Scanning 4x5 film with borders on Epson scanners

[arkady n.]

I have an older flatbed Epson scanner that I use to scan 4x5 film. I use Epson-supplied plastic film holder, but it intrudes into the film. If I place the film right on the glass I get Newton rings. Is there some practical solution that would allow me to scan 4x5 film with its borders?

[Gary Beasley]

Have you tried placing the film emulsion side down on the glass, then flipping the image in PS after the scan? Newton rings are usually the worst with the back in contact, as it it smoother and can get in closer contact.

[Scott Knowles]

I use an Epson V750 scanner and use the film holders. They sent me the instructions to define a larger than default film size using the preview mode and the marquee icon in the preview window to size the image you want to define for the scan. If you want I can forward the instructions they sent me.

[Bill L.]

I use two pieces of anti-glare glass on an epson 4870. Put the "frosted" sides in towards the film, and I use a couple of post-it notes to keep the glass off of the scanner glass. This works pretty well for me, better than the plastic film holders. It also gives you the film borders. I've got a wet mount holder on order from betterscanning.com so we'll see how that does in comparison.

Cheers!
Bill

[Brian Ellis]

What Gary said - Epson doesn't provide holders for 8x10 negatives with the 4990 so the negatives have to be placed on the glass. When I used to scan 8x10 negatives I got Newton rings with the base side down, no rings with the emulsion side down.

[sanking]

What Gary said - Epson doesn't provide holders for 8x10 negatives with the 4990 so the negatives have to be placed on the glass. When I used to scan 8x10 negatives I got Newton rings with the base side down, no rings with the emulsion side down.


Placing the negative or tranny emulsion side down on the glass will usually work, but with some films, Tmax-100 for example and many transparency films, you may still get Newton rings.

Also, the best point of focus with most Epson scanners is 1-2mm above the surface of the glass.

I would recommend fluid mounting with the betterscanning mount, but you will probably want to do this on top of the glass to avoid the use of taping the edges.

Sandy King

[arkady n.]

Thank you for your suggestions, I will try to place the film emulsion side down, hope it will work for me.

[arkady n.]

I use two pieces of anti-glare glass on an epson 4870. Put the "frosted" sides in towards the film, and I use a couple of post-it notes to keep the glass off of the scanner glass.

Bill, Where can I buy anti-glare glass in a specific size? I guess a need slightly larger than 4x5in...

[Bill L.]

I got two sheets of 5x7 anti-glare glass from our local framing shop that I get my framing glass from. Since I was buying several sheets of 16x20 and 18x24 glass for frames I was putting together, the guy at the shop threw in the anti-glare glass for free - can't beat the price.

You will also need to cut a template similar to the top of your plastic film holder (the part that goes against the rear of your scanner), which signals to the scanner that you are using the transparency function, not the reflective scanning. I simply traced out the top of the film holder on an old scrap of mat board, and cut it with an X-acto knife.

Bill

[Michael Mutmansky]

I would strongly advise testing anti-glare glass against the normal way of scanning. For that matter, I recommend testing AN glass as well. I think you might be surprised with the loss of resolution that anti-glare glass will put in your scans. I suspect it would be far better to us clear glass and AN spray instead of any of the textured glass options, with the possible exception of true AN glass, which may prove to be about the equal of the AN spray approach.

No matter what you do, test the method with a control to confirm that it is not causing performance problems.

---Michael

[Bill L.]

I would agree with Michael on the testing. For 4x5I found that the results were at least as good with the glass method as with the Epson filmholders. I can get a bit sharper with the plastic 120 holders than I can with the glass, but it is close to a toss up. I'm awaiting a betterscanning wet/dry mount holder to try and improve things further.

Bill