Betterscanning film holders

RaglanSurf

RaglanSurf

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I'm thinking of potentially culling my scanning arsenal and so I'm starting to use my V700 more for everything from 35mm through to 5x4 but I'm less than impressed with the supplied holders from Epson so are the better scanning holders that much better or is it just worth getter the ANR glass?
 
The holders arent great but once you bin the frames and just use some glass to keep things flat in them, then theyre fine. I picked up some 120 and 5x4 sized etched glass from a picture framer in the local market for a few quid and that does the job. I find the 35mm holders are thin enough to keep the negs flat as they are once the frames are pinned in, so i didnt bother getting any glass for them. They dont seem to have prices on the better scan site which im always dubious about. I guess theyre expensive.
 
essexash said:
The holders arent great but once you bin the frames and just use some glass to keep things flat in them, then theyre fine. I picked up some 120 and 5x4 sized etched glass from a picture framer in the local market for a few quid and that does the job. I find the 35mm holders are thin enough to keep the negs flat as they are once the frames are pinned in, so i didnt bother getting any glass for them. They dont seem to have prices on the better scan site which im always dubious about. I guess theyre expensive.
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$90 for the variable height v700 one - http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/vseries.html

the v500 one is $80.
 
essexash said:
The holders arent great but once you bin the frames and just use some glass to keep things flat in them, then theyre fine. I picked up some 120 and 5x4 sized etched glass from a picture framer in the local market for a few quid and that does the job. I find the 35mm holders are thin enough to keep the negs flat as they are once the frames are pinned in, so i didnt bother getting any glass for them. They dont seem to have prices on the better scan site which im always dubious about. I guess theyre expensive.
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That sounds like a good idea, is it standard etched picture frame glass?
 
yeah just standard stuff. I dont know of any other type so i just asked him for some etched glass. He knew what i meant thankfully and cut it all to size for me, i just sanded down the edges and all was well :) $90! i think i paid a tenner for the 4 pieces, it wasnt much anyway. The holders that came with the scanner are variable height and ive done some scan tests at all the settings and TBH i couldnt see much difference in any of them, there was an arguable improvement in one setting but not enough to really bother about.
 
If you don't use the Epson holders how do you get the film straight relative to the scanning head?
 
Lomography.com do 35mm and 120 scanner holders haven't tried them but may be worth a google
 
Interesting. Reading up on scanning medium format negs with a V500 I found quite a few people saying the Epson holders are rubbish and they use either the betterscanning or Lomography ones. However for another £30 for the Lomography one I'm not yet convinced.

I have the negs from having my first 120 film developed at Peak recently so I guess I can just try the Epson one when I buy the scanner and see what I think.
 
I haven't had any problems with the Epson type although to be fair I haven't tried the others to compare them against so probably best to ignore me......o_O
 
Right, I'm going to try my local frame makers and get some glass cut to fit and see if it helps, at least I'm not spending mega-bucks on the Betterscanning glass.
 
Does the glass have to be etched or can you use glass say that is meant for a bathroom i.e. not the pebbly type, but smooth and you can't see clearly through it.
 
I used acid etched on my home made holders and it works really well -it needs to have some sort of anti-reflection coating, ideally an etched one, to prevent newton rings.
 
H'mm hydrofluoric acid is used.......a bit stronger than my sulphuric acid left over from filling my battery.
 
Andysnap said:
I haven't had any problems with the Epson type although to be fair I haven't tried the others to compare them against so probably best to ignore me......o_O
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Sorry meant to specify that it was only with 120 film that people were having issues. I think they're fine for 35mm.
 
I bought a betterscannning holder for my Epson v700 a few months ago. At that time Doug (the owner) had just changed from the T-Bar system to only supply ANR glass. It is incomparably better than the flimsy Epson holder and holds the negs very flat.

I had a problem with delivery (not the firms fault) and Doug was extremely helpful in sending a replacement.
 
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