Actually, mine came with the slide adapter plugged in (and taped close),
and the film adapter in a separate box inside the big box.
On reflection, I think that's how mine was too (it's been a while...).
Well, exactly - the manual has a whole number of pictures of what may be
wrong just with the sprocket holes, and how to correct that (I'll need a
pair of scissors just for the scanner
) but it also mentions that for
strips with just a single negative the FH is necessary. I think in that
case there just may not be enough sprocket holes on that to properly
transport the film, with possible jam as a result. I don't want to try
that... so I'm calling the store tomorrow.
And of course it will be useful in case of curly film, but I'm much less
likely to have that than strips consisting of a single negative which I
*know* I have.
Also, if you have some mounted slides and want to take them out, they
end up being single negatives. The mounted frame hole is smaller than
the actual image so I removed all my mounted slides in plastic holders
(which snap open and then after I'm done I put them back in). However,
I didn't do that with Kodachromes because they came in paper mounts
which are a mess to take apart (risk of film damage, clouds of dust,
etc). Maybe after I'm done I'll go back and re-do those...?
BTW, the film strip holder also has a hole slightly smaller than the
image so it's a bit fiddly to line up. I adjust each frame before
scanning because the border between frames on film is not always the
same. In other words, if you align one frame it doesn't automatically
follow that all the other frames in the strip will be aligned with the
rest of the strip holder.
Hmm - I still wonder what's inside the NEF-from-scanner files then.
Guess I'll experiment a little.
I haven't really disassembled it but according to what I read it's
basically raw data plus any settings you applied (curves, etc). In a
way very similar to saving a Photoshop file with all the settings
layers.
BTW, what do you do to protect the scanner from dust? Some sort of dust
cover? The room it's sitting in here is not exactly dust-free...
Oh, I know! I ended up covering it with a plastic bag from a grocery
store. It fits perfectly (read: tightly!) and then I cover the whole
thing again with a piece of cloth. Before using it I vacuum the room,
then wait for the dust to settle, remove the cloth, vacuum around the
scanner. Wait for the dust to settle again and remove the plastic.
That may be over the top but so far I haven't had major problems with
dust. There is dust on the film strips but that's another story. I
first wipe the strip with a micro fiber cloth and then use a blow
brush. Also, from time to time I vacuum the inside of the scanner.
Well, not really the inside, but I remove the adapter and just vacuum
around the hole and the adapter itself.
Some people advise getting an "ionizer". It's a gizmo constantly
recycling the air around it removing all dust and other impurities. I
never got around to getting one but it sounds like a good idea.
Finally, nothing kills optical instruments like smoking! Now, I know
that smoking in Holland is compulsory ;o) so if you are a smoker -
quit!!! Or, at the very least, don't smoke around your scanner.
Precisely - I don't always walk around with my camera, but I usually do
take my phone when I go out. I get pictures I'd otherwise *never* get.
I do a lot of that with my old Nikon CoolPix 950. It's a bit bigger
but it fits in my shoulder bag which I always carry anyway. I usually
do most of my ad hoc shooting on my little bike trips often without
even stopping. I pull the camera out and shoot while riding my bike.
I've been thinking about getting a new compact digicam that fits in a
pocket but I'm low on funds right now. Also, even though the
resolution is up and they are smaller than my CoolPix the sensors in
these new compact digicams are also smaller which means more noise!
The lens *may* be plastic but I doubt it. And the sensor is 2
megapixels, and it has settings I haven't even explored yet ;-) My
little series of the fair turned out nicely; the only problem is that
it's a bit noisy in low light but PSP X has an excellent noise reduction
filter. I edited two pictures with that so far, with very good results.
Actually, many compact digicams have plastic lenses too! That's why I
got the CoolPix (way back) because it had a high quality glass lens.
That's even more important for digicams than analog cameras because
the digital sensor is far smaller than film image size in analogs.
Another thing is that the camera is a little slow so it takes some
practice to get moving objects - like dancers: so that's one thing I
practiced yesterday. I'll post a little gallery some time.
You mean, you practiced dancing with you camera phone. Juuuust
kidding! ;o)
Don.
)