Unusual flare / colour shift in scans

Digital Camera Scanning
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  1. Hey everyone. Have been having some issues with my scans lately, ( this yellow flare / colour banding in the middle of the frame ) and have spent hours trying to troubleshoot with no luck. Whats really confusing is that my scanning setup has not changed, yet this problem has only become apparent on the last 3 rolls ive scanned.

  2. Couple of points to note. Im using the Kaiser Slimelite Plano with the EFH. All lights turned off with all ambient light blocked. I tried adding a skirt around the EFH itself to prevent any chance of stray light. Camera mounted on copystand with 105mm macro.

  3. Left column of photos is scanning with the glossy side up, right side is the emulsion side. Problem slightly changes, but is still obviously apparent on both. Have only noticed this on my 120 scans, never 35mm. 6x6 frames on the right where the first roll i noticed it on. I thought it was an issue with my development, so just retouched it and ignored it, but then it happened on a roll of Provia i scanned in afterwards. Now when trying to scan this roll of panoramic 35mm using the 120 carrier, im having the same issue again.

  4. I have tried all sorts of fixes. I was certain that it was an issue with my light panel, so I tried shifting the position of the EFH on the light panel by about 30mm thinking it may be a hot spot in the panel itself. This did move the flare slightly, so i thought that that was the issue. I then tried rotating the panel 180 deg thinking it would move to the other side of the frame if that was the case but It didnt change at all. I then tried rotating the panel 90 degrees, and same result. I then tried to use my iPad with the negative supply app as the background, thinking this would absolutely make it clear if the panel was faulty. This changed nothing. Still the same flare, but even more exaggerated this time. This then ruled out the light panel.

  5. I then turned my attention to the EFH itself. Starting off with the completely default EFH configuration. Firstly I tried various different changes. Firstly spacing the diffuser layer of the EFH further or closer to the light panel itself while keeping the film layer at the same distance from the light panel. This didnt seem to have any change. Then i tried raising the entire carrier away from the light panel. Still the same. Then lastly trying to increase the spacing between the diffusion layer and the film layer itself. Again, no obvious change. It seemed like no matter what i changed, the issue was still present. There would be a very slight variation between each, test shot ( as can be seen in the screenshot ) but the issue was still very clearly present.

  6. Im now at a complete loss for ideas… Unless there is something really obvious that im missing. But am hoping someone may have experienced a similar issue, or have some ideas as to what may be a fix to this issue. Ive spent about 10 hours now collectively loosing my mind with this, so would greatly appreciate any help! Thanks!

Flares
Flares1920×1359 2.82 MB

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Have you looked at the film in order to see if the flare is/isn’t on the film itself?

Guessing from the position of the flare, I’d not exclude some stray light coming off the copy stand or some rails, clamps etc, if used.

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I think that it’s significant that the position of the ‘flare’ line on the left hand strips (glossy side up) has consistently moved down into the frame relative to the right hand strips (glossy side down). To me that shows that the natural curvature of the film is responsible for this consistent difference and that it must be some kind of reflection from your equipment as @Digitizer suggests. It also seems much more diffuse on the 6x6 shot, presumably because your lens is further away. It seems so obvious that I’m surprised that you can’t see it through the viewfinder?

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I’ve been studying this in earnest since I read this flare/banding post. My Virgo tenacity has led me to pursue an answer with dogged determination, as I too, have several of the EFH masks. I have a question and an observation which may lead us to connect the pieces to solve this. After reading the post and looking at the images, I noticed the OP mentioned using the EFH holder for 120 for both of the included samples, 6x6 and 35mm pano shots. It is also mentioned the flare was present on a roll of Provia. Was the pattern and location the same on the Provia? Is the Provia 35mm or 120? I noticed the film rebate was visible in the 6x6 Kodak Gold 200 scan and I concluded you used the EFH Borders mask rather than the “standard” 120 EFH. I too have the 120 Borders mask and it did not include individual masks for 645, 6x6, etc, so I have to use the entire 6x9 area. How are you shooting the 120 frames? Are you cropping in and stitching or capturing it as tight as you can with the 2:3 ratio (presumed) and cropping after capture? Fuji Provia is a transparency film and all unexposed areas would be black, (theoretically) preventing any stray light from passing through the film once it is in the holder, even if not masked off between frames. The Gold 200 being color negative film would allow light to pass through the unexposed orange mask rebate and between frames, just as the sprockets of the 35mm. Is it possible there is a very small amount of light bleeding along the rebate side of the 120, where the film rests just inside the mask? How is the 35mm pano strip placed in the 120 holder?

My 120 Borders mask barely holds the film perfectly flat. I recently captured a few rolls of 120 HP5 also in 6x6 and the film was slightly bowed once placed in the 120 Borders mask, the long edge margins for flatness are razor thin. I had a time making sure the captures were sharp. I even ran some tests with my EFH masks to see if I could find any “gotcha” scenarios.

The OP states all extraneous light from around the panel and mask were blocked off and no ambient is present. Is it possible a small amount of light passing through the opening of the 120 Borders mask, through sprockets/edge rebate to reflect off the front of the 105 macro lens? Is it possible the film itself, either emulsion or base up, is ever so slightly bowed up or down depending upon orientation, and is picking up the bounced light from the lens above? Does the 105 macro have a filter on the front such as skylight/1A or haze filter? Or could it be possible one axis of the film alignment is skewed just enough to form a reflective “catch light” on the film surface from potential stray light bouncing off the lens?

Hoping we can narrow it down by process of elimination.

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I don’t know what the remainder of your set-up looks like, but I’d still focus on the EFH with its several layers. I suggest removing it altogether. Cut two pieces of black paper that will just cover the light table. In the center of those pieces of black paper cut out just enough of a rectangle for your photo to show through. Sandwich the film between the two pieces of paper and for flattening lay a piece of Museum or other anti-reflective glass on top. Capture the image and see whether this problem persists. If it doesn’t, you know there is an issue with the EFH. If it does, then you know the problem is likely at the camera end.