Frosted Acrylic

Derek Lofgreen · Oct 7, 2009

Just curious, but has anyone played around with some frosted acrylic to flatten negs while scanning? (I'm thinking for flatbeds) I read somewhere that AN glass is more or less a light diffuser. I have seen some film holders that have a lightly frosted piece of clear'ish plastic to flatten the film. So I thought "Hmm, would a frosted piece of acrylic work too?". Thoughts? Experiences?

I am mostly just curious. If no one has played with the idea no biggie. I will play around with it then. If someone has.... then I won't waist time on it if it doesn't work.

D.

Doug Fisher · Oct 8, 2009

In most situations, you don't want to diffuse the light any more than necessary on a flatbed because reducing the light's strength will affect the scanner's ability to "see" into the denser parts of the film. The plus for acrylic is that it doesn't cost much. High quality AN glass does cost more but it accomplishes the job of minimizing Newton Rings with minimal amounts of diffusion and doesn't scratch as easily as many acrylics.

Doug

pellicle · Oct 9, 2009

Derek Lofgreen said:
So I thought "Hmm, would a frosted piece of acrylic work too?". Thoughts? Experiences?

I went a step further and bought thin frosted glass, being concerned that the acrylic may have spectral responses which were less even. With the Epson you need to ensure that the same bit of frosted glass covers the calibration area or you will not get a good density range (the scanner thinking more light is reaching the sensor than really is)

I didn't see much worth pursuing, but then I was thinking of more than the issue of film flatness (I was thinking of alternative strength, replacement light sources too).

williamtheis · Oct 9, 2009

if you want to eliminate Newton's rings, get clear mylar and wet mount your neg's with Kammi. Works for flatbeds not just drums. I do it all the time. Epson claims (correctly) that it is especially good for B&W negatives in reducing/removing grain. You do have to clean two more surfaces and chase away the bubbles. I go to Aztek for Kammi and mylar... there are also video's demonstrating how to actually do it. A poor man might use water...

http://aztek.com/kami_advantage.html

No, I don't own stock in Aztek and am not a sales rep. but PM me if you need help or advice. This is the only way I scan on my flatbed... which really doesn't have a fancy adapter like the one they sell for the epson ... I just am real careful!

Peter De Smidt · Oct 9, 2009

Yes, Kami works fine. Don't use water! It'll cause the gelatin to swell and become fragile. There are other alternatives, such as mineral oil (messy), naptha (flammable), and others. Really, though, use Kami or Prazio mounting fluid unless you really know what you're doing.

P C Headland · Oct 10, 2009

Derek Lofgreen said:
Just curious, but has anyone played around with some frosted acrylic to flatten negs while scanning? (I'm thinking for flatbeds) I read somewhere that AN glass is more or less a light diffuser. I have seen some film holders that have a lightly frosted piece of clear'ish plastic to flatten the film. So I thought "Hmm, would a frosted piece of acrylic work too?". Thoughts? Experiences?

I am mostly just curious. If no one has played with the idea no biggie. I will play around with it then. If someone has.... then I won't waist time on it if it doesn't work.

D.

I use anti reflective glass from a picture framing shop that I got cut to fit in the epson holders (V700) for curly negatives. It works fine - I've not had any problems with newton rings, colour balance, etc.

Derek Lofgreen · Oct 16, 2009

Great info here guys. Thanks. I think I may peruse the liquid mounting path. The question I have about that is what do you clean your neg off with when your done?

D.

L Gebhardt · Oct 22, 2009

Derek Lofgreen said:
Great info here guys. Thanks. I think I may peruse the liquid mounting path. The question I have about that is what do you clean your neg off with when your done?

D.

If your negative is clean to start with, Kami requires very little cleanup afterwards. Most of the time it cleanly evaporates and no further clean up is needed. When it is, I use Pec 12.

Frosted Acrylic

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