Because I'm such a nice guy, you can skip to the verdict at 5:06. But please, before you leave a comment saying how I’m wrong and my video sucks and I should have done everything differently, at least watch the entire thing. Enjoy! 👍🏼
So awesome... how many hours of work, testing and editing was that? All summed up into a 10min video - with a highlight direct to the verdict - God bless you my good man! 👍👏😃🎞 Just curious... Any download example scans? Example height settings on the BetterScanning tray? Will watch again on my monitor instead of phone :) 🖥 >📱
Just a suggestion. You can eliminate using the Mylar, and get even more improvement. It will take some practice to get it right, and avoid bubbles. I place the film emulsion side to glass carrier, leaving the smooth side upwards, which allows easy bubble removal. I know it sounds weird, but I've been doing this many years this way.
I can't tell you how much of a treasure your channel is. An unbelievable resource of information. You make scanning painless and a joy. Which just makes shooting all the much more enjoyable as well.
Hi Nick, I recently discovered your channel. As a professional photographer myself for over 12 years, I’m finding your vids really informative and watchable. I like that you don’t edit too much like so many of the A.D.D. Vids out there. Straight goods, nice and dry, with a dash of lolz. Nicely done. Thanks for these tips too. I learned a few new things here and my scanning is already improving.
Seriously, this presentation from you, Nick, blows all the other scanner videos out of the room. Certainly in terms of getting the best out of a Flatbed scanner. 👌 ☆☆☆☆☆
I've scanned hundreds of 8x10 negatives wet-mounted directly on the glass of my v700. After many exhibitions displaying 24x30 prints from this scan method, I can confirm, the lower resolution lens is completely adequate for that format.
Thanks for sharing! It's great to see people putting up videos on how to use flatbed scanners in a good way. Sure, using a dslr to photograph the negatives gives sharp results but the colours are really lacking when going that route.
@@nickcarverphoto Looking forward to that one. Is this the reason you prefer (I assume) to do flatbed scanning vs DSLR scanning? Or is there more to it?
Nick, When I first started scanning with my Epson V750 a number of years agos, I adapted my Epson glass frame with home made calibarated shims to raise the negative to the proper focus point. I wet mount on the underside of the glass to eliminate scanning through the extra glass. At the time it was the only way I could find to do a underneath wet scan using the Epson glass frame. It is still working good for me but I am glad to learn about the better scan and their product if I decide to upgrade. I always enjoy your informative videos. John Doddato
I have the 850 and have been using the Epson trays that came with it I set them in the lowest setting and the scans look great. Though my trays don’t fit 120 and 4x5 film and I had to cut the tabs out of the way.
Nick Carver upload and a trim flat white, great start to my day!! Very interesting. I actually had a V750 and sold it because I was fortunate enough to get hold of an Imacon 848. Fast forward 18 months and I re-purchased a V800. Firstly because I'd seen the results from their new film holders and secondly because I wanted to take some workload off the Imacon. The Epsons are plenty good enough for anything other than 35mm in my experience.
I've considered that, but I worry I wouldn't have enough time to put out the videos I promised to my patrons. I'm not really sure how frequently you're supposed to put out content on Patreon, but I'll look more into it. Thanks for the encouragement.
Option 6, Try wet mount inverted Epson tray. You can flip it so your not scanning through the glass like better scanning. That’s what I’ve used for sharp results but Bettering Scanning gives you more adjustments.
Nice comparison Nick, I learned something new! On my V750 I use the delivered tray and put incrementing strips of tape under the height adjustment, until it was just perfect. Now I find the scans coming out of it really nice and printable.
You are still my first choice in photography knowledge, inspiration about the 6x17 format (I love it!)(I use a Fuji G617 myself) and the way I run video on youtoube :))) I love your channel! :)
Thanks a lot Nick. I just discovered your channel and it helped me a lot. I was gonna buy a DSLR just for scanning film thanks to all those other hipsters on RUclips claiming it works better. Damn that would’ve been a lot of wasted time and effort for an amateur photographer. Thanks for keeping it real.
I think it's probably a great method if you're doing 35mm or any sort of scan where you're not stitching multiple images together. And I think if you can get good at the color inversion, that part wouldn't be too much of a headache. But, alas, it just isn't a good fit for me.
Thanks Nick! I scan 6x6 and 4x5 with a v700 (and sometimes a medium format digital camera), and may upgrade to the v850. I am not interested in fluid scanning. I had a Betterscanning mounting station years ago for a different scanner but found it to be cheaply made and tossed it. 😠 Times change and so does manufacturing. I appreciate this review a lot!!
Good to know, I will continue to use my V850 MF tray. And timely as I'm about to scan a bunch of Velvia and Provia 120 films. Your challenge Nick Carver is to produce another relevant instructional video just before I'm about to do something again! Cheers...:)
Hi Nick, I have a V750 pro, no you don't have to scan 8x10 on the glass. I stuffed around with trying to work it out for a while, asking in a facebook forum. Turns out the issue was the front part of the film holder/shim. I copied my "scan science" cardboard shims of 4x5's for an 8x10 and it kept on cropping the width of the scan. It's those little tabs at the top that govern the width of the scan, the sensor picks up on them and crops it in... So just cut them off and move your holder back from the front of the scanner so nothing blocks it at the first part of the scan, it then sets it at the widest scan and I can do full width 8x10 scans on cardboard shims at perfect focus.
epson has some great flatbed scanners i use one myself! thanks for sharing all this great content with us! always appreciate watching videos like this!
