V700 and Better Scanning Holders - Strange Results

corposant · Jul 10, 2025

I just tried using the Better Scanning holders with the ANR glass inserts. I loaded everything up and did a prescan and got these...strange results. Any thoughts on what is going on here? I don't mind the Epson holders but this is quite strange!

4season · Jul 10, 2025

You'll want to reposition the film holder so it doesn't block the top edge of the glass.

corposant · Jul 10, 2025

I'm using the dual channel 120 holder...are you suggesting I remove the film area guide and move the holder as far towards the front of the scanner as possible? And is it unusual that the lid doesn't close quite as snuggly as the Epson holder? Sorry, I'm not the best at this stuff.

djdister · Jul 10, 2025

If you are using the film holder then you should not use the film area guide. See instructions at: http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/usingvseries.html

corposant · Jul 10, 2025

Is it normal if the lid doesn’t fully close the way it would with the Epson holders?

Saganich · Friday at 9:36 AM

Your posted results do look like the holder may be blocking the calibration area. On the 120 film holder the top is notched out for the calibration area, the notched out part is placed towards the hinge of the scanner. The top doesn't necessarily close all the way flush but should not be that obviously 'off' and still be parallel with bottom. Photos of the non working set-up would be helpfull.

djdister · Friday at 11:31 AM

The two most relevant tips from the scanning instructions are:
1. It is important to make sure the Dual MF Film Holder is placed in the upper right-hand corner of the scanner (nested directly against both the top and right sides of the scanner bed). The Dual MF Film Holder is designed to use almost all of the scanner’s light lid area, so unsatisfactory positioning could result in partial miscropping of your images. The correct positioning makes sure the calibration notch is correctly positioned and will ensure repeatability if using VueScan’s batching scan function to scan multiple frames on your film strip.

2. Auto-cropping errors are the #1 problem/complaint with flatbed scanners regardless of whether an Epson® OEM holder or an MF Film Holder is being used. Auto-cropping is notoriously inaccurate and often crops out significant portions of an image. Most people never realize this problem until they closely compare their scans to their films. It is strongly advised that manual cropping be utilized instead. If you are unfamiliar with how to manually crop and set up a batch scan, please see the in-depth instructions at the following link:

corposant · Friday at 2:55 PM

After reading everything here and on Better Scanning's website, I made another attempt today. I removed the film guide and positioned the holder where it should be in the upper right hand corner. I am enclosing a picture of what I did, the scanner's lid, and the result I got from Silverfast. I have to think I am doing something stupid or wrong.

djdister · Friday at 3:10 PM

You are doing "at least" one thing very wrong - you have placed the film holder too far "up" on the glass - you should see a slim rectangle of light that is open at the top when the holder is placed correctly (see photo). Also, did you remove the scanner lid cover which is required for scanning film (see second photo).

corposant · Friday at 3:19 PM

Hi DJ - you are demonstrating this with the Epson stock film holders, which I can use quite capably! Yes, the document lid cover is off as I rarely use my scanner for anything other than film scanning. I am specifically talking about the Better Scanning holders.

djdister · Friday at 3:21 PM

Even though you are using the betterscanning holder, you have placed it too far up and it is covering up the "calibration notch" of light that you should see at the top of the scanner glass.

Michael Howard · Friday at 3:35 PM

Dj is correct. Your holder is about 10mm or so too "high". The cutout slot needs to be over the glass, just like his picture of the Epson holder. It's also too far to the right, which is why your lid isn't sitting down flush.

MattKing · Friday at 3:51 PM

Also, is the BetterScanning holder correct side up in the configuration used by @corposant ? Those "feet" on the top look suspiciously like height adjusters.
I'm not sure, because it has been over a decade since I used something from BetterScanning, and that was with a very different scanner.

Michael Howard · Friday at 3:57 PM

The "feet" are the little white, adjustable doodads. The lumps on top are for the glass above to rest on.

warden · Friday at 4:33 PM

The advice you are getting is correct regarding placement. These holders fit properly on the glass, and do not touch or overlap the plastic housing as seen in your image. It should instead look like this.

blee1996 · Friday at 4:36 PM

Warden beat me to it. Yes that is the correct way to use the Better Scanning negative carrier.

BTW, were you able to use your current SilverFast software settings for Epson's original holders on the V700? Just trying to eliminate every possibilities.

corposant · Friday at 6:22 PM

Hi everyone - as most people suggesting, I was covering up the calibration area of the scanner bed. Thanks to everyone who contributed - your knowledge and experience are the the forum's greatest assets.

warden · Friday at 9:01 PM

corposant said:
Hi everyone - as most people suggesting, I was covering up the calibration area of the scanner bed. Thanks to everyone who contributed - your knowledge and experience are the the forum's greatest assets.

Good news! Once you get the height adjusted properly please share a victory scan.

250swb · Saturday at 3:19 AM

corposant said:
Is it normal if the lid doesn’t fully close the way it would with the Epson holders?

The lid will fully close, you just aren't doing it right. The hinges are designed to get thick material like books (and thicker neg holders) onto the scanning bed. Lift up the lid and you will see the hinge attachments are actually just bars that slide into slots in the base, now lift up the lid so the hinges slide up in those slots, bingo, you now see how it works. After positioning your holder pull the hinges up a little and close the lid, then press on top to push the lid down parallel onto the neg holder. Note if you pull the lid's hinges up too much it will come off and be left attached by just the cable, this is not a fault, it's just that you pulled it up too much.

V700 and Better Scanning Holders - Strange Results

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