Film Scanning

I know this is the page that many of you will have been waiting for. I intend to break up the film scanning section and cover the film holders on this page.

The film holders

Like an enlarger, it is important that the film is held secure and flat. To this end the Canon film holders do not disappoint. They are made from good quality rigid plastic (or Poly this or that). The scanner is supplied with four holders; a 35mm slide holder for 12 mounted transparencies, a 35mm film strip holder for 5 x 6 exposure strips, a 120 roll film holder for 2 strips of film (each strip containing 3 frames 6x7, 3 frames 6x6, 4 frames 6x45, 2 frames 6x9, 1 frame 6x12 or 1 frame 6x17) Needless to say that for the professional photographer with a collection of roll film negatives or transparencies this would seem to be a dream machine. The other holder is a 5x4 sheet film combined with a single frame 120 film format holder, the later has markings for 6x45, 6x6, 6x7 and 6x9. This array of holders should satisfy 98% of all photographers needs.

35mm Mounted slide holder	35mm Film strip holder
120 Roll film strip holder	5x4 and 120 single frame holder

Notice a white aperture on the top of each holder, this is used by the scanner to perform its calibration, it is important that this space is kept clear of film etc.

35mm and markings on the holder	120 held secure
Only a single 5x4, but with excellent grip	Adjustable 120 holder with side masks

The amount of thought that has been put into the functionality of each holder is exceptional. On the 36mm strip holder there are two end clamps at the end of each strip to hold the film in place and side stops to prevent the film from moving sideways. Removing slides from the mounted transparency holder is easy and your fingers will not (or shouldn't) make contact with the platen's glass surface. The 120 double strip holder is also supplied with two spacers, these are used to prevent anti newton rings (when the film comes into direct contact with glass). The combined 5x4 and 120 holder gives a firm grip to sheet film and the single frame 120 holder has an adjustable aperture. The adjustable sliders are perhaps stiffer than I would have liked, maybe they will loosen with use. The excess area is blanked off with a sheath of flexible black plastic, this should prevent any stray light from spilling on to the actual film. All in all the holders are well thought out and I would not expect any problem with using them.

Film scans will follow on the next page.