As always, really nice video Nick! But crap, I think I'm late to tell you a different holder system to scan 120 film (and also 135). Did you heard about the Lomography Digitaliza120? Quite innovative concept that "holds" the negative stretched using little magnets and without using any glass! Give it a look and tell me what you think. I use it and I'm quite happy with it. Congratulations for your channel, really mindblowing content. Hats off to you!
Great video - and very interesting outcomes. If you only used the other methods you could end up blaming your lens for that colour fringing when it was in fact the scanning method.
Love your content, Nick! Any advise for scanning old 35 mm rolls of negatives that have been tightly wound for 50+ years? They're like springs and *really* hard to handle. I can get them under glass which works ok but then... the dreaded newton's rings...
I like your videos, and above all, your presentation. Very well done. Your images are also something that piques my interest - a sort of panoramic New Topographics style. Often, pan shots include too much useless information, and the eye scans left to right away from the (usually ) central subject. But you are able to balance the composition just right, and not draw attention to the extra wide view. Good work.
Love this, super helpful. Have you ever considered trying wet mount on the piece of glass that you hold up with shims? sort of like a make shift better-scanning mount? These mounts are really hard to come by in Australia and I wonder if this would bridge the gap...?
IT is really enjoying to go into your video and life. I check every episode many times. I love you running left and right, back and forth to light Saguaro. I would like to say there are many special moments. many, many, hope to have chance to visit you. I am hong kong China.
Great video. I have also been hunting for the best way to scan my film and I ended up designing and building a film holder for scanning on my Epson v750 that holds the film perfectly flat with no glass, no fluid, and ultra high focus adjustment. I'd be curious to see how it compares to your results.
I have experienced unsightly chromatic aberration when I use iSRD in Silverfast. Taking it out solves it. I wonder if that's the culprit in your case as well.
I taught photography classes at a college for many years and recognize the fine job you did covering this subject. Well done! Where do you explain your "ground glass technique" of scanning? THX
Love the way you shoot and can't wait for more on-location videos. Question: Any experience with the DA YI 6x17 roll film back? Thinking of getting one and shooting with a 4x5 for some pano landscape stuff. Thanks Nick!
Man Nick, all your stuff is spot on...you seem to nail any subject that I need to know but I didn’t know I needed to know it. Kind of like you don’t know what you don’t know. Does that make sense? ;-0. Now I have to try wet scanning on my V850!!!!
Would you ever consider trying scanning with a camera? It's really is super easy and the sharpness of fine details will blow you away. Color correction used to be the hard part but now with Negative Lab Pro (not an ad btw) it's so easy and the best color I've seen out of a scanner... If you can set up a tripod and level it you can scan with a camera, all you need is a cheap macro lens and a light table.
Few I was getting withdraws from not having an Nick Carver video to watch. Thanks for spending the time and sharing these results! I am curious - how was dust with the V850 holder? I found it tends to be a dust monster unless I use a Zerostat, polish clothes, and sometimes some Novus 1 plastic cleaner and after all that sometimes I can get good results (before iSRD which does tend to work decently well). I wish Epson sold versions of these that used real glass instead of plastic. It's not such a big deal for 120 but for 35mm black and white, it's sometimes a small nightmare.
You missed one method of scanning - The Digitaliza by Lomography. Uses a unique mounting method which pinches the outer edges of the film only, eliminating the need to scan through any glass (besides the glass bed of the scanner, of course). I've found that it keeps film flat well enough, but sometimes the "wavy" sections of 120 film still aren't tamed by this method. Another point against this product is that it does not offer adjustable height, although I have used tape to shim it up to the focus plane of my v850. Anyways, appreciate the video and trying out these methods so that I don't have to! I am curious about the BS holder and will probably try that next for anything I need to print large or just to geek out at the detail of medium format. I also enjoy squeezing out every bit of quality from my equipment - major kudos for explaining your process and keeping things consistent so that the results can truly be compared! So many times the scientific method is lacking with youtube content creators and it really invalidates their conclusions sometimes, but I'm rambling now... Cheers!
Another Digitaliza user here. It's definitely not perfect, and it took some trial and error to determine I needed to raise it up a bit with cutout mat board to get it into better focus. But I'm mostly happy with the results.
Nice video sir, thank you! I have a few questions for you... what model & size is your Gepe light table? Where did you get it? Also, why does the scanner have to use a lower resolution lens if you scan directly on its glass?
Nick that was fantastic!! I have a old HP G4050 flatbed scanner. Not being the best, it does a fair job with BW dry scans. I'm going to look into those technics. Thanks a lot for awesome tips!!! maybe a future video on wet scanning process? how to prep film, before and after the wet scan is completed. Also, would it be possible to give dimensions of the v850 dry scan tray?
I use that same scanner with my 6x7 B&W negs. I use it more for proofing which negatives to print in the darkroom. I use VueScan with it. I also scan my 8" x10"silver gelatin prints for the web.
Hi Nick, your videos are very informative and amusing, which is very rare. It’s good to know that the standard epson film holder is quite good. Did you have a chance to test the better scan normal film holders in the mean time. Greetings from Munich, Germany
Really helpful, thanks. I have a V550 and if I ever take anything good enough to warrant it, I'd like to have a go at wet mounting. Just did a comparison of Ilford SFX & Rollei 400 and was getting significantly sharper results from the Rollei film, but after seeing the curl on SFX I suspect it was more down to the scan than the film itself. May have to invest in a betterscan holder just to see which is best without that issue. Still - even with the default (no glass) holder for the V550 I'm getting super results that I can print to 13x19. And for me, that's pretty good. Thanks again and this new 2 videos a month thing is definitely working ;-p
That is a great video Nick. Glad I landed here! Out of curiosity, how long does it take to scan a 6x6 negatives? I read somewhere up to 19 min with the scratch and dust removal feature from Silverfast - which seems like a lot of time, though it might be for three negs. Lastly, I was told an Epson scan would show up too much grain of the negative, and a better solution was DSLR scanning... What do you think? Thanks much!
