Scanning 6x7 on Nikon CS9000 - Advice for a beginner

Just been directed over here from apug.org caught in the hybrid world of negative / scanning and wasn't sure where to ask. Anyhow I'm here now...

After taking the plunge into MF photography and film! I've come from a purely digital background, so this is all very new to me and I'm sure I'll be making loads of mistakes before I have anything worth showing!

I'm shooting on a mamiya RZ67Pro2 and have acquired a coolscan 9000 to process my negs to digital. I'm still clinging onto some form of digital manipulation!

My question is about the scanning trays and the best setup. I've a standard 6x7 tray (FH869S) with the clamps top and bottom. The problem is that it's tricky to clamp the film completely flat and I'm finding that sometimes I get a slight dip or curl, which is clearly affecting the scanning. I've made a custom cardboard clamp with a 6x7 window (bit like a temp mount) which does a nice job holding the neg flat but I'm a little worried it's putting pressure on what are already quite flimsy clamps on the tray. The card is thin but it's still adding a slightly greater depth for the tray to clamp down onto.

I've looked at a new tray (glass or slide mount) on ebay but they both seem to come with a set of issues. I'd prefer not to add glass between sensor and neg. I'm really tempted by the slide mount tray but that means cutting the negs individually, mounting and storage. Is that a good way to go? Feels like a hassle and I've seen a lot of advice against cutting and mounting negs.

I've read a few posts on here saying that mounting each slide isn't really a good idea and I guess I'd prefer to avoid that if possible. Anyone with more experience got any advice? I'm happy to explore modifications, tips, or custom ideas.

Cheers,
Alan

I modified my trays to accept glass (1 piece of ANR glass, and a thinner piece of clear glass). The negs are now perfectly flat and images are sharp edge-to-edge.

Chers Philip. I assume you mean a mod on the FH869S and removed the clamps? Where did you get the glass?

Late to the party here, I know, but in case it helps, you can get glass from Focal Point which fits that holder. They sell ANR glass and a thin "normal" glass. Yes, you remove the clamp (I seem to recall there's an instruction paper with the glass).

That said, I have this myself but have found that even with ANR glass my Coolscan 9000 occasionally gives Newton rings. It is supremely annoying and because it is not possible to predict when or which type of images will have such rings, I have given up on using this tray with the ANR glass.

For a while I used only the thin normal glass which helps flattening any curled negs. I have seen no degradation at all by inserting that extra glass between the film and the CCD.

Ultimately I gave up on this and looked for an old Image Mechanics wet mount tray, which eventually popped up on eBay. That gives truly flat images and slightly higher scan quality too. Unfortunately they're not easy to find. I bet such trays could be 3D-printed today, though. It's not at all a hassle to wet mount. But I digress, sorry.

Br
Philip

Alan_Silvester said:

Chers Philip. I assume you mean a mod on the FH869S and removed the clamps? Where did you get the glass?

Click to expand...

I modified the standard 9000 holder to accept one piece of ANR glass and a thinner piece of clear glass. This gives me scans that are perfectly sharp edge-to-edge.

What do you have to do to modify the tray to accept glass?

I have a standard tray also for the Nikon CS (mine is the 8000). I purchased the ANR glass but haven't used it yet. What do you actually have to do to the trays to make them have enough room to accept the glass?

I'm pretty sure I got the glass from Focal Point. I don't have the film holder in front of me and it's been years since I installed the glass, but my recollection is that it was quite simple, and only took a couple of minutes.

That's strange. When the frosted side of the ANR glass is in contact with the emulsion side of the film, I *never* get Newton rings.

you have to make sure the AN glass is facing in the right direction, frosty side goes in 1 direction only. I put a small orange sharpy dot in thee top lft corner to make sure i place it correctly. After that, i never have rings. at times i've been lazy and only use the AN glass and no glass on the bottom. seems to give me better color results that way.

Update - I spent the weekend with my new setup. I got some AN glass cut from focal point but I'm using a technique that's not been suggested yet. I've completely removed the clamps from my scanner tray (simply jimmy the clips apart). I use the AN glass to flatten my negs by taping them back tight to the glass. I then seat the negs facing downward (towards the scanner) with the glass topside. Only using one piece of glass and the negs are flat edge to edge. I'm getting some pretty decent results, I think!

I think Newtons rings sometimes have to do with residual chems on the film. With chromes the chems might be alcohol (a processing residue) and with B&W the chems might be detergent (Photo Flo).