Epson V850 Flatbed Scanner- Quick Thoughts

Frank53 · Dec 2, 2021

Since my >15 years old V700 suddenly died, I got the V850.
Contrary to most here, I actually like the 850 film holders. Since I only scan for archiving purposes, I don't mind a bit of dust now and then and like the flatness.
There is one thing that makes me wonder...
On YouTube I saw some warnings about using the newer film holders, because the extra glass would cause unsharpness and color fringing.
I wonder how this is possible, since the glass is on the lamp side of the film, so not between the negative and the lens. In my opinion you could even use opal glass and see no difference.
Can anyone explain this?

Regards,
Frank

Alan Edward Klein · Dec 2, 2021

The explanation is that Youtube is wrong.

Frank53 · Dec 2, 2021

That’s what I was thinking, but the idea seems rather widespread.

Alan Edward Klein · Dec 2, 2021

Frank53 said:
That’s what I was thinking, but the idea seems rather widespread.

There's a lot of misinformation on the web. Including photo forums.

Sirius Glass · Dec 2, 2021

The negative holders are a piece of crap. Flimsy and fragile.

braxus · Dec 2, 2021

Keeping the film flat without crunching it somewhere is why I hate the 850 holders. Poor design.

Sirius Glass · Dec 2, 2021

Old Gregg said:
Here's the unpopular opinion: if you are relying on a negative holder, regardless of the scanning method, to keep a negative flat... you're doing it wrong and you will have a bad time.

It is much easier to adopt a system that produces perfectly flat negatives to work with. Here's how I do it:

Don't keep wet film hanging for too long. Take it off immediately after it dries. This also eliminates dust, in my environment (guest closet, no moving air, pets in the house) it eliminates dust completely.

To counteract the lateral curl, roll each film into a roll 15-20cm / ~7" in diameter with the emulsion facing outward, and place it into a ziplock bag. The bag will keep it rolled and dust-free. There's a relationship between the diameter and the time it takes to keep it rolled this way before scanning.

After this treatment my usual selection of 120 films becomes dust-free and naturally flat and doesn't need anything special to stay flat during scanning. The obvious caveat here is that I scan uncut rolls.

Great you solved a problem that we do not have. The plastic design is very flimsy, twists and bends and does not close into place properly so that negative is held either flat or stably.

grat · Dec 2, 2021

Sirius Glass said:
Great you solved a problem that we do not have. The plastic design is very flimsy, twists and bends and does not close into place properly so that negative is held either flat or stably.

Not my experience. The 800 series holders are, if anything, more solid than the 700 series holders (and yes, I have both-- I bought a set of 700 series to go with my v800 after hearing how "horrible" the 800 series holders are-- I don't use the 700 series as a rule).

Would like to see Old Gregg get Bergger Pancro 400 in 120 to lay flat, though.

Sirius Glass · Dec 2, 2021

Old Gregg said:
I had the V850. The design is fine. It only doesn't work for those who have a problem which I have identified above. Read this again, but slower: if you can't have a flat negative in your negative holder, the problem is not the negative holder.

My negatives are flat. I am not talking about contrast either.

warden · Dec 2, 2021

Old Gregg said:
Here's the unpopular opinion: if you are relying on a negative holder, regardless of the scanning method, to keep a negative flat... you're doing it wrong and you will have a bad time.

It is much easier to adopt a system that produces perfectly flat negatives to work with. Here's how I do it:

Don't keep wet film hanging for too long. Take it off immediately after it dries. This also eliminates dust, in my environment (guest closet, no moving air, pets in the house) it eliminates dust completely.

To counteract the lateral curl, roll each film into a roll 15-20cm / ~7" in diameter with the emulsion facing outward, and place it into a ziplock bag. The bag will keep it rolled and dust-free. There's a relationship between the diameter and the time it takes to keep it rolled this way before scanning.

After this treatment my usual selection of 120 films becomes dust-free and naturally flat and doesn't need anything special to stay flat during scanning. The obvious caveat here is that I scan uncut rolls.

I just put my negs in sleeves and press them in a book for a day and they're flat, but I still greatly prefer the better scanning system over Epson to get that final flatness (a fraction of a millimeter I suppose) and they're just easier and quicker to use imho. I use a V750 though and don't know if the newer Epson holders are better than they used to be.

grat · Dec 2, 2021

warden said:
I just put my negs in sleeves and press them in a book for a day and they're flat, but I still greatly prefer the better scanning system over Epson to get that final flatness (a fraction of a millimeter I suppose) and they're just easier and quicker to use imho. I use a V750 though and don't know if the newer Epson holders are better than they used to be.

It's a trade-off. First, the 750 holders would usually hold twice as many negatives-- the 4x5 holds two, the 120 holds two, and it's down to one each on the 850. But, there's ANR glass, so less chance of newton rings, and more importantly, it helps to hold the negatives flat.

The downside is that when they designed the slot for the 120 film, the notches for the ANR glass were obviously an afterthought-- so they tend to pinch the edges of some 120 emulsions, and make placing the film an exercise in patience and irritation.

Alan Edward Klein · Dec 3, 2021

grat said:
It's a trade-off. First, the 750 holders would usually hold twice as many negatives-- the 4x5 holds two, the 120 holds two, and it's down to one each on the 850. But, there's ANR glass, so less chance of newton rings, and more importantly, it helps to hold the negatives flat.

The downside is that when they designed the slot for the 120 film, the notches for the ANR glass were obviously an afterthought-- so they tend to pinch the edges of some 120 emulsions, and make placing the film an exercise in patience and irritation.

The medium format 120 holder only holds 2 6x7s not three like the V600 holder. Which makes it a pain to cut and store in plastic sheets or to use old film that was cut into threes and twos. Epson was out to lunch when they designed this holder. On 4x5, some film seems bigger than the height of the space in the holder to take the film.

Epson V850 Flatbed Scanner- Quick Thoughts

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