Help with scanning Medium Format film on Epson Scanner.

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Julian Mole

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Julian
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Hi there,


I have a second hand Epson 3170 scanner, and recently acquired some film holders for it. The 35mm film and slide holders work great, however disappointingly the Brownie (Medium Format) Holder isn't recognised by the scanner.

Could some with experience of this scanner or similar help me out, as I am not sure quite why it won't work?

The holders I have are for the Epson 4180, but bar an extra side lug, seem identical to the those of the 3170, and I have removed those on each holder. I have attached photos of both the slide holder and the MF holder.

If I knew how the scanner recognises each holder that would help. The 35mm ones have 2 white squares on the underside, which the MF doesn't. And the MF one features as 2 small holes below the calibration cut out, see last photo.

Anyway, any help would be great appreciated. :)
 

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Hopefully someone will have an answer, but I wasn't even aware that the Epson flatbeds recognised film holders - in my experience with a number, it's just been a matter of loading film and placing the holders on the glass and then adjusting the area scanned.

Any pointers on what software you're using?
 
Well I don't have a 3170 but it would seem the neg holder is designed for the scanner model as I tried a 2480 neg holder in a 4180 and no matter which way I put the neg holder I couldn't get a scan.
 
excalibur2 said:
Well I don't have a 3170 but it would seem the neg holder is designed for the scanner model as I tried a 2480 neg holder in a 4180 and no matter which way I put the neg holder I couldn't get a scan.
Click to expand...

How does that work then?....Is there a part of the holder that covers a light ray or something within the scanner?

If that's the case then can't it be covered over with a small piece of card or tape or something to fool the scanner?
 
On the V500 there is a coding pattern, a series of holes in the neg carrier that tells the scanner what holder is in place. When I use the better scanning holder in the V500 I have to manually choos the neg area to be scanned which is a bit of a faff tbh.
 
Jao said:
When I use the better scanning holder in the V500 I have to manually choos the neg area to be scanned which is a bit of a faff tbh.
Click to expand...

But it can be done! , so maybe a similar approach will work for the OP ??
 
Asha said:
But it can be done! , so maybe a similar approach will work for the OP ??
Click to expand...

Yep, it should be possible. If using the Epson software just choose the largest neg size possible and then crop to the neg size being used.
 
Hi Everyone,

Thank you for all your replies, ...just to add I am using the Epson Scan software. (I have looked for a 'manual scan area' option in Configuration but there isn't one and the Target Size option is ignored)

Hopefully someone might have a definitive answer soon. :)
 
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Asha said:
How does that work then?....Is there a part of the holder that covers a light ray or something within the scanner?

If that's the case then can't it be covered over with a small piece of card or tape or something to fool the scanner?
Click to expand...

Dunno how the scanner picks up the start of a MF scan I suppose there could be a way around it to fool the scanner......but with the V750, IIRC the Epson program allows you to scan everything i.e. all negs in their holders and you select the neg you want with a marquee tool, but can't seem to find it in the 4180 software.
 
If like the V500, uncheck "thumbnail" option when doing preview then select area to be scanned.
 
simon ess said:
If like the V500, uncheck "thumbnail" option when doing preview then select area to be scanned.
Click to expand...

That's the answer to my bad memory...but the result is useless on the 4180 compared to the proper holder as unticking thumbnail does show everything but where the negs are positioned it's black. But might work for Julian and worth a try.
 
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Hey, Thank you everyone. :)

So just to update I took some screen shots of the what is going on.

First up, the Preview scan from a single strip of 35mm colour negs, note individual thumbnails.

Screen Grab 35mm negatives LR rs.jpg

The second image is Preview scan from the Medium Format holder, note strange cropping.

Screen Grab MF negatives LR rs.jpg

Last is the Preview scan of the Medium Format again with the Thumbnail option unchecked.

Screen Grab MF negatives - Thumbnails unchecked LR rs.jpg

I can then select each frame with the Marque Tool for a scan, but for some reason the quality doesn't seem as high as that with the 35mm and scan has red lines on it.

Scanned Image 063 LR rs by Julian Mole, on Flickr

I might be wrong but I would have thought that if it the scanner recognised the MF holder the Thumbnails option would be correct...?
 
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Have you selected 6X6 in configuration for thumbnails?
 
Hi Brian,

Thank you for the suggestion, however there doesn't seem to be an option in Epson Scan for that when using the 3170 scanner (even if it is there is for other models).

Screen Grab Configuration Window LR rs.jpg
 
I never bother with the thumbnail option for MF, it throws away quite a lot of data and you can only ever two a couple of frames. Doesn't really help with 6x7 since you can only really get one fame on the thing at a time.
 
No, afraid not!! Only the other 3 tabs. (...just tried playing around with modes and settings but couldn't make that tab appear either.)
 
steveo_mcg said:
I never bother with the thumbnail option for MF, it throws away quite a lot of data and you can only ever two a couple of frames. Doesn't really help with 6x7 since you can only really get one fame on the thing at a time.
Click to expand...

Thanks Steven, perhaps I am expecting too much! After how well the 35mm holders worked with the scanner, was a bit frustrated when I tried the MF one.
 
Peter B said:
I'm not sure this is any use to you at all, but I found this Canadian company that lists the part numbers for 3170 scanners (and other Epsons), so maybe that might help as a search keyword?
http://www.compassmicro.com/parts_search3.cfm
Click to expand...

Hey Peter, That's a great find! I just looked and they have a Medium format holder for the 3170, for $5, so if all else fails I can order that instead - provided they'll ship it at a sensible price. :)
 
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