Film Holder 8x10" for Epson v850

**SimonMaddock** · 20-Aug-2023, 03:53

not a direct answer, but this might help you to get better results

https://youtu.be/HkKx7XwIkEg

**bmikiten** · 20-Aug-2023, 17:17

I spent over a year researching this topic after fooling around with my V850. I have 4x5, 6x17 and 8x10 negatives that need to be scanned. Here is the culmination of what I found:

1) The 850 is the best currently available production scanner.

2) Even though it is quite good, it is usually not at optimum focus and small adjustments (via BetterScanning unfortunately) make a HUGE difference in final quality.

3) Fluided mounting is well worth the effort.

4) If you can't get a BS attachment (for everything but 8x10), you can use shims on museum glass and inverse wet mount your negatives. This is a bit of a hack but it works.

5) Adjusting the included negative carriers (V850) is well worth the time for testing. They don't do a great job holding the negative flat and the AN 4x5 is "ok".

6) Knowing your final image size and purpose is very important. I was scanning 4x5 and making larger negatives for darkroom or inkjet printing. I was doing the same with 6x17 with won't fit in my 4x5 enlarger. Both were pretty good.

7) Remember that you shot with a high resolution lens and a large format camera. That quality can quickly disappear if you produce a poor scan.

8) I eventually gave up on the V850 and now just use it for contact prints as a reference.

9) I purchased a Scitex Creo which will scan huge (over 8x10) on a flat bed at 10000DPI. It is stunning but it was VERY expensive and requires an old mac OS to run it. it is, in my mind, equal to a drum scan.

10) Figure you final size at 300dpi to help you determine scan size.

11) TEST what you have and let others comment on it. I found that even a 4x5 carefully executed scan on the 850 enlarged to 8x10 was very good but not equal to a darkroom print.

In the end, you have to decide your final goals, budget and output. It will cost more than you think it should.