The most reviewers reviewing a V800/V850 advise to buy a V700 frame without glass (yep). That reviewers don't any additional liquid during scanning. The problem that dust can appear on the glass which seems to be hard to remove.
Nick, I wanted to inquire about the betterscanning Variable Height Mounting Station, specifically the glass. I was wondering what the primary difference in glass quality is between the fluid mount only and Dry + Fluid Mounting Station. Are both made of true glass or is the Dry + Fluid ANR glass made of Acrylic like the epson OEM v850 ANR 'glass' film holders? Which one did you purchase with your Variable Height Mounting Station? Super informative video. Thank you for your time!
Such a great video, extremely useful for me and saves me so much time going through all the options. I just have one quick question: do you use the Epson trays with the film side facing the scanner or or as recommended - facing up?
Great presentation - Thank you, I am in the process of buying a film scanner and the Epson V850 seems to be my favourite at the moment as it deals with all the legacy film formats that I would like to digitise. I note that you say that the v850 mounts have a glass face to the scanner bed. I thought these only suspended the film above the bed within the mount frame. Could you please confirm this? Peter
I read up a bit on the Aztek webpage for the mounting fluid. Commenters there state that the fluid just evaporates after scanning in about ten seconds, so there seems to be no additional cleanup needed. The fluid's property of fast evaporation is also a thing to keep in mind when mounting film with it. Good news in that regard! On the topic of cleaning film before scanning: Nick has mentioned different things to look out for and do for film as clean as possible. From experience I can say that it starts with the drying process. Keeping the drying environment as dust-free as possible is important, but not really something everyone is able to manage. When hanging film to dry in the shower, I sometimes turn on the shower hot for a few minutes before hanging the film there. The humidity created helps bind the dust. Also, one to two drops (don't do much more) of clearing agent in the last rinse helps avoid spots when drying (although it's still not perfect). I found that the stabilizing bath from C-41 chemicals tends to make matters worse most of the time (or I'm doing something wrong), so I replace it with photo-flo (like it's done with b/w films). When the time has come, the rocket blower is the best tool. I mount the negatives dry and blow on them until I can't remove any more dust (tiny specs sometimes remain). Everything else has to be done using software (Digital ICE, iSRD and/or manual spotting). If there's something to add, I'd be happy to learn as well. More tips can be found in forums or in other people's videos on the topic.
Thanks for comparing Nick. I purchased the Betterscanning mount but unfortunately it came without the ANR glass; waiting for that. Did you do experiment with the height to find which is in better focus for different film size?
I can't get enough of your scanning technique. I just bought an Epson 850 and these video's are great getting me up to speed on scanning. You answered some questions How do you fine tune the focus with the Better Scanning wet mount Have you done any testing with B&W? Would you the results to be the same as color neg? BTW, how was NY?
Can I make a recommendation? I’m assuming you’re lighting your set. I think some gels would take the lighting to the next level. Maybe a 1/2 CTO on the overhead key and a 1/2 CTB on the light camera right. It would look more like a lamp over you and a window to the side. Maybe add a small, dim, 1/4 plus green kicker in front of your left foot shining up. Great video as usual! Interesting results.
Nick Carver Oh I thought you had a large octabox or something right over you (although I was wondering why you went with directly overhead). Honestly it’s pretty nice light as it is. Looks better than 90% of stuff out there.
Really useful, thank you! Out of interest, have you tried 'scanning' with a DSLR and stitching, would be interested to know how you think it compares? I've heard of some decent results, depending on the setup, and apparently colour negative inversion actually works pretty well with Negative Lab Pro...
I have tried it and I’ll actually be doing a video comparing the results. The most difficult part is the stitching. Even with fluid mounting the negative to keep it perfectly flat, I could just never get the images to merge seamlessly.
Hi sir Nick! I tried contacting betterscanning but I never get back from them, did the company shuts down or change the name? Maybe you have any information about them. Thanks!
Wet mounting? I find less fluid is much better. I use less than 3 mls for 2 4x5 negs at a time. In the video, looks like you used about 20. Extremely thin layers is what I’m after. Easily remove bubbles with a pec cloth. And evaporation during a session is insignificant. Try it.
Hi Nick. Thanks for the video. I recently purchased a v850 holder with the ARN glass to work with my Epson v700 but I am struggling to get that thing clean from dust before scanning the negatives, it is like a magnet for the dust. How do you handle this issue when you are scanning the negatives?
would be interesting to see the results with black and white film, and if the grain structure and scanning in black and white instead of color, yields any different results.
Hey Nick, do you think an epson scan would work also for 35mm film or it would be too small and the resolution would just be horrible? Thanks for these videos!
It’ll work and you can get some pretty good results, but for 35mm you’d probably get better results scanning with a high-resolution digital camera and a macro lens.
