35 mm negative scanning question

[dougster_ling]

I am going through old 35mm negatives old Alice Cooper and would like to scan them. Question is that they have a buckling/curvature to them that I would like to flatten out. Any suggestions based on experience with this issue?

[Mark D Segal]

I am going through old 35mm negatives old Alice Cooper and would like to scan them. Question is that they have a buckling/curvature to them that I would like to flatten out. Any suggestions based on experience with this issue?

What scanner are you using?

[dougster_ling]

an epson v750 ; I want to scan them as proofs on 8.5x 11 sheets. Eventually scan them individually by a Nikon Coolscan.

[Mark D Segal]

For the Epson, use the glass frame holder and attach the film to the glass using film cleaner. For the Nikon, if you are using the film strip feeder, it will probably hold the film flat enough to provide a sharp scan. Try it and you'll know for sure.

[AFairley]

My experience with my Coolscan (IV) is that the depth of field is pretty shallow.  I don't have the filmstrip holder, so I don't know how well that would work to flatten the curly negs.  I have toyed with the idea of flattening some of my curvy negs (inside glassine sleeves) in a book (like leaves), but have never actually tried it.

[KeithR]

Eventually scan them individually by a Nikon Coolscan.

What system are you using? Mac, XP, Vista, Win 7? 32 or 64 bit?
The reason I ask is if you're using a 64 bit system, NikonScan will not work. I read about a work around and tried it but in the end it didn't work and I had to get 3rd party software.

[Mark D Segal]

Either SilverFast or Vuescan will drive them.

[AFairley]

What system are you using? Mac, XP, Vista, Win 7? 32 or 64 bit?
The reason I ask is if you're using a 64 bit system, NikonScan will not work. I read about a work around and tried it but in the end it didn't work and I had to get 3rd party software.

I do have NikonScan working on my Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit Intel machine.  If you want to try again, you can PM me, I'm pretty sure I saved the files and instructions you need.  As I recall it was pretty easy.  I have VueScan, but I couldn't get it to batch scan negs....

[jaapb]

I have VueScan, but I couldn't get it to batch scan negs....

What exactly didn't work for you. I chose Vuescan over other applications for my Nikons 5k and 9k because of its batch scanning capabilities (well, and price admittedly )

http://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/html/vuesc15.htm#topic12

Jaap

[David Good]

  I have VueScan, but I couldn't get it to batch scan negs....

Works very well for me also with my film scanners. It does take some figuring out at first though...(its been a couple of years since I set it up so don't recall at the moment).

[KeithR]

I do have NikonScan working on my Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit Intel machine.  If you want to try again, you can PM me, I'm pretty sure I saved the files and instructions you need.  As I recall it was pretty easy.  I have VueScan, but I couldn't get it to batch scan negs....

I tried the work around(it was easy to do) and got NikonScan to show up on my win 7-64 system and even thought it worked. That is until I started to take a closer look at the scans on the monitor. Since I was doing some cropping I hadn't noticed that the scanner wasn't scanning the entire frame(mounted 35mm slides). I took out the adapter to see if there was anything preventing the slide mount from being fully inserted. I also tried strips of film(in the appropriate holder). I also noticed that the scans were not entirely in focus. I zeroed everything out and did rescans. Same results for mounted slides and film strips: a partial scan and out of focus. Did this to about half dozen different slides and negatives. Removed and reinstalled NikonScan and the workaround. Same results. Called Nikon tech thinking that the scanner its self was the problem and when I was asked what OS, I was told no support available. At that point I downloaded the trial version of Vuescan, tried a few frames(then paid for the license) and every frame I've scanned since has been the entire frame and in focus before any cropping.

[Mark D Segal]

All that was because Nikon stopped up-grading the drivers when they discontinued the products. Both Vuescan and and SilverFast developed their own drivers to run these scanners.

[Baxter]

If the negatives are curved and valuable, then you might want to look at getting them done on a Hasselblad/Imacon Flextight scanner. Here the curvature of the mount flattens the film at the point of scanning. This was one of the key design features of the Flextight scanner.

[AFairley]

I tried the work around(it was easy to do) and got NikonScan to show up on my win 7-64 system and even thought it worked. That is until I started to take a closer look at the scans on the monitor. Since I was doing some cropping I hadn't noticed that the scanner wasn't scanning the entire frame(mounted 35mm slides). I took out the adapter to see if there was anything preventing the slide mount from being fully inserted. I also tried strips of film(in the appropriate holder). I also noticed that the scans were not entirely in focus. I zeroed everything out and did rescans. Same results for mounted slides and film strips: a partial scan and out of focus. Did this to about half dozen different slides and negatives. Removed and reinstalled NikonScan and the workaround. Same results. Called Nikon tech thinking that the scanner its self was the problem and when I was asked what OS, I was told no support available. At that point I downloaded the trial version of Vuescan, tried a few frames(then paid for the license) and every frame I've scanned since has been the entire frame and in focus before any cropping.

Interesting, have not had either of those problems myself....