Digitaliza experiences?

[chuck94022]

Can anyone report on their experiences using the DigitaLIZA film holder (either 35mm or 120)? It looks like a pretty sweet alternative to the OEM holders for the Epson v750 (which I own), and for quick scans, much faster than the betterscanning.com solution (which I also own). I should note that I own the betterscanning.com mounting station, which requires tape for dry mounting or a full wet mount process. I reserve that for my highest quality scans. I'm interested in a device for quick working scans, and this one looks like it could fill the bill nicely.

The one drawback I see from looking at it on the lomography.com website is that it doesn't appear to have height adjustment of any kind, so it might be necessary to shim it if the height doesn't match the scanner's focus plane.

Comments, thoughts, experiences? How well does it handle 35mm curl? How do you compare flatness of the mounted film versus the OEM holder on the Epson (very low bar, my 35mm is always curved in the Epson holder)?

Thanks!

 

[chuck94022]

Just to follow up on this one: I finally purchased the Digitaliza holders for 35mm and 120. They are excellent tools. Both hold the film very flat, gripped along the whole length of the strip. The mechanism for loading film is brilliant - two plates hold the film flat as the holder is closed, clamping the edges. Then the magnetic plates are easily removed. It only takes seconds to mount the strip, much faster than the standard holders. And because the film is held flat during the mounting by the plates, it remains flat once clamped.

The 35mm holder exposes the full strip of film, including sprocket holes. If you like scanning full frames with film markup and sprockets, this holder makes it easy.

The 120 holder does not appear to reveal as much of the edge, so you might need to resort to taping onto a betterscanning mounting station if you want the full image with edge markings.

Both holders are only a bit wider than the film, so much of the bed of the scanner is exposed to pure light. At least for Silverfast, this makes it impossible for the Silverfast frame finder logic to work properly. It outlines the entire holder as one big frame. To fix that, I put a black sheet around the holder (I just use one of the betterscanning masks - the 120 cutout mask works fine for the 35mm Digitaliza holder).

Regarding shimming: These holders place the film close to the base platen. I roughly measured the distance my carefully adjusted betterscanning holder places the film above the platen, and measured out a block of PostIt note sheets that would raise the Digitaliza film the same distance. Then it was a simple matter of cutting out four small squares from that block of PostIts, one for each Digitaliza corner, and taping them in place with Scotch Magic Tape. The Digitaliza provides plenty of room for these paper shims.

But note, once you have the shims in place, the mechanism for loading film doesn't work properly. The Digitaliza has to sit flat on the table for that mechanism to work properly. My solution? Simply hold the Digitaliza in the palm of my hand while loading a strip - it works perfectly. You could also use a book or block of wood or plastic that can sit inside the shims, allowing the digitaliza to sit flat. That would free both your hands, but truly, this holder is so easy to load you can do it with one hand.

I highly recommend the Digitaliza holders, which you can purchase from lomography.com. They doesn't fully replace my betterscanning holder, but they are now my go to holders for all but my most precision scans. They save a ton of time. And on the v700, you can fit at least two side by side, or even one 35mm and one 120, if you have a mixed set of film strips to scan.

 

[spiked]

Starting point?

Regarding shimming: These holders place the film close to the base platen. I roughly measured the distance my carefully adjusted betterscanning holder places the film above the platen, and measured out a block of PostIt note sheets that would raise the Digitaliza film the same distance. Then it was a simple matter of cutting out four small squares from that block of PostIts, one for each Digitaliza corner, and taping them in place with Scotch Magic Tape. The Digitaliza provides plenty of room for these paper shims.

Thanks for the info. I've got the Digitiliza's for 35 and 120, and a V700 on the way from Epson. Just curious as to how thick you ended up making up those shims? I assume the required value can vary a bit from scanner to scanner, and I will need to do test scans and adjust the number of Post-Its until I 'nail' the thickness for my unit, but knowing your value would give a good starting point.

Cheers,

Neil

 

[spiked]

Hmmm, reading up on this further, it appears the shimming required can vary greatly from scanner to scanner, so I guess I'll need to start from scratch with mine.

Thanks anyway,

Neil

 

[Pioneer]

I scanned a small stack of dimes that were offset from each other and then selected the clearest one for my starting point.