Hi Nick, only recently discovered your videos, fascinating presentation technique, especially liked the Glenmorange connection, a fine Malt, but talking malt is for another time. Am particularly interested in scanning as I have a great deal of old negs but am also intent on shooting more film 35mm and 120 on an ETRS and Minolta Autocord. My 35mm will be scanned on an Minolta Elite 5400 but the 120 on an Epson V800, so I have a question as an prints from the Epson will be A2 max' on a textured paper do you think the V850 mount technique will be more than adequate. Also have you found issues with Newton Rings when using glass mounts without fluid on 120 negs'?
Very nice work; tnx for sharing. I have some 35mm slides, mounted, in strips as well as negs from my film days. I used to have a Nikon SCSI 35mm dedicated scanner back in 1999. But there are no SCSI computers anymore, and at any rate it must be slow for today's standards (it was slow even in 1999) so I'm stuck with them. Canon does a flatbed scanner (9000F MII) with various holders but it is USB2 connectivity so I suspect it will be pretty slow and around the USD200 mark. The Epson V850 is circa USD 800 and the 750 circa USD 650. So is there a scanner and a method you would suggest. The shots have more of an emotional value, no commercial.
Nick, do you recommend a sleeve for the 850 film trays to keep dust and stuff off them as much as possible? Maybe something like the stone photo gear you have on the scanner but for the actual trays? Thanks!
Hello, thank you for the very informative video. I've just a little question about your reversed fluid mount scanning technique: do you scan the glossy side of the film or the grain side? The Epson manual says to scan the glossy side, but maybe you inverted the film to scan the grain side, as they say it should be done with a DSLR scan. Thanks. Stefano
Great video Nick. How large do you print from your scanned 6x7 B&W negs? I have a makeshift darkroom, but I'm seriously thinking about going the hybrid route and purchasing a better scanner like the 800 or 850. I know it's a loaded question, but? Thanks.
It would be interesting to see comparison between standard v750 film mask and v850 Anti Newton film mask. If the 750 frame was in this video, on which place would it be?
Hey Nick, How necessary do you think Aztek's mylar is? I've tested some much cheaper durlar off amazon and I think it works pretty well. What do you think?
Do you happen to know if betterscanning is still producing these? I have tried to order twice now and have not heard anything back from them. I also sent them emails and did not receive a response.
Hi Nick, I have been watching this video for the third time to get familiar with Epson film lol. I'm thinking to buy an Epson 850 to scan my film. But I watched some other videos, their conclusion is Epson scanner is not very clear, so it got me hesitated. What's your thought about this scanner? Do you have any new experience with scanning film recently? Thanks!
Precisely. But what's weird is even the V850 tray and the ground glass technique both had a little more chromatic aberration than the inverted fluid mount. Still one piece of glass, but maybe the fact they were dry mounted had something to do with it.
Hello from Latvia,Nick! Thanks for videos and sharing your knowledge. At what resolution you prefer scan 4x5 films for large prints.(The best in your opinion) It is same as in this video 4800ppi. And how big are files? Thanks!
Nick, how large are you able to print using this method with the 6x7 negs? I also use the RZ Pro, but I use it only for B&W. I would like to get out of the darkroom and go hybrid. I really enjoy your channel. Thanks
Because I'm such a nice guy, you can skip to the verdict at 5:06. But please, before you leave a comment saying how I’m wrong and my video sucks and I should have done everything differently, at least watch the entire thing. Enjoy! 👍🏼
So awesome... how many hours of work, testing and editing was that? All summed up into a 10min video - with a highlight direct to the verdict - God bless you my good man! 👍👏😃🎞
Just curious... Any download example scans? Example height settings on the BetterScanning tray? Will watch again on my monitor instead of phone :) 🖥 >📱
bwvids thank you, my friend! I was thinking of putting the sample images into a blog post for people to reference if they’re interested.
Just a suggestion. You can eliminate using the Mylar, and get even more improvement. It will take some practice to get it right, and avoid bubbles. I place the film emulsion side to glass carrier, leaving the smooth side upwards, which allows easy bubble removal. I know it sounds weird, but I've been doing this many years this way.
I can't tell you how much of a treasure your channel is.
An unbelievable resource of information. You make scanning painless and a joy. Which just makes shooting all the much more enjoyable as well.
Nice video, and I appreciate your honesty about your results. Thanks a million!
I've actually found the sharpest way to scan to be shooting the negative with an old Motorola razor phone haha. Thanks for the tips!
Ha! Well I think I know what my next tutorial will be...
Hi Nick, I recently discovered your channel. As a professional photographer myself for over 12 years, I’m finding your vids really informative and watchable. I like that you don’t edit too much like so many of the A.D.D. Vids out there. Straight goods, nice and dry, with a dash of lolz. Nicely done. Thanks for these tips too. I learned a few new things here and my scanning is already improving.
Seriously, this presentation from you, Nick, blows all the other scanner videos out of the room. Certainly in terms of getting the best out of a Flatbed scanner. 👌
☆☆☆☆☆
Nick - you've opened my eyes! Here we were with an Epson 800, and had no idea as to it's potential. Thanks for the wake-up!
I've scanned hundreds of 8x10 negatives wet-mounted directly on the glass of my v700. After many exhibitions displaying 24x30 prints from this scan method, I can confirm, the lower resolution lens is completely adequate for that format.
Good to know. Thanks for the confirmation.
Thanks for sharing! It's great to see people putting up videos on how to use flatbed scanners in a good way. Sure, using a dslr to photograph the negatives gives sharp results but the colours are really lacking when going that route.
Amen to that. I'll be doing a comparison video soon of the DSLR method vs an Epson V750 vs a drum scan.
@@nickcarverphoto Looking forward to that one.
