[filmscanners] Re: Slide flatness

["" <rpkphoto@earthlink.net>]

> al@greenspace.freeserve.co.uk wrote:
>
> > > I'm still toying with getting a Coolscan 4000 and I wonder whether this 
>>might take the
> plane of the film outside the DOF of the scanner.  Anyone >had any experience 
>of whether
> there is a difference in scanning slides before >and after projection?
> >
> > I guess the ideal workflow would be to scan newly processed slides before 
>>projection (or
> glass-mount them which I'd rather not do).

Two suggestions:

1. I've been a professional Cibachrome (Ilfochrome nowadays) printer for over 
20 years, and
can testify to the fact that projection wreaks havoc on slides. Slides that 
have been
projected more than a few times are invariably dirty and often scratched or 
abraded. This
isn't just an opinion: it's observation and experience over many years. It's a 
matter of the
heat and static electricity in a projector: the static attracts the dirt and 
the heat bakes
it on. I always advise clients to consider slides that are important enough to 
invest in
printing to be the same as negatives, and not to be projected again (have dupes 
made if you
need to project them). I'd give the same advise about slides important enough 
to be scanned,
particularly for printing.

2. I always transfer my transparencies to Wess Dupe Mounts (AVX500K (35mm VR 
Glasssless Full
Frame Black) before printing, and now, before scanning. These full frame mounts 
hold film
flatter than than any other method, short of glass mounts, that I've found. 
These particular
mounts do require the one time purchase of a small punch that allows the film 
to be precisely
locked into place (along only one edge, so expansion and popping isn't a 
problem). Also, the
labels they sell seem to stay adhered to the mounts, unlike many other labels 
I've tried over
the years.

Wess has an 800 number (it's in my darkroom, or I'd give it here) and they're 
easy to deal
with.

I hope this information is useful.

Rodger Kingston

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