The evils of dust!

antonroland

antonroland

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Anton
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Hello everyone

At last I can consider myself a regular film shooter again...

My question is this, how do you guys and girls cope with dust, especially at the scanning phase?

I have a fantastic guy who does drum scans for that odd worthwhile neg but he is 500 miles away so I scan my B&W stuff myself on an Epson just to see what it looks like.

At this stage it looks like I am working in a dust factory...:'(

Any tips would be appreciated!

Cheers all!
 
I give my negs a wipe over with Isopropyl Alcohol and a microfibre cloth before i scan them, does the job perfectly :)
 
I use a rocket blower that was originally purchased to blow dust from the sensor of my D700 but now is put to good use blowing dust from negatives prior to scanning.
 
Rocket blower and lens cloth too but most of all, learn to live with it. Like a rebate, a few specks of dust prove you actually shot film.
 
White Pure cotton gloves. I've only been shooting film for a few months and now swear by them. No fingerprints and you can safely swipe away normal house dust. Wouldn't recommend anything other than a blower for gritty stuff though, we've got a white dog and i thought he didn't molt all that much until i started scanning lol
 
robhooley167 said:
I give my negs a wipe over with Isopropyl Alcohol and a microfibre cloth before i scan them, does the job perfectly :)
Click to expand...

erm never thought of that...I've got stacks of very old neg/pos that I was thinking of washing with soapy water, that stuff would be easier to use.
 
excalibur2 said:
erm never thought of that...I've got stacks of very old neg/pos that I was thinking of washing with soapy water, that stuff would be easier to use.
Click to expand...

Yeah it won't damage the emulsion as much as soapy water would, it's the main component of commercial negative cleaners anyway :)

Should be able to get a litre off the internet for about £10, which will last for a long time
 
robhooley167 said:
I give my negs a wipe over with Isopropyl Alcohol and a microfibre cloth before i scan them, does the job perfectly :)
Click to expand...

Will also have to give that ago.

Other than that Rocket Blower, air can, or anythign else I can blow on the negs to clean them.

Other than that Kraftwerk Autobahn on repeat while using Photoshop and clone/healing brushes.
 
I just make sure I keep on top of the hoovering,keep the dogs outside so they're not stirring any clouds up and dampen the bathroom before hanging negs up to dry. The worst dust is the stuff that gets stuck in the emulsion whilst drying!
 
robhooley167 said:
Yeah it won't damage the emulsion as much as soapy water would, it's the main component of commercial negative cleaners anyway :)

Should be able to get a litre off the internet for about £10, which will last for a long time
Click to expand...

Really? I would have had reservations about using alcohol on the negatives. I have a bottle and use it for quite a few things, but it's quite an effective solvent...
 
Superewza said:
Really? I would have had reservations about using alcohol on the negatives. I have a bottle and use it for quite a few things, but it's quite an effective solvent...
Click to expand...

It's an effective solvent but it doesnt affect the emulsion or the backing, if you are a little worried about it you could try it on a test negative or dilute the IPA with a little bit of water
 
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