Is this the reason you prefer (I assume) to do flatbed scanning vs DSLR scanning? Or is there more to it?
@@Miguel-kh9pc The short answer is that stitching images and color correcting with DSLR scanning proved to be a bigger hassle than it was worth.
Nick,
When I first started scanning with my Epson V750 a number of years agos, I adapted my Epson glass frame with home made calibarated shims to raise the negative to the proper focus point. I wet mount on the underside of the glass to eliminate scanning through the extra glass. At the time it was the only way I could find to do a underneath wet scan using the Epson glass frame. It is still working good for me but I am glad to learn about the better scan and their product if I decide to upgrade. I always enjoy your informative videos. John Doddato
I have a v850. Nice to hear you praise the trays. I’m not a pro, so I’m happy enough with that.
I have the 850 and have been using the Epson trays that came with it I set them in the lowest setting and the scans look great. Though my trays don’t fit 120 and 4x5 film and I had to cut the tabs out of the way.
Nick Carver upload and a trim flat white, great start to my day!! Very interesting. I actually had a V750 and sold it because I was fortunate enough to get hold of an Imacon 848. Fast forward 18 months and I re-purchased a V800. Firstly because I'd seen the results from their new film holders and secondly because I wanted to take some workload off the Imacon. The Epsons are plenty good enough for anything other than 35mm in my experience.
Excellent video Nick. Any plans on sharing your process for adjusting the better scanning holder?
You should start a Patreon, your channel is actually very useful. unlike others ! I would happily contribute to see more quality content from you.
I've considered that, but I worry I wouldn't have enough time to put out the videos I promised to my patrons. I'm not really sure how frequently you're supposed to put out content on Patreon, but I'll look more into it. Thanks for the encouragement.
@@nickcarverphoto give it a go , if it turns out too much work you can always end it. Or if it works out you'll get your photo trip paid for ;)
Nick Carver I would sign up for your Patreon in a minute
Option 6, Try wet mount inverted Epson tray. You can flip it so your not scanning through the glass like better scanning. That’s what I’ve used for sharp results but Bettering Scanning gives you more adjustments.
Nice comparison Nick, I learned something new! On my V750 I use the delivered tray and put incrementing strips of tape under the height adjustment, until it was just perfect. Now I find the scans coming out of it really nice and printable.
Hello, Max! Can you please make a photo of how it looks?
Always so exciting when there’s a new *Nick* video 😉
Ross Jukes Photography thank you!
You are still my first choice in photography knowledge, inspiration about the 6x17 format (I love it!)(I use a Fuji G617 myself) and the way I run video on youtoube :))) I love your channel! :)
"ARE YOU SICK OF IT YET", hands down best channel out there!
Hey Nick, great videos. This was super helpful for me figuring out what to use for my 4x5 scanning. Thanks a lot, I love your channel.
Thanks a lot Nick. I just discovered your channel and it helped me a lot. I was gonna buy a DSLR just for scanning film thanks to all those other hipsters on RUclips claiming it works better. Damn that would’ve been a lot of wasted time and effort for an amateur photographer. Thanks for keeping it real.
I think it's probably a great method if you're doing 35mm or any sort of scan where you're not stitching multiple images together. And I think if you can get good at the color inversion, that part wouldn't be too much of a headache. But, alas, it just isn't a good fit for me.
Thanks Nick! I scan 6x6 and 4x5 with a v700 (and sometimes a medium format digital camera), and may upgrade to the v850. I am not interested in fluid scanning. I had a Betterscanning mounting station years ago for a different scanner but found it to be cheaply made and tossed it. 😠 Times change and so does manufacturing. I appreciate this review a lot!!
Thanks for watching!
Good to know, I will continue to use my V850 MF tray. And timely as I'm about to scan a bunch of Velvia and Provia 120 films. Your challenge Nick Carver is to produce another relevant instructional video just before I'm about to do something again! Cheers...:)
Challenge accepted!
@@nickcarverphoto You're the man!
Thanks, very helpful - especially the tip about the V850 tray!
I’m shopping for one now
Hi Nick, I have a V750 pro, no you don't have to scan 8x10 on the glass. I stuffed around with trying to work it out for a while, asking in a facebook forum. Turns out the issue was the front part of the film holder/shim. I copied my "scan science" cardboard shims of 4x5's for an 8x10 and it kept on cropping the width of the scan. It's those little tabs at the top that govern the width of the scan, the sensor picks up on them and crops it in... So just cut them off and move your holder back from the front of the scanner so nothing blocks it at the first part of the scan, it then sets it at the widest scan and I can do full width 8x10 scans on cardboard shims at perfect focus.
Good tip. I didn't know about that. Thanks!
epson has some great flatbed scanners
i use one myself!
thanks for sharing all this great content with us!
always appreciate watching videos like this!
Thank you for watching!
Thank you for this. Your videos are incredibly helpful. I appreciate you sharing your vast knowledge.
I’m learning a lot from you Nick...the fact is you never end learning! Thanks much and keep them coming. Cheers, Alex
As always, really nice video Nick! But crap, I think I'm late to tell you a different holder system to scan 120 film (and also 135). Did you heard about the Lomography Digitaliza120? Quite innovative concept that "holds" the negative stretched using little magnets and without using any glass! Give it a look and tell me what you think. I use it and I'm quite happy with it.
Congratulations for your channel, really mindblowing content. Hats off to you!
Very helpful Nick, thank you for sharing all your testing.
Love your channel! And waiting for new videos!
I really wish you made videos more often man. Love your content. Hats off to you my friend.
