New to the forum. I just picked an Epson V550. After doing some initial scans in Silverfast and converting in Negative Lab Pro I noticed a couple very slight lines running through my scans. After a bit of research I’ve come to the conclusion it’s either being caused from dirt/dust on the scanner/when scanner is calibrating or my Mamiya RZ67 is scratching my film when shooting (caused from dirt/dust/grime in the 120 film holder back). I’m just curious if anyone has run into this issue and if in my circumstance it’s due from the scanner or actual film negative being scratched?
You can easily check for scratches on your film by using a 8…10 x loupe like this. Scratches usually run in the direction of the film.
If the line is very thin or perpendicular to the film edges, it’s probably caused by the scanner. The line I see in your screenshot looks “digital” to me.
The Epson scanners are well-known for these weird lines. It’s caused by dirt, dust or other interference in the calibration area of the scanner. The scanner will read a wrong value for that specific pixel of the scan and will cause a line as the head travels down the negative. Clean the glass AND the little squares above the glass, on the hinge side of the scanner. Then try to scan again and it should be gone.
I downloaded your image and looked at that line under intense magnification. There is only so far one can take it starting from a low-resolution JPEG, but I tend to agree that this could be more scanner than camera related. You’ll know for sure if you turn the negative 90 degrees and rescan it in that position. If the line now runs parallel to the short dimension rather than the long dimension you will know it is coming from the scanner.
I just wanted to give a brief update on my findings regarding the issue I was having. Thanks to your replies I did some more investigating and it does seem to be a scanner error/issue. I think I might have dust behind the glass. I have not tried to break down the scanner and will likely just deal with the issue for now as it doesn’t happen with each scan. Thank for all the comments. -Matt
