Preview Issue, Epson V500

>>The business about it being optimized to sit so many millimeters above the glass to stay in focus was lost on me.<<

You don't say what scanner you have but for most Epson flatbed scanners a trial with different heights should reveal a difference. If you don't see any then something is not right with an Epson or with the testing methodology. Some Epson scanners show a small improvement but some show a really noticeable improvement. With these scanners, every bit of extra sharpness is important since the CCD sensor always requires some unsharp masking anyway to return the original snap.

Doug

Doug Fisher said:

>>The business about it being optimized to sit so many millimeters above the glass to stay in focus was lost on me.<<

You don't say what scanner you have but for most Epson flatbed scanners a trial with different heights should reveal a difference. If you don't see any then something is not right with an Epson or with the testing methodology. Some Epson scanners show a small improvement but some show a really noticeable improvement. With these scanners, every bit of extra sharpness is important since the CCD sensor always requires some unsharp masking anyway to return the original snap.

Doug

Click to expand...

Epson V500, per the thread title. I get acceptably sharp scans for my purposes. I've done comparisons before (with holder versus on glass) and was underwhelmed. Others' mileage may vary.

I read Mr. Fisher's post as saying that there seem to be variations within each Epson model, not that different models consistently show different results.

Lots of interesting info.
I felt the neg holder was convenient because I often shoot Rollei ATP which likely holds the record for negative curl.
However I noticed a noticeable amount of space between the neg and scan surface using this.
I'm told scanners have a certain "depth of field" when scanning which would allow for that space, however am interested in using the glass plate method described above.
That will also allow me to scan more than 2 6x45 frames at a time.
I appreciate it!

Still struggling with scanning I'm afraid. I'm following the advice on this thread closely but it's not happening. I'm currently scanning 6 x 6 colour negatives, which the preview chops up into three oblong images, not the two square negatives in the holder. The size is set to 6 x 6. The marquee tab only appears once the negatives have been previewed, when I click and drag on the previewed frame. The marquee won't exceed the oblong frame of the cropped preview negatives, so no way of making them square/full size. At no point am I seeing anything like shutterfinger's negative strips from a preview (I know his are 35mm and I'm scanning medium format). from which to marquee.

Ready to launch the Epson from a second floor window. Any final advice?

Edit: Success! The thing I was missing was unchecking the thumbnail box on the Epson Scan panel, when I assumed people were talking about the thumbnail panel on the preview box. How can I own a scanner for eight years and not notice that box? The problem rarely occurs with 35mm, so I've gotten away with it, but nearly always happens on 120. Thanks for your indulgence folks!