Excellent info! I have a question. How does the better scanning fluid mount compare to a drum scan? Do you have a comparative example? Thanks
Great video - and very interesting outcomes. If you only used the other methods you could end up blaming your lens for that colour fringing when it was in fact the scanning method.
The only youtube channel i have my notification on! Love your work!
Yeeeaah! Thank you!
Love your content, Nick! Any advise for scanning old 35 mm rolls of negatives that have been tightly wound for 50+ years? They're like springs and *really* hard to handle. I can get them under glass which works ok but then... the dreaded newton's rings...
I like your videos, and above all, your presentation. Very well done.
Your images are also something that piques my interest - a sort of panoramic New Topographics style.
Often, pan shots include too much useless information, and the eye scans left to right away from the (usually ) central subject. But you are able to balance the composition just right, and not draw attention to the extra wide view.
Good work.
Love this, super helpful. Have you ever considered trying wet mount on the piece of glass that you hold up with shims? sort of like a make shift better-scanning mount? These mounts are really hard to come by in Australia and I wonder if this would bridge the gap...?
IT is really enjoying to go into your video and life. I check every episode many times. I love you running left and right, back and forth to light Saguaro. I would like to say there are many special moments. many, many, hope to have chance to visit you. I am hong kong China.
this was excellent, thank you. I had a feeling the betterscanning tray would be best.
Great video. I have also been hunting for the best way to scan my film and I ended up designing and building a film holder for scanning on my Epson v750 that holds the film perfectly flat with no glass, no fluid, and ultra high focus adjustment. I'd be curious to see how it compares to your results.
Would you mind sending some pictures over of your setup? I'm really interested in this.
I have experienced unsightly chromatic aberration when I use iSRD in Silverfast. Taking it out solves it. I wonder if that's the culprit in your case as well.
great vid! could you make one on how you use silverfast?
Very, very helpful. I've been through a V600, and now working out the software bugs with the V800 (which has not kept up with Apple O/S).
I taught photography classes at a college for many years and recognize the fine job you did covering this subject. Well done!
Where do you explain your "ground glass technique" of scanning? THX
Love the way you shoot and can't wait for more on-location videos. Question: Any experience with the DA YI 6x17 roll film back? Thinking of getting one and shooting with a 4x5 for some pano landscape stuff.
Thanks Nick!
Enjoy your videos - always informative and fun to watch. Thanks!
It would be nice if you could compare the v850 tray to the betterscanning dry mount. The betterscanning is almost four times the price.
I've found (V850 Tray) if I scan reverse film (emulsion side faced to the bottom of the scanner) the definition is a little better,
Man Nick, all your stuff is spot on...you seem to nail any subject that I need to know but I didn’t know I needed to know it. Kind of like you don’t know what you don’t know. Does that make sense? ;-0. Now I have to try wet scanning on my V850!!!!
Would you ever consider trying scanning with a camera? It's really is super easy and the sharpness of fine details will blow you away. Color correction used to be the hard part but now with Negative Lab Pro (not an ad btw) it's so easy and the best color I've seen out of a scanner... If you can set up a tripod and level it you can scan with a camera, all you need is a cheap macro lens and a light table.
Few I was getting withdraws from not having an Nick Carver video to watch. Thanks for spending the time and sharing these results! I am curious - how was dust with the V850 holder? I found it tends to be a dust monster unless I use a Zerostat, polish clothes, and sometimes some Novus 1 plastic cleaner and after all that sometimes I can get good results (before iSRD which does tend to work decently well). I wish Epson sold versions of these that used real glass instead of plastic. It's not such a big deal for 120 but for 35mm black and white, it's sometimes a small nightmare.
Love your videos mate so much better than the average youtube "photographer"
Loved this video. Very helpful. I may pick up a new tray.
I have no clue what any of that meant... but its you.. so I listen.
you sound like his wife.
You missed one method of scanning - The Digitaliza by Lomography. Uses a unique mounting method which pinches the outer edges of the film only, eliminating the need to scan through any glass (besides the glass bed of the scanner, of course). I've found that it keeps film flat well enough, but sometimes the "wavy" sections of 120 film still aren't tamed by this method. Another point against this product is that it does not offer adjustable height, although I have used tape to shim it up to the focus plane of my v850.
Anyways, appreciate the video and trying out these methods so that I don't have to! I am curious about the BS holder and will probably try that next for anything I need to print large or just to geek out at the detail of medium format. I also enjoy squeezing out every bit of quality from my equipment - major kudos for explaining your process and keeping things consistent so that the results can truly be compared! So many times the scientific method is lacking with youtube content creators and it really invalidates their conclusions sometimes, but I'm rambling now... Cheers!
Another Digitaliza user here. It's definitely not perfect, and it took some trial and error to determine I needed to raise it up a bit with cutout mat board to get it into better focus. But I'm mostly happy with the results.
虽然没听太清楚，不过还是很喜欢，你的视频都超好看，超级喜欢。等有时间了好好看一遍字幕，好搞清楚意思。期待你的更新，加油💪。
Nice video sir, thank you! I have a few questions for you... what model & size is your Gepe light table? Where did you get it? Also, why does the scanner have to use a lower resolution lens if you scan directly on its glass?
Nick that was fantastic!! I have a old HP G4050 flatbed scanner. Not being the best, it does a fair job with BW dry scans. I'm going to look into those technics. Thanks a lot for awesome tips!!! maybe a future video on wet scanning process? how to prep film, before and after the wet scan is completed. Also, would it be possible to give dimensions of the v850 dry scan tray?
