Hi Nate and the NLP Community!
Firstly, thanks Nate and the team for putting together an amazing peace of software!
I have a couple of silly questions since I am just starting off. Hopefully this benefits somebody else down the line 
When scanning using a DSLR setup, I have the sprocket holes showing due to the 35mm holder that I am using. I know Nate mentions in the post below for best practice… “This includes masking out the light that is passing through sprocket holes, although you may be able to get away with it if you have a modern macro lens setup.”… I use a Canon USM 100mm macro lens. Can someone help me understand how I am “getting away with it”? If not, would I benefit from actually blocking out the sprocket holes on my film holder?
Much appreciated!!
Any unwanted light shining on the negative, instead of through the negative, can add some haze or reflections and hence produce unwanted effects during conversion.
Think of sprocket holes as little searchlights that shine on your front lens and some of that light might be reflected back on the negative and back into the lens again. A lens hood can help.
One way to reduce reflections might be to use a polarising filter, but I’ve never tried it, but maybe you can and write back here, for us to read about what you’ve found.
If the sprocket holes are supposed to be part of your image, you’d have to expose for them. Normally, this would be around +2 EV if measured at scanning distance, without film. This will lead to more or less underexposed scans.
I propose you try camera scanning a few negatives with bracketing and you’ll see what your setup will do/can take.
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Get rid of the sprocket holes in your exposures. They just complicate things and contribute nothing.
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