[filmscanners] Re: Software dust removal

["Brad Davis" <DocBradd@mac.com>]

May I also recommend Edwal anti-static film cleaner.  My computer store
sells very soft disposable material for cleaning CD's/DVDs, and combined
with Edwal's anti-static cleaner, it is easy to reduce the amount of dust to
a minimum - near zero.  I've been using Edwal in tandem with the
StaticMaster mentioned below since being called on the carpet while in the
photographic  program at Art Center College of Design (Pasadena), for not
getting all the white spots off my prints.  I lived in an areas where there
was highway construction in every direction.  After more than 30 years of
using it, I hate its smell, but it saves hours of retouching.

Somehow I thought I wouldn't need it to use Edwal when I went to scanning my
negatives - to the contrary, my scanner seems to pick  up finer dust  than
the best Leitz enlarger ever did. I also suspect that all labs have some
problem with dust - I don't process my own film anymore.  I use compressed
air as well, just before  I  put  the negative  into the scanner.  (Can  you
tell, I  hate cleaning up dust spots.)

I've never found a software solution that preserved the sharpness I can see
in my negative scans while taking out the dust - or reducing grain for that
matter.  There are times when software solutions are ok, but I hate losing
that last edge - after all I bought Contax cameras and lenses for a reason.

The Edwal is also great for cleaning film that has picked up  fingerprints
and other corruption. I have an eight year old son who loves to look at his
dad's slides and negatives. I'll not to be forbid his touching.  He tries
but isn't always successful in avoiding fingerprints.  Nuts, I still put
some on every now and  then...

My new monitor just came to the door - in the hands of a UPS guy.  Now to
see  what  fun  this  provides.

Brad

> Chris Aitken wrote:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> Further to my previous messages I have obtained a Scan Dual I on trial. I
>> have tried it with the Vuescan trial version (and also the Minolta drivers -
>> so this must be a later model that works on XP).
>
> As an alternative to blasting air at the negative before scanning as
> mentioned to you already, there's a brush called 'staticmaster"
> that has a polonium strip near the brush end that puts out alpha
> particles (can't penetrate a sheet of paper, at best can do only
> inches of air).  It removes static "instantly" from the film at
> which point the very soft brush works very effectively.  Half life
> of the polonium is very short so it's cartridge needs to be replaced
> yearly (and buying old ones isn't useful).  They've been around for
> at least a half century or so, and I just got another one a couple
> days ago for use with my new film scanner.
>
> The other thing is the obvious nobody's going to mention.  Borrow
> a different scanner, one that features ICE in the software.  Gets
> rid of dust and scratches amazingly and automatically.  :-)
>
> Mike K.
>
>
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