I use that same scanner with my 6x7 B&W negs. I use it more for proofing which negatives to print in the darkroom. I use VueScan with it. I also scan my 8" x10"silver gelatin prints for the web.
Hi Nick, your videos are very informative and amusing, which is very rare.
It’s good to know that the standard epson film holder is quite good. Did you have a chance to test the better scan normal film holders in the mean time.
Greetings from Munich, Germany
Really helpful, thanks. I have a V550 and if I ever take anything good enough to warrant it, I'd like to have a go at wet mounting. Just did a comparison of Ilford SFX & Rollei 400 and was getting significantly sharper results from the Rollei film, but after seeing the curl on SFX I suspect it was more down to the scan than the film itself. May have to invest in a betterscan holder just to see which is best without that issue. Still - even with the default (no glass) holder for the V550 I'm getting super results that I can print to 13x19. And for me, that's pretty good.
Thanks again and this new 2 videos a month thing is definitely working ;-p
That is a great video Nick. Glad I landed here! Out of curiosity, how long does it take to scan a 6x6 negatives? I read somewhere up to 19 min with the scratch and dust removal feature from Silverfast - which seems like a lot of time, though it might be for three negs. Lastly, I was told an Epson scan would show up too much grain of the negative, and a better solution was DSLR scanning... What do you think? Thanks much!
Where did you order the V850 tray from? I was thinking of doing the same, as I am having a lot of curling on my older film. And thanks for the video!
The most reviewers reviewing a V800/V850 advise to buy a V700 frame without glass (yep). That reviewers don't any additional liquid during scanning. The problem that dust can appear on the glass which seems to be hard to remove.
Nick, I wanted to inquire about the betterscanning Variable Height Mounting Station, specifically the glass. I was wondering what the primary difference in glass quality is between the fluid mount only and Dry + Fluid Mounting Station. Are both made of true glass or is the Dry + Fluid ANR glass made of Acrylic like the epson OEM v850 ANR 'glass' film holders? Which one did you purchase with your Variable Height Mounting Station? Super informative video. Thank you for your time!
Such a great video, extremely useful for me and saves me so much time going through all the options.
I just have one quick question: do you use the Epson trays with the film side facing the scanner or or as recommended - facing up?
Nice video, really interesting! Would you suggest wet scanning for black and white negs on a epson v800?
Thanks for the videos! They are a big help 👨💻
Thanks for watching!
Well done, and straight to the point.
Thank you
Great presentation - Thank you, I am in the process of buying a film scanner and the Epson V850 seems to be my favourite at the moment as it deals with all the legacy film formats that I would like to digitise. I note that you say that the v850 mounts have a glass face to the scanner bed. I thought these only suspended the film above the bed within the mount frame. Could you please confirm this?
Peter
Cool! Thanks for the hard work! Very informative and always a pleasure to watch your videos Mr Carver!
Have you made a tutorial on cleaning negatives for scanning? And how do you dry off the film after a wet mount scan?
Drying the film after wet mounting is also what I'm wondering since I heard about it. I hope someone can answer this.
I read up a bit on the Aztek webpage for the mounting fluid. Commenters there state that the fluid just evaporates after scanning in about ten seconds, so there seems to be no additional cleanup needed. The fluid's property of fast evaporation is also a thing to keep in mind when mounting film with it. Good news in that regard!
On the topic of cleaning film before scanning: Nick has mentioned different things to look out for and do for film as clean as possible. From experience I can say that it starts with the drying process. Keeping the drying environment as dust-free as possible is important, but not really something everyone is able to manage. When hanging film to dry in the shower, I sometimes turn on the shower hot for a few minutes before hanging the film there. The humidity created helps bind the dust. Also, one to two drops (don't do much more) of clearing agent in the last rinse helps avoid spots when drying (although it's still not perfect). I found that the stabilizing bath from C-41 chemicals tends to make matters worse most of the time (or I'm doing something wrong), so I replace it with photo-flo (like it's done with b/w films).
When the time has come, the rocket blower is the best tool. I mount the negatives dry and blow on them until I can't remove any more dust (tiny specs sometimes remain). Everything else has to be done using software (Digital ICE, iSRD and/or manual spotting).
If there's something to add, I'd be happy to learn as well. More tips can be found in forums or in other people's videos on the topic.
Where did you buy the V850 trays? B&H does not seem to have them.
Thank you mate for putting this on your are a gentleman kindest regards UK
Thanks for comparing Nick. I purchased the Betterscanning mount but unfortunately it came without the ANR glass; waiting for that. Did you do experiment with the height to find which is in better focus for different film size?
I can't get enough of your scanning technique. I just bought an Epson 850 and these video's are great getting me up to speed on scanning. You answered some questions How do you fine tune the focus with the Better Scanning wet mount Have you done any testing with B&W? Would you the results to be the same as color neg? BTW, how was NY?
Can I make a recommendation? I’m assuming you’re lighting your set. I think some gels would take the lighting to the next level. Maybe a 1/2 CTO on the overhead key and a 1/2 CTB on the light camera right. It would look more like a lamp over you and a window to the side. Maybe add a small, dim, 1/4 plus green kicker in front of your left foot shining up.
Great video as usual! Interesting results.
I wish I had the patience and time for that. I actually don't even light these videos. Just ugly overhead fluorescents.
Nick Carver Oh I thought you had a large octabox or something right over you (although I was wondering why you went with directly overhead). Honestly it’s pretty nice light as it is. Looks better than 90% of stuff out there.
