Scanning 127 Black and White negatives

PhilBurton · Oct 12, 2023

Before I got a hand-me-down 35 mm camera (Kodak Signet 35) I used a box camera. I still have those negatives, and would like to scan them. Are there film holders available for an Epson flatbed scanner.

If there is no film holder available, would it be OK or good enough to just place the negatives right on the scanner glass?

blee1996 · Oct 12, 2023

Yes they do exist. I bought two of these plus the frame for my Epson V700 flatbed scanner. They work well: I can scan two strips of 3 frames each in one batch.

PENSO 127 - CamerHack film photography adapters

Film mask for scanning 127 film on flatbed scanners.

www.camerhack.it

Tel · Oct 12, 2023

I don't believe there are any commercially made 127 holders. I shoot a lot of 127 so I made my own. I measured the thickness of the plastic on one of the Epson carriers (i.e. the height of the neg above the glass) and got some black styrene plastic sheet and cut it very carefully with a Stanley knife. It's been working well for years. I think it's 1mm thick. I made mine fancy: two frame windows with a channel on either side and a little cross bar on the frame line to hold the neg flat, so I can scan two frames at once. If you're not doing a lot of them, a single-window design with tape holding the neg down would do just as well.

Edit: I stand (or sit) corrected!

beemermark · Oct 12, 2023

Not sure what Epson scanner you have but my V700 has a setting for film without holder. I lay the film under the glass and scan away.

PhilBurton · Oct 12, 2023

Tel said:
I don't believe there are any commercially made 127 holders. I shoot a lot of 127

Is 127 film still available? I remember using 127 Verichrome Pan, B&W, because it was all I could afford back then (on my allowance.)

Tel said:
so I made my own. I measured the thickness of the plastic on one of the Epson carriers (i.e. the height of the neg above the glass) and got some black styrene plastic sheet and cut it very carefully with a Stanley knife. It's been working well for years. I think it's 1mm thick. I made mine fancy: two frame windows with a channel on either side and a little cross bar on the frame line to hold the neg flat, so I can scan two frames at once. If you're not doing a lot of them, a single-window design with tape holding the neg down would do just as well.

Thanks for this information.

Tel said:
Edit: I stand (or sit) corrected!

Dustin McAmera · Oct 12, 2023

Is 127 film still available?

You can still get ReraPan, which I see as available in ISO 100 and 400. It's Japanese. You can also buy bulk rolls of HP5 in the right width to spool for yourself, if you have spools and backing papers, as part of Ilford's once-a-year Ultra-Large Format scheme. Some of the web shops I have bookmarked seem to have spooled some of that up themselves to sell.

I did a rather scruffy version of what Tel did. I cut my film holders out of card, hinged it with any old tape, and (since the card wasn't stiff and heavy enough to lie flat reliably) I glued lead weights on the top. It worked well enough to stop me trying any harder.

PhilBurton · Oct 12, 2023

beemermark said:
Not sure what Epson scanner you have but my V700 has a setting for film without holder. I lay the film under the glass and scan away.

Actually I don't have an Epson scanner yet. Almost 100% of my material to be scanned is 35 mm negatives and slides, for which I am using a Nikon 5000 scanner with SF-210 batch feeder. ()

When I have done most of my 35 mm scanning, I will then do an inventory of a small number of 2 1/4" negatives and prints. If the volume is small enough I might just rent a scanner for a day or two. Or else I'll buy a used V700 or V750 from eBay. A V850 is a bit rich for my blood.

Overrank · Oct 30, 2023

PhilBurton said:
Before I got a hand-me-down 35 mm camera (Kodak Signet 35) I used a box camera. I still have those negatives, and would like to scan them. Are there film holders available for an Epson flatbed scanner.

If there is no film holder available, would it be OK or good enough to just place the negatives right on the scanner glass?

Negative Solutions ( http://www.negative-solutions.com/assets/inventory.pdf ) sell 127 holders for a number of scanners. I’ve never used the 127 holders but I have used holders from Negative Solutions for 126, 110 and APS film and have been very happy. http://www.negative-solutions.com/index.html for home page

PhilBurton · Oct 31, 2023

Overrank said:
Negative Solutions ( http://www.negative-solutions.com/assets/inventory.pdf ) sell 127 holders for a number of scanners. I’ve never used the 127 holders but I have used holders from Negative Solutions for 126, 110 and APS film and have been very happy. http://www.negative-solutions.com/index.html for home page

Thanks.

Scanning 127 Black and White negatives

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