Screen Cezanne Users Unite

[Corran]

Make sure the scanner is on and warms up for at least 30 minutes to an hour and you shouldn't have problems with tonal shifts. I haven't seen any issues except when I didn't let the lamps warm up enough. I don't generally bother with strips though - there is plenty of resolution for almost any typical usage at the max it can scan in one pass. Medium format can be scanned at 5000 DPI, which is a lot. 4x5 can only get to 3000 DPI so I have sometimes scanned it in strips at a higher resolution when I've wanted to print really large. The file-size limit is 2GB (but in a newer OS you can get around that).

[Peter De Smidt]

Letting the scanner warm up for at least 30minutes is what Screen recommends, and Corran is right that it helps. I really only scan BW. The strips do require a little adjusting in Photoshop. It's possible that stitching software would take care of this for you. I just do it manually, but my throughput is low.

[Corran]

Also older bulbs may cause issues with matching the images. Perhaps there is issues with the light output once they are aging. I've seen this once and changing bulbs fixed it (I tend to use the bulbs way past when the software alerts me to them being close to kaput).

[Peter De Smidt]

That's good to know, Bryan. I have no idea how old my bulbs are.

[Hansha]

Thank you for your replies ... I usually tend to scan at large resolution mainly because of photos post-processing. In case of a later need for a larger print size emerges this would be a pain to repeat ... But as you say, the regular resolution is far from bad ...

Another thing puzzled me slightly though. The scanner claims optical resolution of 5300 dpi. Now how does 8000 spi makes that different from 5300 spi? Does the optical resolution actually changes with the zooming of the lens / media size?

Thank you for answering stuff that might seem very obvious to you!

[Peter De Smidt]

I'm not sure how Screen came up with that number. The Seybold report, and my own testing with a high resolution chrome on glass target, show a max true resolution with the Cezanne of about 6000 spi.

[Hansha]

Let's just be happy there was a company undermarketing their products unlike the majority of others ...

Another question - Can the transparencies be "mounted" via an overlying antinewton glass? And how do you position those strips parallel to the scanning direction?

[Peter De Smidt]

The main way to scan on a Cezanne is to use the standard bed, a 6mm thick acrylic bed with a very fine anti-Newton texture. In addition to the bed, Screen made hold down sheets, which are thinner acrylic with the same fine texture, and they made flexible masks that you could apply onto the hold down sheets. So to scan. Flip over a hold down sheet. Apply the mask. Put the film emulsion down into the area of the mask. Use a small piece of tape to keep the negative from moving. Flip the hold down sheet over and position on the bed. These sheets went the entire length of the bed from front to back, and so when set down they aligned with the bed.

I don't have any of the hold down sheets. For quick proofing scans I just put something on top of the negative, a piece of glass....I don't care about Newton's rings in that application. For serious scans, I wetmount. I've made plastic masks to make alignment easier. So. Place mask on light table. Place bed on mask. Wet mount film in the mask area. Take mask from under the bed and put it over everything on top of the mylar used for wet mounting. This minimizes stray light. Put bed on scanner. Scan.

You can also experiment with other hold down options, such as AN glass for enlargers, one side anti-glare glazing for picture framing.... Whenever you try something with a new texture, make sure to check the file to make sure that no texture shows through.

[Corran]

Dang, I wish I knew you didn't have any hold-down plates. I just purchased some materials to make some more of them, I could've made you some. Mine are getting old and my constant usage has caused some scratches and such over time. I bought some P99 acrylic as you've suggested at the same thickness as the originals, and bought some thin metal square bars to use as handles (I'll just glue them on). The hold-down plates I have use plastic for handles but bowing film causes them to be pushed up sometimes, so the weight will help keep the film flat. I use little weights to do the same thing on my current plates.

As for masks, I have some but I have found they are really finicky to use. Instead, I use x-ray film cut into thin strips from bad negatives to mask off the edges of the film if needed, if that makes sense.

Also, Screen made an additional bed that specifically holds 4x5-sized film holders that use ANR glass to sandwich the negative. I have never used them because switching beds is a pain.

[Hansha]

Thank you do much for your kindness Peter.

I just want to make sure I will be able to handle this scanner. I can not be sure I will get one with all the masks and other gizmos. I suspect wet mounting might be a bit too much for me. Then again, in ancient Rome every peasant spoke Latin ... But I somehow really want to get away from Frontier scans of spending a few thousand for a coolscan. Seems ridiculous when Cesannes can be found for around 500 and give me unrestricted format liberty ...