# 35mm Scans coming out muddy and out of focus?



## tyqre (Jan 8, 2013)

I recently scanned some 35mm slide that I shot around a week ago and my scanner seems to be scanning out of focus and with a lot of artifacts in the scan. I'm not sure if it is my fault on the camera/lens area or if it is truly the scanner. The slides look like they are in perfect shape under a loupe, and every slide so far has been muddy like I explained above. I uploaded a picture of what I am talking about.
To me atleast, the picture doesn't look right, it looks out of focus, the whole roll is like this when scanned, so I am leaning towards a dirty scanner bed, what do you think?


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## Josh66 (Jan 8, 2013)

Which scanner are you using?


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## Tony S (Jan 9, 2013)

I'm thinking that the section you have selected is pretty small to take from a 35mm slide to be looking for great quality from a home scanner unless it's a high end one.

I'd also like to know which one?  And what software it runs.


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## unpopular (Jan 9, 2013)

There is definitely a lot of CA there, and that's part of the problem. But there is also no grain at all, which makes me wonder if the scanner is out of focus, or some kind of NR was run.


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## tyqre (Jan 9, 2013)

My mistake, I thought I included what scanner it was. It is a v330 from Epson. The scans I took with it only 4 months ago were much better. And I saw the CA but I couldn't remember what it was called (silly me) but antway , that's what I'm talking about. I am using the default Epson software on 100% manual mode. Do you think the CA is from the lens? Because the reviews for my lens do not say too much about the CA. And the enlargement is to see the CA, I wasn't looking for resolution. And to answer unpopular's question, I had everything turned off and I sharpened in ps. If the scanner is out of focus, what would be the best way to go about fixing it? I was looking into getting a slightly better scanner that could scan MF,Canon CanoScan 9000F. Just thought I should throww that out there.


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## Mully (Jan 9, 2013)

Download Viewscan to test if it is a software problem. Viewscan works with many scanners, your original software could have gotten corrupt.


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## unpopular (Jan 9, 2013)

tyqre said:


> I am using the default Epson software on 100% manual mode.



Does this scanner have manual focus? If it does, you want to focus on the grain, not on the subject.



> Do you think the CA is from the lens? Because the reviews for my lens do not say too much about the CA. And the enlargement is to see the CA, I wasn't looking for resolution.



If it's not in the lens, then it's not CA. I don't think it's from the scanner.



> If the scanner is out of focus, what would be the best way to go about fixing it? I was looking into getting a slightly better scanner that could scan MF,Canon CanoScan 9000F. Just thought I should throww that out there.



if it doesn't have manual focus, then there isn't much to do aside from trying third party software. I'll point out though that this is a VERY inexpensive scanner, and if you're serious about digital film, then I'd suggest you get a *much* better scanner. Sometimes you can find old Scitex Eversmart flatbed scanners or desktop drum scanners (warning: learning curve!) on ebay for well under $1000. I've seen Howtek drum scanners for under $500, though not recently.

A $20,000 scanner from the late 1990's is still going to be a damn good scanner, probably better than a $1000 scanner today.

Also, you may want to make an offer on this unit:

Epson Expression 1640XL Graphic Arts Scanner 12"x17" EU 22 A3 Transparency Unit | eBay

I've used this scanner A LOT in college (stuck my head in it and made self portraits, even!), and I can highly recommend it. Though you may need to buy negative holders for it.

This is also a FANTASTIC scanner, one of the best I've ever used, actually:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Konica-Mino...0975141720?pt=US_Scanners&hash=item2326d1d758

Though only if you can find a good price on it, they tend to be pretty inflated. I think it used to run like $8k new?

Minolta also made several 35mm scanners, though I am not sure how good they were:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...odkw=Minolta+Dimage+Multi&_osacat=0&_from=R40


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## Josh66 (Jan 9, 2013)

unpopular said:


> > If the scanner is out of focus, what would be the best way to go about fixing it? I was looking into getting a slightly better scanner that could scan MF,Canon CanoScan 9000F. Just thought I should throww that out there.
> 
> 
> if it doesn't have manual focus, then there isn't much to do aside from trying third party software.



There is one thing you can try - I tried it once and found that my scanner was aready focusing as good as it was going to get.  There are aftermarket film holders with adjustable feet to move the film up or down.

I didn't want to buy one of those without knowing if it would even help, so I did the same thing with layers of masking tape.  I found that with each layer of tape I added, the focus got worse.


There's a thread about it somewhere around here......

[found it]
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/film-discussion-q/237791-adjusting-film-carrier-height.html

I also tried shimming the lid up hoping to have the effect of lowering the film, but after thinking about it more I don't think that would do anything...


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## unpopular (Jan 9, 2013)

I didn't think of it that way. Using glass slide holders may also help.

Gepe Anti Newton Glass Slide Mounts 24x36 2mm Art 6004 Count 50 White | eBay


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## tyqre (Jan 9, 2013)

do you think it would be worth sending out negatives that I really want done well to a scanning service? Maybe use the v330 as a proof or preview of sorts.


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## unpopular (Jan 9, 2013)

I think that you will end up spending a lot of money very quickly if you did that.


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## Josh66 (Jan 9, 2013)

If you were getting good results before, then all of a sudden you're not - I would think that something happened...  I would find that roll that you thought looked good before and scan that.  See if it looks as good as it did the other time.

That will at least tell you if something actually happened to affect the quality, or maybe your expectations just changed or something...


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## djacobox372 (Jan 10, 2013)

I have the v700, the film holders have tabs for adjusting height (focus).  I found that I had to add a few layers of masking tape to the highest setting to achieve optimal focus.


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## tyqre (Jan 11, 2013)

OK I'll try the tape


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## djacobox372 (Jan 13, 2013)

tyqre said:


> OK I'll try the tape



Make sure to do a before and after test, if focus gets worse with 3-4 layers of masking tape under the holder the problem is that the carrier is too high, and you'll have to find a way to adjust in the other direction.

One effective test on which way your focus is off is to scan badly curled film and note what part of the image is in better focus.


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## Josh66 (Jan 13, 2013)

djacobox372 said:


> One effective test on which way your focus is off is to scan badly curled film and note what part of the image is in better focus.



That's a pretty good idea - I've never thought of that.


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