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Thread ID: 48258 2004-08-18 04:39:00 Scanning film with a flatbed. nomad (3693) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
262771 2004-08-18 04:39:00 Hiya

Is there a way to scan film with a flatbed scanner that is not designed for 35mm nor has a 35mm film adaptor. I know it won't yield the best but just to play around until I get my real film scanner.

Is it possible? If so, how do I do it?

Thanks
nomad (3693)
262772 2004-08-18 05:20:00 On my scanner a strong light in the lid is shone down thru the neg onto the scanner head.
To scan a picture/document a light is shone up and reflected down onto the scanner head.
So I don't think you can do what you describe. Although you MAY be able to upgrade your scanner by purchaseing (just) a new lid to meet your needs.

Good luck, P.
Peter (676)
262773 2004-08-18 08:14:00 Try putting a mirror on top of the transparancy/negative. It should reflect light back through. Worth a try. ;) Winston001 (3612)
262774 2004-08-18 09:13:00 Good lateral thinking Winston! But make a mask for the mirror so that only light that has passed through the neg can be reflected back. It won't work very well but it may just produce a usable result. Without the mask you won't get anything worth having due to reflected light.

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
262775 2004-08-18 09:40:00 Yes. I imagine scanners don't use coherent light? Winston001 (3612)
262776 2004-08-18 10:34:00 thanks guys, i give that a go. what happens to the colors, would it still be brown or is there a way to fix this? nomad (3693)
262777 2004-08-18 11:27:00 You can get an acceptable copy of a slide or a 35 mm film using a good macro on a digital camera. I haven't put a lot of effort into this but just hand holding a slide in front of the camera produced results that have got me thinking it would be worth building a slide and negative holding adapter. This example ( sal.neoburn.net ) was done without really trying so it needed sharpening a couple of points and obviously had to be cropped. It has a bit of a blue tint as I used the sky as a background. gerrypics (323)
262778 2004-08-18 13:41:00 I'm assuming Sal's neoburn site is hosted overseas as I'm having very little luck connecting with overseas sites tonight. Might be time to change ISP's I think. mikebartnz (21)
262779 2004-08-18 18:48:00 That is a surprisingly good result. Vince Vince (406)
262780 2004-08-19 02:03:00 It's not lateral thinking: some scanners have the reflective surface on the cover just for that purpose. The mask is probably not essential ,but it wouldn't hurt. (the scanner scans, rather than "photographing" the whole field.

The idea of a (digital) camera is not new either.:D Telecine has been used for many years --- they might still have such machines in TV studios in case they get more "real " movies on real film.

You used to be able to buy a slide copier ---a slideholder and a macro lens set up for 1:1 copying, which fitted to 35mm camera.
Graham L (2)
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