Scanners: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

[ibovnu]

I'm trying to scan 4X3 glass negatives but the inserts for my Cano scan 8800F are not big enough to fit the entire plate for a total scan (crops the sides off but the quality is great). I have tried many ways to alter the scanner settings so that I don't have to use the film inserts with no success (it won't allow me to scan without an insert on the film setting). If I change the setting to document and use photoshop to invert and change the levels the quality just isn't there. Other than buying a new scanner, any ideas? Thanks ...

[Mike]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

Hopefully we are talking about the same thing!

In my old scanner there where inserts(?) that went around the film negative so the scanner would only see the image and not the rest of the scanner. If that is what you are talking about, I took a piece of thin but opaque cardboard and made a new insert of the correct size to fit the negatives I wanted to scan. Seemed to work OK.

If you have an insert that is bigger than your negatives, use the cardboard to mask down the unwanted area.

Hope this helps!

[ibovnu]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

Yes, same thing and that should work, i will try it ... thank you very much!

[Steve13]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

The insert on my canon has a small window below the film window that it uses for calibration. You cannot cover that area or it won't scan. And obviously, making the window larger than the backlight in the lid won't help either.

[ibovnu]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

Thanks Steve13, I've tried making a "slide barrier" with poster board but it scans in 6 sections. Still trying ...

[Tony W]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

Are you sure that the negative scanner part in the lid will actually cover the plate size as it is 31/4"x41/4"?

You will be limited by the width of the scanning window and I suspect that it may not be enough to cover the narrowest width of your glass negatives and still give even illumination.

While I do not have the Canon model I do have an Epson which is limited by design to 21/4" max. to do larger sizes would require more money to be spent on the next model up - could it be the same with your scanner

This may be of interest

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amfyasin/4039081832/

[ibovnu]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

It is 3 1/4 wide. I made a frame from poster board to contain the glass negative and it did scan but it came up with 6 images.

[ibovnu]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

and Tony W, thank you for the link.

[Tony W]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

6 images sounds like it may be an incorrect software setting prior to scanning. Maybe set to look for 6 x 35mm for instance? If you can i.e. software allows, select a custom size prior to your scan

[ibovnu]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

Doesn't give me a choice, wish it did.

[Tony W]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

Perhaps consider other software? A good one IMO is Vuescan http://www.hamrick.com/ you can download a trial copy and if it works you can register and pay for the unlock code.

EDIT: Not familiar with the scanning software for the Canon however it is surprising that you cannot select an individual frame. When you say you get 6 do you mean the same image repeated or one image with 5 blank frames?
Usually after a scan or preview scan you should be able to select the area you want. See if there is a select preview function and if you can drag a box around the area of interest

[ibovnu]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

I get 6 different areas of the negative, kinda weird but I probably could stitch them all together. I have about 3000 ~ 4X3 glass and film negatives. I guess I will have to buy a good scanner that WILL scan 4X3's, any suggestions?

[Tony W]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

For me at least stitching 3000 images together would be a non starter

If you cannot find any tricks in your software to get what you want then how about going with my suggestion and trying the demo version of Vuescan. At least it is no cost initially to see if your scanner can do what you want with the plate size. I know that you will be able to scan and select just the area you want with this software.

If you do feel the need to purchase a new scanner there are many that will do the job. My preference at this time would be the Epson range v750 v700 or v600 (assume that these are still current). You will also need to double check that your selection enables you to scan the plates fully. I also find that the Epson software is quite adequate although if you want the best then once again look at Vuescan or even Silversoft offerings.

[ibovnu]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

Thanks Tony .. I will try Vuescan and research 4x3 scanners this weekend.

[nobby1961]

Re: Glass Negatives with a Cano Scan 8800F

I am wondering, a year after the last post on this subject, has anyone solved the problem? I am looking to buy a flatbed scanner which I am able to scan several 3" X 4" glass negatives plus also the more usual 35mm film and carded slides. I was looking at the Canon 9000f. Can anyone advise me please.