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Can I make my own Transparency Adapter for a Scanner?

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Chris Shearer Cooper

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Dec 14, 2009, 6:38:57 PM12/14/09
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I inherited several hundred old negatives, they are some funky format,
about 2 1/2 inches by 4 3/8 inches. I looked into having a commercial
service scan them, but they want $2 per negative.

Epson has a scanner (the Perfection V300) that has a negative adapter,
I can pick one up for about $60 (actually Santa can pick one up,
Santa's been bugging me to put something under $400 on my Christmas
list), the problem of course is that their negative adapter only works
with 35mm film.

The folks at Epson thought I could easily create my own template so
that the scanner could scan these negatives. I have had a variety of
scanners in my life, so I'm quite familiar with them, but have never
owned one that could scan negatives, so I don't know if the advice
from Epson is actually correct.

On newegg.com, folks who are using this scanner on 35mm negatives are
pleased with the quality; it does 4800 dpi optical resolution and they
claim 48 bit depth. Yes, I know that for $60 I'm not going to get the
quality of an $800 scanner, but I simply can't afford that much
quality <grin>. And, if I find any negatives that are absolutely
stunning, I can take those for a more professional treatment.

Does anyone have an Epson Perfection V300, and can comment on whether
they think I could modify it to scan my negatives? Maybe general
comments about what the setup is - how do low-end scanners scan
negatives?

I'm thinking that if it's just a matter of (gently) dropping the
negative onto the flatbed and scanning the sucker, I can do that. But
if it's something where the negative has to be held at a precise
distance above the flatbed (or whatever), then the odds of me being
able to create my own precise template diminish greatly.

Thanks!
Chris

Mickey

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Feb 11, 2010, 11:59:42 AM2/11/10
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Know this is dated but here is what I know.

If the scanner you are talking about is anything like my Perfection 1660,
this scanner will not work for you. It has a limited area (35mm) that
works for negs/transparencies. Additionally they are set up to recognize
either film or slides on a specific spacing.

Recently spoke with Epson and they said their V700 model could handle full
bed negs/transparencies. Don't know personally but that is what I was
told.

Mickey

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Woofdog

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Feb 25, 2010, 8:10:23 PM2/25/10
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"Mickey" <Mic...@somewhere.com> wrote in message
news:op.u7y2t...@desktop.domain.actdsltmp...

Yes, the lightsource if full width in the lid, and full lengh. I have one
and regularly scan medium format film, slides and strip. Also, you can
actually just place the negs/film on the glass,.

Eddie

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