll film. For my purposes, it doesn't seem worth messing with fluid mounts or anything, especially since solvents are involved, and it is cold here in Colorado, and so good ventilation is out of the question. And while I don't really know how much of a problem it is, it seems to me that introducing more refractive surfaces, such as another sheet of glass, could reduce quality in some way or another. For one thing, light bounces back and forth between the two surfaces of a sheet of glass, just like you see in a silver-backed mirror. Ideally, there would be no glass at all. But dust getting inside would be a nightmare.
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