Scanning 8" x 10" Negs Newton Rings

[Murray Fredericks]

Hi All,

I need a reasonable scanner for making 'preliminary' scans of my 8" x 10" negs for general editing purposes. I intend to send out for top quality drum scans when it is exhibition time...

I have tested the Epson 4990 and the Artixscan 1800 and have had major problems with Newton Rings on both scanners (I tested scanning the film emulsion up and down).

Has anyone encoutered the same problems and what has been done to over come it?

Cheers

Murray

[mark blackman]

Murray,
I have no problems scanning 10x8 B&W and transparencies on my 4990, with the emulsion either way up. I understand the DOF of the lens used is a few millimetres, so perhaps you could try placing a sheet of ant-newton glass on top of the scanner bed? Having said that, I'd expect the scanner glass to be anti-newton already. Perhaps you have been unlucky with the scanner you used? Epson state that the 4990 is capable of scanning 10x8 film, without a holder (the 'film guide' is just a flimsy piece of thin plastic that appears to serve no use). How bad are the rings - viewable at 1:1?

[Ben Diss]

Have you thought about trying the liquid mounting stuff used for drum scanning? I have the 1800 but I haven't tried scanning 8x10's yet.

-Ben

[Jack Brady]

Murray,

I would like to suggest that you consider buying a used Howtek 4500 drum scanner. This would accomplish several things for you:
Mount negs on drum with Kami solution under acetate sheet - no rings and excellent scan.
Do your initial scans
Do your finished scans at up to 4,000 dpi and gives you the total control you wish of the scan.

I just sold my 4500 for $1850 with 2 drums and Trident software/dongle. It was in excellent working order.

I sold because I was offered an outstanding deal on the Howtek 8000 and could not pass it up. However, I find the quality of scan from the 4500 is very close to the 8000.

IF this fits in your budget, you would also want to allocate funds for the Aztek DPL Pro software - I find it to be dramatically better than the alternatives. You can learn about it at aztek.com and get a price from them. It only runs on PC, not Mac.

Regards,
Jack

[Ed Richards]

Jack - any tips on where to buy drum scanners? I am really leary about buying one on Ebay - I would be willing to pay more for a reputable vendor and some warranty, beyond "it was working when I found in the back of the abandoned warehouse."

[Frank Doering]

Murray,

Tetenal make "Anti Newton Spray" (poor Isaac bearing the brunt for the rings). It adds the microscopic bumps to a normal piece of glass that destroy the even interference patterns of Newton rings. It's available in Germany. Maybe someone there can ship.

Frank

[paulr]

I would try to make the flatbed scanners work before buying a drum scanner. Unless you're scanning transparencies or making huge enlargements, you won't see a quality difference from the drum scan.

if the anit-newt spray doesn't work well enough, i would try wet mounting. you don't want to do this right on the scanner glass, because of the risk of getting fluid into the scanner. it will be messy and very hard to dust everything properly. i'd experiment with wet mounting to float glass. you can cut a mask out of construction pape or matboard, to eliminate stray light and to keep the floatglass/film off the scanner glass.

It might help to use a thick (2mm+) float glass, to make it rigid enough to stay flat. you can mount the film on the bottom side of the glass, and use the thickness of your masking material to adjust the height for optimum focus.

With a setup like this you should be able to get 2400ppi real resolution, or very close to it, from a 4990. Probably much more than you need from an 8x10 neg ... the files would be gigantic.

[Murray Fredericks]

Thanks for all the responses!!

I will try the mount board first, can I kindly ask for more info in this regard? Is it a sandwich between two sheets or taped to one. Is there a name for the best kind of board to use?

Also, do I need to invest in Silverfast Ai or use the software that comes boxed with the 4990?

As I stated originally, I will be sending out for best quality scans at exhibition time. The Epson is for proofing and for demo prints etc.

Thanks

Murray

[Murray Fredericks]

Thanks Matt,

I have purchased the Epson 4990 this afternoon and am busy scanning using a simple cardboard 8 x 10 sandwich display mount.

Newton rings have gone and things are going well. I will test the Epson software now also.

Cheers

Murray