Epson V850 film holders and dust

xtolsniffer · 2025-10-01T16:07:15-0400

My 15+ year old Epson V700 started to become a little erratic so I bought a new V850 and I've been getting to grips with the new film holders that have an acrylic ANR insert. They seem to attract a crazy amount of dust. It's not too bad with C-41 as I can use iSRD in Silverfast to remove it, but with silver monochrome where I can't use iSRD it's really bad. I've actually gone back to using my old V700 film holders in the V850 for black and white. Does anyone have any top tips for removing dust from these film holders? I never have this much trouble with the glass inserts in my enlarger.

John Wiegerink · 2025-10-01T17:05:40-0400

When I first got my V850 the holder could draw dust from 10 feet across the room. Well, almost that far it seemed. It was a real pain for sure, but the more I used them the better they seemed to get. I think they are really electrically charged for the factory production process and with use this static charge is discharged. At least a little anyway. I have glass carriers for my Nikon LS-8000 and they sure don't seem to draw in dust like the ones from Epson. Still, if I were to scan for a special shot I wanted hanging on my wall, I would wet-mount for sure.

xtolsniffer · 2025-10-02T02:00:42-0400

Thanks for that, it does seem to the the static that's doing it, I can sweep the dust off with an anti-static brush as you can see the dust and hairs ping back off the brush back onto the holder! I'll persevere and hope they get better with time.

koraks · 2025-10-02T03:14:58-0400

John Wiegerink said:
I think they are really electrically charged for the factory production process

Nah, it's just what acrylic does. Brush something against it and it'll build up charge. This 'something' can even be photons...

Sorry, using acrylic 'glass' for a film insert for a scanner is just a fatally flawed concept right from the get go.

xtolsniffer said:
I've actually gone back to using my old V700 film holders in the V850 for black and white.

Sounds like a good solution; I'd stick with that.

Alan Edward Klein · 2025-10-02T07:15:44-0400

Can you use V600 35mm and 120 medium format holders on a V850?

gbroadbridge · 2025-10-02T08:03:49-0400

I sprayed mine with an ESD Anti static spray and wiped off with a microfibre cloth and haven't seen dust attract to them for a long time.

I just puff them before each use with the Giottos Air Rocket and the dust blows away.

Alan Edward Klein · 2025-10-02T08:10:04-0400

Don't people have similar issues with dust on plastic large format film holders?

Alan Edward Klein · 2025-10-02T08:14:38-0400

gbroadbridge said:
I sprayed mine with an ESD Anti static spray and wiped off with a microfibre cloth and haven't seen dust attract to them for a long time.

I just puff them before each use with the Giottos Air Rocket and the dust blows away.

Does ESD leave a residue that could damage film?

gbroadbridge · 2025-10-02T08:44:21-0400

Alan Edward Klein said:
Does ESD leave a residue that could damage film?

It may leave something behind, but I've never seen it affect any negative as the surface is left dry.
Been using it for several years. Certainly less concerning than a fluid mount.

retina_restoration · 2025-10-02T09:21:53-0400

Try wiping the holders with an Ilford anti-static cloth.

Hassasin · 2025-10-02T10:32:02-0400

Epson dropped the ball on these so-called AN plates in those holders. Use the ones from V700 instead.

Hassasin · 2025-10-02T10:42:10-0400

I meant holders from V700 with no BS plastic windows in them, that was first thing I did with V800, bought the others when they were available cheap. I don't think there is a way to win dust battle on what Epson supplied with V850, they apparently tried to emulate a well known actual glass AN inserts.

Epson V850 film holders and dust

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