Cleaning the film holders for a V850 Pro

George Collier · Jul 10, 2020

Does anyone know what is safe to clean the holders with the acrylic ANR material? I'm hoping I never have to, but can you use isopropanol or film cleaner on these surfaces, without compromising the ANR treatment? Talking about the mostly clear surface that the film is mounted against.
I attempted to find this out from Epson, but the best I could get was an incredibly brilliant, "yes, as long as it doesn't damage them, or affect scanning."
Does anyone know? I'm assuming not water base.

grat · Jul 11, 2020

From betterscanning.com website (so may, or may not, apply to the Epson holders):

Cleaning

A 3M® microfiber cloth is recommended for general light cleaning of the ANR Insert. (These cloths are also great for cleaning your scanner’s glass!) Wal-Mart sells these for just a few dollars or they can usually be found in any store that sells optical products.

Windex and a soft clean cloth that is lint-free can be used to clean the ANR Insert. An alcohol-based glass cleaner may work somewhat better on the etched side of the insert if you have a stubborn smudge that has embedded itself very deep into the etching. If that still doesn’t remove the smudge, try a mild degreaser like "Fantastik" or "Formula 409" followed by a second cleaning with the glass cleaner and a second clean cloth.

shutterfinger · Jul 11, 2020

I use Microdear microfiber lens cleaning cloths for general cleaning. These are heavyweight cloths sold by Adorama as Microdear, Pro Optics, Lee Filters, and likely some other brand names as Microdear makes them for other companies.
I also wet a side with water, apply a drop of dish detergent (Dawn) about 1/2 fingernail to a thumb nail size depending on the size of the surface to be cleaned, then rub gently with my finger tips, repeat for the other side, rinse under running water then rinse in a very weak photoflow solution. Hold by the edges only when rinsing. Stand on edge and air dry or dry with a clean lint free cloth.
In the case of acrylic be very gentle when rubbing, think rubbing an over ripe grape without moving the skin.

Deleted member 88956 · Jul 11, 2020

I never understood the praise of V850 from many for having ANR "glass" made of plastic in the box. The first question I asked was ... what?

shutterfinger · Jul 12, 2020

Witold said:
I never understood the praise of V850 from many for having ANR "glass" made of plastic in the box. The first question I asked was ... what?

Think feather weight eyeglasses lens. Polycarbonate is lighter than glass and optically equal.

Deleted member 88956 · Jul 12, 2020

shutterfinger said:
Think feather weight eyeglasses lens. Polycarbonate is lighter than glass and optically equal.

It's still plastic and there is no evidence Epson splurge on the some high tech acrylic either. My point is there is glass and there isn't.

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 12, 2020

The ANR "glass" is above the negative on the other side of the scanner's lens. It's purpose is to keep the negative flat. Only light from the scanner's cover is shone through the "glass" then through the negative for the image to be captured. The negative image doesn;t go through the ANR "glass". It not like a camera filter where the image goes through the filter where there may be more concern about it's clarity. I could be wrong on this, but that's how it seems to me.

Deleted member 88956 · Jul 12, 2020

Alan Edward Klein said:
The ANR "glass" is above the negative on the other side of the scanner's lens. It's purpose is to keep the negative flat. Only light from the scanner's cover is shone through the "glass" then through the negative for the image to be captured. The negative image doesn;t go through the ANR "glass". It not like a camera filter where the image goes through the filter where there may be more concern about it's clarity. I could be wrong on this, but that's how it seems to me.

You are correct in how this goes, which does not change the fact that it needs to be cleaned and rid off dust particles. Epson went with plastic for reasons that have nothing to do with putting a quality product on the machine. If I had the V850 first thing I would have done: dump the garbage ANR inserts and put actual high grade glass in those holders. Before then I might just forget about those holders and get something else in place.

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 12, 2020

Witold said:
You are correct in how this goes, which does not change the fact that it needs to be cleaned and rid off dust particles. Epson went with plastic for reasons that have nothing to do with putting a quality product on the machine. If I had the V850 first thing I would have done: dump the garbage ANR inserts and put actual high grade glass in those holders. Before then I might just forget about those holders and get something else in place.

I find the holder very acceptable. SInce you don't own a V850, you're only guessing that another holder would be better. I've compared my V850 scans with a drum scanner Howtek 8000 and it compares favorably.

George Collier · Jul 12, 2020

Thanks for these replies. Having used these for a few scans, I agree with Alan's and Shutterfinger's take on this. I can't imagine replacing all of them with glass, on both sets.
Mostly my question was about liquids. Shutterfinger gave one answer, although I'd like to avoid getting the whole holder wet to rinse. What about a solvent based liquid, like isopropanol or film cleaner?

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 12, 2020

I clean the glass platen and ANR "glass" with the same type cleaner I use on camera lens like Zeiss lens cleaner. I also use it on my eyeglasses which is polycarbonate and it does a great on on them too. The big problem is that dusdt sems to get attracted to the holder and a lot gets caught up in the corners. So I blow them it out first with canned air or Rocket Blower. Or use an anti static horse hair brush from Kentronics.

ckuwajima · Jul 12, 2020

V800/850 holders are dust magnets. I had to buy V700 “hollow” film holders as I wasn’t able to control dust in my room.

George Collier · Jul 12, 2020

Thanks again. I'll try the lens cleaner and tissue. I don't expect to have to clean them that often. I just received the Ilford anti stat cloths so I'll see how those work between scans.

Stephen Prunier · Jul 12, 2020

I'm fairly new to owning the V850 and I've only used it with B&W film, and mostly 6x7. I also wasn't crazy at first with the holders being dust magnets but I've become ok with them. When I purchased the scanner I also purchased the Epson fluid mount tray which I intend to use with negatives that I want to make prints from, so the extra time and mess won't be often. I haven't tried it yet, but I did do some research and found recommendations for cheaper mounting fluid than Aztec and clear sheets than what's promoted by Epson and others, etc.

George Collier · Jul 13, 2020

Yes, I've developed a sequence for cleaning, de-static-ing, and blowing off dust from every surface, one at a time, in logical sequence and have very little dust.
And, I've seen on line that using the holders employs a scanning lens combination that apparently has quality advantages.

Cleaning the film holders for a V850 Pro

Deleted member 88956

Deleted member 88956

Deleted member 88956

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency