Tag: Epson

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Film Carriers for Epson V-Series Scanners, Part 2

There still more to do, but I’ve made and tested the first functional prototype Epson V-series carrier for 4×5 film!

The focus is surprisingly pretty close for my scanner though I need to make the bottom half both a smidge taller and the inlay a smidge deeper. I have been looking for ways to adjust focus, one being nylon screws. I haven’t found a reasonable cost effective screw size for that yet and actually someone on Activity Pub pointed out that they simply use tape for their homemade carriers. Simple and effective such that I will probably test that approach for these.

At first I wasn’t happy with having to use a film inlay instead of posts like a conventional darkroom carrier, but having done it this way, I actually rather like it! To the point I wonder about perhaps using a similar design for some of the thicker negative carriers (like the Omega D2).

Even better still, using an inlay means it should be possible to use ANR glass on the topside. I don’t plan on making a full glass solution but having the glass on top will help press some curlier films down. Something that may prove very helpful for 120. And on the note of 120, one design option I am looking at is an edge to edge inlay. This means longer strips of film can be used than what the original Epson scanners could accommodate. I haven’t even started the 120 design yet so we’ll see how that shakes out once I get there.

Overall I’m really happy with the design so far! A few tweaks and I’ll at least be switching to this for me own scanning. The thumb notch for being able to easily pick the sheet up alone is a near game changer for me!

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Film Carriers for Epson V-Series Scanners, Part 1

This is the first part of a multi-part series (maybe) on a product I have been wanting to make for a long time. With all the film I’ve been scanning from our Iceland trip, it seemed like a good time to tackle this as it has been on my radar for some time.

It might not look like much, but it is the first large-ish test print for what I hope to become a film carrier system for the Epson V-series scanners.

To make one point clear right out the gate, I do not want nor intend on competing at the high end. BetterScanning, for instance, makes some incredible flatbed scanning solutions complete with the ability to do wet-mount and with a precision focus system.

Instead I am looking at having something perhaps in between the Epson OEM trays and BetterScanning. I may have an option for top ANR glass (be it true ANR glass or museum glass) but these will otherwise behave similarly to my darkroom and camera scanning carriers. One difference between those and the Epson may be that I may have to settle for using an inlay. I had wanted the bottom piece to be entirely flat but because I also want to use the mounting holes on the Epson flatbed, I need to work around geometry while also keeping the negative in the focus zone.

A lot more testing needs to be done still. I said this might be a multi-part series because I’m not yet sure if this will end up turning into a real product or not. Too soon to say though my initial work has been fairly promising. If you are interested in something like this, please let us know! We love to hear from our customers, especially when it comes to products we think might be helpful to the growing film community!