Just getting back into film photography and scanning. Dusted off an old Epson V600 hiding in my closet and my Mamiya 645 Super. Put a role of Portra 400 through it and the negatives are curled up. What’s a good ANR glass to make the film lay down, allow for the borders/rebates to show, and remove the rings? I’d like to use with 120 film (6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7) as well as 35mm. Looking forward to feedback!
I have the Epson V600 and V850 Pro. I use TruView museum glass. One side is frosted/etched just as ANR promoted glass. It’s a fraction of the cost and I’ve never had a newton ring. One advantage the V850 has over the V600 is the optional wet mount base (kit). I use the wet mount base placed on the platen and instead of wet mounting the film with Mylar, I simply place the negative on the wet mount base, dry, and put the TruView glass on top. This allows me to use the “holder” option instead of the “glass” option in the Epson scan or Silverfast software. The holder option switches to the second, higher resolution lens that is part of the dual lens system on the V850 that is focused just above the glass, where the film holders rest. The other lens is “prefocused” right at the glass level. On your V600 you’ll have to test and experiment to see how sharp your film scans will be not using the supplied holders, since you’ll be placing the film directly on the glass platen. You could theoretically use two pieces of TruView, one resting in the platen with the film sandwiched between them. This will raise the film to a level similar to the that of the supplied holders, but you’ll be adding another layer of glass to pass through plus the addition of another dust layer. You can find TruView museum glass at high end frame shops or online. I found a supplier on Etsy that custom cut a 6x9 inch piece of TruView for around $30 with shipping. I use it for scanning all film sizes if I want edges or sprockets and for 127 or odd size negatives or transparencies that are not practical to DSLR scan without the use of custom holders or masks. I put blue painters tape along the entire perimeter of the TruView glass, wrapped around both sides, about 1/8 of an inch. This allows me to handle the glass without adding fingerprints and prevent any “paper cuts” from the precision cut raw edges.
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