Minolta SD IV issues

[Leonard Evens]

I got a Minolta SD IV to scan my old 35 mm negatives, most of which are
black/white. I've begun to do some of them. I don't have any problem
with tonal balance and the resolution is adequate for my purposes. But
I've noticed a couple of things.

First I have an awful time getting some of the film strips in the holder
because of film curl. I find it next to impossible to get them in with
the base side up, and I can just manage with the emulsion side up.
Suprisingly, it appears that the focus is a bit better with the emulsion
side up. Does anyone have any pointers to help with this?

Second, I've noticed a lightening effect towards the edges near the
sprocket holes. The same thing happens if I scan the same negatives in
my Epson 3200, so I don't think it has anything to do with the scanner.
It may just be the result of overdevelopment because of increased
agitation near the sprocket holes, but I never noticed it when I printed
these or similar negatives in my darkroom. On the other hand, it might
have something to do with the film curl. I can deal with this using the
gradient tool in my photoeditor, but I'm still perplexed about the
cause. Any thoughts about this would be appreciated.

 

[winhag]

I remember some sprocket hole weirdness when I scanned on a flatbed.
Make sure the sprocket holes are masked off. I believe when I did this
the anomaly went away. Probably had something to do with blasting the
sensor with direct light through the sprocket holes.

W

 

[Leonard Evens]

I remember some sprocket hole weirdness when I scanned on a flatbed.
Make sure the sprocket holes are masked off. I believe when I did this
the anomaly went away. Probably had something to do with blasting the
sensor with direct light through the sprocket holes.

That is an interesting idea. Actually, for both my scanners, the
sprocket holes are completely covered by the film holders. But the film
doesn't appear to be completely centered from side to side and a thin
white edge shows through on one side. That might somehow confuse the
scanner. Unfortunately, the effect seems to be bilateral, so that can't
be the entire story.

 

[wim wiskerke]

That is an interesting idea. Actually, for both my scanners, the
sprocket holes are completely covered by the film holders. But the film
doesn't appear to be completely centered from side to side and a thin
white edge shows through on one side. That might somehow confuse the
scanner. Unfortunately, the effect seems to be bilateral, so that can't
be the entire story.

You could do a quick test with a single negative in a slide mount.
Scan it at 0 and 90 degrees for comparison.

With B/W it could well be a fixer problem.

regards, wim