Unmounted film is getting scratched really easy...

carleton

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Jan 10, 2008
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Cincinnati, Ohio
I scanned in some mounted slides last month and there was a little dust and that is it, but I pulled out some C41, cut in strips of 5 in plastic sleeves from the lab and there are lots of scratches on them, sometime there are horizontal scratches through out the whole frame. I have seen this in other unmounted film in years past of scanning.

What is the best way to make sure the film gets scratched as little as possible? I would prefer to be shooting C41 because of the exposure latitude and cost, but I need to find a way stop the film from getting so scratched up!

Oh, I am scanning with a Coolscan 500 without Digital ICE.

Sam
 

donbga

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Sam,

I'm not really sure what you are asking. Seems like to me if the film has been sleeved it shouldn't be getting scratched. In the example you've posted these look like processing scratches.

Just my take,

Don Bryant
 
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carleton

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Jan 10, 2008
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Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
So when you say processing scratches, do you mean from the machine during processing or simply thanks to the fact that the film went from the canister, to a machine, was cut and sleeves in the cheap plastic sleeves?

If the former, I assume that switching labs should solve the problem? If the later, is it simply because the film is too delicate that it will get these types of scratches no matter how careful even the best lab is?

I am trying to figure out exactly what the problem is, where they are coming from exactly and what action do I need to take so that they stop happening.

After much thought, I have concluded that I am going to be shooting E6 not C-41, but I like to shoot full frame and scan full frame. Am I going to see the same types of scratches from E6 if I don't get them mounted? Are there labs out there that use mounts that are wider then 24mmx36mm so I can still get the full frame?

Sam
 

keithwms

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I think I'd be inclined to switch labs right away and see if that's the thing. I assume you're not doing this scratching yourself, it'd be quite difficult to scratch them up that badly by hand! I mean, you're not brushing them or feeding them into a dusty neg carrier or something are you?

Now, scratches that are perfectly horizontal might actually come from your camera, check to see if they are consistent from frame to frame. I found a tiny dust particle inside my 35mm near the pressure plate that gave me horizontal scratches on a whole vacation's worth of c41 rolls

But the angled scratches, that almost looks like they were brushed or fed into a carrier over some dust or something. I did once get all manner of processing scratches on a roll and, needless to say, I simply never went back to that place.

What you could do is inspect your film with a loupe straight away when you pick it up from the lab.

Nice photo!
 

donbga

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The scathes appear to be caused post wet processing, IMO. To get full frame scans from a mounted slide you will need to find some glassless slide mounts with a 100% image aperture. I think Gep used to make these.

At anyrate don't be so quick to give up on color negs. Just change to a different lab. Nothing wrong with E-6 but slides have more demanding requirements for scanning.

Good luck,

Don Bryant
 
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