Scanning with the emulsion facing the wrong way

[pkr1979]

Hi all,

So, I am scanning with my ScanMate 11000. And as its been some time since the last time Ive ended up attaching all the negatives with the emulsion facing out instead of in. Does anyone know how much this will affect the scans? I am considering if I need to re-scan it all.

Cheers
Peter

 

[Don_ih]

I've never noticed a difference. I will put the negatives in a negative holder (in an Epson V600) in whatever way keeps the surface of the film off the glass. If there's no choice (as in, some 120 will fall on the glass in the middle no matter what), I'll put it emulsion side down to avoid newton rings.

 

[radialMelt]

Same experience as Don_ih here. I've scanned both ways (similarly, to avoid newtons rings in glass holders) and not noticed any differences.

 

[pkr1979]

Might it matter that the ScanMate is a drum scanner?

 

[koraks]

Might it matter that the ScanMate is a drum scanner?

Yes, but even so, I'd expect the difference to be so marginal as to make the option of re-scanning not very relevant. I'd not bother unless you are seeing severe problems in your scans, which I bet you're not experiencing.

 

[Don_ih]

Do a check. Scan the same negative twice, both ways (emulsion in, emulsion out) and compare. That will give you the answer.

 

[MattKing]

This may depend slightly on how much base fog you are dealing with.
I would aim for having the emulsion closest to the scanning sensor.

 

[brbo]

Do a check. Scan the same negative twice, both ways (emulsion in, emulsion out) and compare. That will give you the answer.

Easier said than done when negatives are already mounted on the drum. Mounting fluid, mylar and all...

@pkr1979, scann a small section of one negative and see if auto-focus picks the proper (emulsion) side. I don't know the SM 1100, but if it has a way to manual focus the scanner that would probably be the best in this situation. A lot will depend on the chosen scanning aperture, you might get away with a larger aperture, but know that mylar can't offer the uniformity of the drum on the contact with the emulsion.

 

[Don_ih]

Easier said than done when negatives are already mounted on the drum. Mounting fluid, mylar and all...

No, I mean a separate test. Scan a negative, scan it again facing the other way, compare. That should indicate if it mattered all along and show whether or not some of the previously (backward-mounted) scanned negatives need to be scanned again.