Really useful, thank you! Out of interest, have you tried 'scanning' with a DSLR and stitching, would be interested to know how you think it compares? I've heard of some decent results, depending on the setup, and apparently colour negative inversion actually works pretty well with Negative Lab Pro...
I have tried it and I’ll actually be doing a video comparing the results. The most difficult part is the stitching. Even with fluid mounting the negative to keep it perfectly flat, I could just never get the images to merge seamlessly.
Super informative, as always. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Hi sir Nick! I tried contacting betterscanning but I never get back from them, did the company shuts down or change the name? Maybe you have any information about them. Thanks!
Wet mounting? I find less fluid is much better. I use less than 3 mls for 2 4x5 negs at a time. In the video, looks like you used about 20. Extremely thin layers is what I’m after. Easily remove bubbles with a pec cloth. And evaporation during a session is insignificant. Try it.
I would love to know how you purchased the 850 ANR holder. I’d love to try this technique! Thank you
Great video. How much trial & error was there to find the optimum focus height on the Betterscanning rig?
Hi Nick. Thanks for the video. I recently purchased a v850 holder with the ARN glass to work with my Epson v700 but I am struggling to get that thing clean from dust before scanning the negatives, it is like a magnet for the dust. How do you handle this issue when you are scanning the negatives?
would be interesting to see the results with black and white film, and if the grain structure and scanning in black and white instead of color, yields any different results.
Hey Nick, do you think an epson scan would work also for 35mm film or it would be too small and the resolution would just be horrible? Thanks for these videos!
It’ll work and you can get some pretty good results, but for 35mm you’d probably get better results scanning with a high-resolution digital camera and a macro lens.
Hi Nick, only recently discovered your videos, fascinating presentation technique, especially liked the Glenmorange connection, a fine Malt, but talking malt is for another time. Am particularly interested in scanning as I have a great deal of old negs but am also intent on shooting more film 35mm and 120 on an ETRS and Minolta Autocord. My 35mm will be scanned on an Minolta Elite 5400 but the 120 on an Epson V800, so I have a question as an prints from the Epson will be A2 max' on a textured paper do you think the V850 mount technique will be more than adequate. Also have you found issues with Newton Rings when using glass mounts without fluid on 120 negs'?
Very nice work; tnx for sharing. I have some 35mm slides, mounted, in strips as well as negs from my film days. I used to have a Nikon SCSI 35mm dedicated scanner back in 1999. But there are no SCSI computers anymore, and at any rate it must be slow for today's standards (it was slow even in 1999) so I'm stuck with them. Canon does a flatbed scanner (9000F MII) with various holders but it is USB2 connectivity so I suspect it will be pretty slow and around the USD200 mark. The Epson V850 is circa USD 800 and the 750 circa USD 650. So is there a scanner and a method you would suggest. The shots have more of an emotional value, no commercial.
Great info! I am desperate to get a scanner, but would love to know if you would go for the v850 or just go with the v750 and buy the v850 trays?
Nick, do you recommend a sleeve for the 850 film trays to keep dust and stuff off them as much as possible? Maybe something like the stone photo gear you have on the scanner but for the actual trays? Thanks!
It couldn't hurt. I keep mine in a drawer covered with a sheet of paper. The 850 tray is great, but man is it prone to dust!
Hello,
thank you for the very informative video.
I've just a little question about your reversed fluid mount scanning technique: do you scan the glossy side of the film or the grain side?
The Epson manual says to scan the glossy side, but maybe you inverted the film to scan the grain side, as they say it should be done with a DSLR scan.
Thanks.
Stefano
Great video Nick. How large do you print from your scanned 6x7 B&W negs? I have a makeshift darkroom, but I'm seriously thinking about going the hybrid route and purchasing a better scanner like the 800 or 850. I know it's a loaded question, but? Thanks.
It would be interesting to see comparison between standard v750 film mask and v850 Anti Newton film mask.
If the 750 frame was in this video, on which place would it be?
Very nice. Thanks for the video.
Hey Nick, How necessary do you think Aztek's mylar is? I've tested some much cheaper durlar off amazon and I think it works pretty well. What do you think?
Do you happen to know if betterscanning is still producing these? I have tried to order twice now and have not heard anything back from them. I also sent them emails and did not receive a response.
I tried a year ago and nothing
Hi Nick, I have been watching this video for the third time to get familiar with Epson film lol. I'm thinking to buy an Epson 850 to scan my film. But I watched some other videos, their conclusion is Epson scanner is not very clear, so it got me hesitated. What's your thought about this scanner? Do you have any new experience with scanning film recently? Thanks!
Nick we need more on location videos ! :D
Well, it makes sense that you would have better chromatic control scanning through only one piece of glass.
Precisely. But what's weird is even the V850 tray and the ground glass technique both had a little more chromatic aberration than the inverted fluid mount. Still one piece of glass, but maybe the fact they were dry mounted had something to do with it.
Hello from Latvia,Nick!
Thanks for videos and sharing your knowledge.
At what resolution you prefer scan 4x5 films for large prints.(The best in your opinion) It is same as in this video 4800ppi. And how big are files?
Thanks!
Hey Nik, can do your betterscanning tray dry scan as well?
If you get the Anti-Newton Ring Glass option, you can dry mount to that.
Thank you. I needed to see this comparison and it came just in time.
Nick, how large are you able to print using this method with the 6x7 negs? I also use the RZ Pro, but I use it only for B&W. I would like to get out of the darkroom and go hybrid. I really enjoy your channel. Thanks