using a mobile phone app to create contact sheets from C41 negs

Yes the software automatically compensates, and I presume the different presets make different corrections depending on the variations in orange base colour between one make of film and another.

But the original sensor will still see the colour cast, so the usable range of bits that contain image (as opposed to mask) will be reduced. Unless the analogue gain of one channel is increased before it is digitised to the normal 8 bits per pixel per colour.

I've always wanted to try out something I read in a novel (Reflex by Dick Francis) in which a photographer stored secret handwritten lists by photographing them with a strong blue filter onto negative film. This produced a yellow image in negative which was hidden by the orange mask and so looked like developed but unexposed film - until you print it (or scan it) with a strong blue filter onto contrasty paper (or increase the digital contrast). That book was written long before computer scanners were an everyday domestic appliance. I should have tried it while I still had a film camera, colour neg film and an enlarger, with a couple of blue daylight/artificial converter filters stacked (or even some blue transparent gel)

Reply to
NY
Loading thread data ...

After upgrading from Win7 Pro/32 to Win 10 Pro/pro the Epson program seems to have disappeared, so I just use the Microsoft Fax and Scan app. Not sure whether to try and install the orginal CD.

It is 22 years old now but being Japanese/Singapore manufacture I hope the elecro mechanical stuff will last a few more years. Not sure about the toothed belt though.

Reply to
Andrew

I reckon VueScan is well worth its modest cost, it can run both of my flatbeds and the Konica negative scanner, although I havn't tried that with C41.

Reply to
newshound

The V700 takes 12 2"x2" slides in one go, I can't remember exactly how many negative strips it will take but it's certainly as many as the slides.

Reply to
Chris Green

:-)

I run my Epson V700 software in a Windows XP virtual machine on my Linux desktop. So my copy of XP will never go away! :-) The Epson V700 software is now the *only* reason I have a Windows virtual machine.

Reply to
Chris Green

I don't have the scanner and am just being curious. Does the Linux driver from Epson not work for you?

Reply to
Richard

Yes, it works fine and I use it quite often, but the Windows software is more capable in some ways. For example the Windows software allows you to scan multiple pages into a single multi-page PDF. The Linux software doesn't do this and you have to join all the PDFs together afterwards.

I'm not sure if the colour auto-correction is in the Linux software, I've not used it for scanning slides or negatives. I might try some time as I have quite a lot of colour negatives not scanned.

Reply to
Chris Green

Thanks. I am interested to learn the limitations of various software in Linux and don't run a windows VM. I do use some stuff running in WINE which works OK mostly.

Reply to
Richard

Sods law applied on the 13th, I tried to use it and Win 10 decided that despite having scanned before this time it was going to sulk. After much faffing and swearing I downloaded the driver intended for the epson photo 2400 and normal scanning has resumed, however...

I have never used the transparency adapter. All I have are four film holders, one takes two film strips above and below, another marked "for use with epson instant scan" and two rectangular frames that might for 5x4 and 6x4.5, but the size of the film aperature is strange and the "instant scan" one that seems to scan one frame of

35mm unmounted film does not fit into the transparency adapter, because it is too small. Also there are no holders for mounted slides. I no longer have the original box I don't ever remember seeing other film holders. Also when I turn on the light in the transparency adapter and do a scan, the light on the scanner bar is still illuminated so all I get is a scan of the entire underside of the transparency adapter. Something should tell the scanner that the flatbed illuminator should go off surely ?. The multi-way connector that powers the adapter is a very tight fit into the back of the scanner, maybe something is not making proper contact ??.

The original epson scan utility seems to have vanished. I am reluctant to try and install it in case it mucks up the drivers again. Do you use Win 10 ?, and if so do you just use the Win10 scan 'app' ?.

Reply to
Andrew

I managed to find my backlight and film holders from my Epson 1200 remarkably quickly so I've photographed what I can find which should in theory match yours.

formatting link
shows the backlight (with the light unit raised) and the rectangular aperture.

formatting link
shows it with a two-35mm-strip holder which fits snugly into the aperture. I've put a two-neg film strip in the top of the two slots in the holder.

I do have a holder for large film - somewhere. From memory I think it was a bit larger than 120 film size

I don't think there were any holders for mounted slides. I just laid them on the glass in the aperture, aligning the edges of the mounts hard against the edges the aperture.

I think the control of the normal scanning light is done by the scanning software. I've vague memories that the original Epson software allowed you to choose film (transmitted light) or flat-bed (reflected light) and (for film) negative/positive. But the software was for XP. I never managed to get it to work on Win 7. I use Vuescan

formatting link
but I think the free version stamps a watermark over the scans; I bought a licence ages ago - so long that I can't remember how expensive it was, though probably a fair amount cheaper than the £70 that they currently charge for the Pro version that can do film scanning.

Reply to
NY

VueScan is available for Windows as well. You don't need an iMac or Mac mini to run it. I see that the latest version, V9.7.x, is also available for Linux - eg Debian - on both Intel and ARM CPUs.

Reply to
NY

yes, that's exactly what I have

Again, I have that one, plus another that only scans one frame of an unmounted film and is marked "Use with Epson instant scan" but it doesn't fill the whole aperature of the slide adapter.

Indeed, an odd size, also one that looks like 6x4.5 but isn't that exact size.

So I probably didn't chuck mine away then

Much cheaper than Silverfast :-), though you do get the light version with the Plustec 8200 slide scanner.

If I could install the 1999 epson software on Win 10/32 Pro then I might get it to work, so for now the ability to scan negatives on my photo 1200U scanner is not possible. I suspect what I would have to so is get newer PC that would allow Win 10/64 plus a copy of 32 bit XP but this is not progress :-(

On Youtube I found a video of chap who bought a 10-YO but boxed and unused Nikon Coolscan 9000 and he got it working on his Apple mac laptop using a Firewire 800/400 adapter, cable, Apple firewire to thunderbolt adapter and an Apple thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. I think he used Vuescan on the Mac.

Reply to
Andrew

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.