Scanning Artifact?

[SodaAnt]

I used my Epson V850 Pro scanner to scan some 35mm negatives taken on FP4+.

Here's the frame on the strip of six that was closest to the hinge on the negative holder:

I greatly boosted the contrast to make the artifacts easier to see. The "notches" in the upper part of the image (the sky) look like sprocket holes. This is not visible on the negative itself when viewed with a loupe on a light table.

If I turn the negative around so the same frame as above is on the other side of the negative holder, I get this:

Somehow, the location of a frame in the negative carrier makes a difference.

Could the artifacts visible in the first image be caused by light piping in the negative as a result of the scanning process?

 

[_T_]

It looks like a reflection of the stray light from the sprocket holes bouncing between the upper and lower glass of the scanner and the film, but it’s hard to say.

Can we see an unedited picture of the frame?

Does this issue happen with any other frames?

The solution to the problem might be as simple as making sure the sprocket holes are properly obscured by the holder before scanning.

 

[SodaAnt]

I'll see if I can post an unedited version of the frame.

This issue only happens with frames that are adjacent to the hinge on the negative holder.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

If you turned the film around, why do both shots have the same orientation? (ie. the balcony is still on the right.)

 

[SodaAnt]

If you turned the film around, why do both shots have the same orientation? (ie. the balcony is still on the right.)

I didn't flip it so that the emulsion side was up. I just rotated the strip of six negatives so the one I originally scanned was now on the other side of the holder (and upside down, but I fixed that in Photoshop).

 

[koraks]

I agree with @_T_ on both the probable cause and the solution. I see similar things pop up with my flatbed (4990) from time to time whenever I'm bring sloppy and e.g. scan stuff straight on the glass plate without a holder or mask.

Btw, similar things tend to happen around sprocket hopes when enlarger onto color paper. Those sprockets holes can be a pain; better mask them out.

 

[SodaAnt]

I attribute this issue to the poor design of the Epson negative holders.

 

[juan]

I had the problem of a line running parallel to the film edge when scanning 4x5 on my V750. The best explanation I found was that light bends around the edge of the negative (your sprocket holes). Another person got an admission from Epson that they had a "software problem.". I was using Vuescan, not Epsonscan, so the problem is clearly in the scanner.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I didn't flip it so that the emulsion side was up. I just rotated the strip of six negatives so the one I originally scanned was now on the other side of the holder (and upside down, but I fixed that in Photoshop).

Then that makes it seem like it's the holder and the scanner that created the problem. Did you try another film strip? See if you have the same problem?

 

[SodaAnt]

Then that makes it seem like it's the holder and the scanner that created the problem. Did you try another film strip? See if you have the same problem?

Yep, same problem with another strip. It seems to be sensitive to exactly how the strip is positioned relative to the channel near the hinge. Shifting the strip a bit makes the problem almost go away, but it’s annoying to have to do this. Epson should have designed a better carrier than the flimsy pieces of cheap injection molded plastic they include with a $1200 scanner.

 

[snusmumriken]

I attribute this issue to the poor design of the Epson negative holders.

There’s a real after-market niche for better negative holders for scanners. I have experience of Epson and PlusTek, and they are both poor, in different ways. Haven’t seen the problem you have illustrated, though.

 

[Film Rescue]

My guess is that the underexposed clear part of the negative is somehow causing the light from the scanner to bounce up off the perforated part of your negative and reflect back into the scanner but that said, I've never seen anything like this before and I've done a ton of scanning. yep...I agree with other that it could be at least partly because of the film holder.