# Why am I seeing a ghost image (reflection) of sprocket holes inside my 35mm image? **URL:** \ **Category:** Digital Camera Scanning\ **Created:** [June 8, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396 "2025-06-08T18:54:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![philip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@philip](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/philip)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396/1 "2025-06-08T18:54:49Z")
![DSCF0647-2](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/negativelabpro/original/2X/8/830e981b3844203ae75a40d572f1989401a4d110.jpeg) ![DSCF0647](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/negativelabpro/original/2X/f/f47dd5fcc3334c52b6aa8821ad3375619edcf56f.jpeg) Can somebody tell me whether this happened during scanning or development? I can already say that this isn’t visible in all of my scans that I did with the exact same setup on the same night. I don’t develop my film but I scan it with the following: NLP v3.0.2 Camera: Fuji GFX 100S Lens: Pentax 120 F4 Tethering: Fujifilm Tether App Light: Raleno 192 Video Light F5.6 SS 1/10th ISO 100 EV +0.7 Manual Focus ---
**Author:** ![Harry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@Harry](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/Harry)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 2:15am UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396/2 "2025-06-09T02:15:25Z")
I think you would be able to see it on the actual film with a loupe or magnifier of some sort. That would at least answer your question about whether it has anything to do with the scanning stage. Very odd. If it is the scanning stage then it would be helpful to know how you are holding your negative over your panel and if the sprocket holes are masked off. ---
**Author:** ![costokim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@costokim](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/costokim)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396/3 "2025-06-09T13:50:59Z")
just look carefully - it is indeed visible on your scan (first negative image) ---
**Author:** ![philip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@philip](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/philip)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 6:40pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396/4 "2025-06-09T18:40:33Z")
![DSCF3220-1](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/negativelabpro/original/2X/0/0808330d627d24ee65150b10ff3a1a85c71d860f.jpeg) I am using this Lobster Holder and yes my sprocket holes are visible cause that’s the only way to get the entire image. The normal 35mm mask covers just a tiny fraction of the frame unfortunately. This is the actual uncropped scan: ![DSCF0652](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/negativelabpro/original/2X/8/8d3f46bf2f523a6cd6fca672405f454ecf3b9b0b.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Harry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@Harry](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/Harry)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396/5 "2025-06-09T19:32:12Z")
It’s on the scan - but is it on the film? Actually I find it hard to see how that could be a film development problem but I’m struggling to work out how it happens when scanning either. I’m tending to think that the sprocket holes are somehow causing secondary reflections of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![philip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@philip](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/philip)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396/6 "2025-06-09T19:52:39Z")
that’s my guess too. maybe i will try to scan without the sprocket holes. it’s a shame that the hole for the 35mm frame is just slightly too small. ---
**Author:** ![Harry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@Harry](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/Harry)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396/7 "2025-06-09T21:06:20Z")
Just for this one I suppose you could cover the sprocket holes with some tape and scan it again, and before you do that you could turn the negative through 180º and scan it to see if the ghost image remains in the same part of the frame, or stays in the same part of the negative. ---
**Author:** ![VladS](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forums.negativelabpro.com/vlads/32/2504_2.png) [@VladS](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/VladS)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 12:09pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396/8 "2025-06-10T12:09:04Z")
I am pretty sure it s on the film and is development artifact - given how sharp the imprint is. I would speculate that wet film emulsion was somehow impressed by another piece of film ---
**Author:** ![222dfb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f1d935/32.png) [@222dfb](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/u/222dfb)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/why-am-i-seeing-a-ghost-image-reflection-of-sprocket-holes-inside-my-35mm-image/9396/9 "2025-06-10T21:24:27Z")
I hope a solution can be found! In my experience, I only know of one time I have had a ghost. This was not from scanning film, but a digital camera shooting an original image. This was 12 years ago but I remember blaming it on an inexpensive uv filter. It must have reflected the sensor image back to the sensor. As my camera was not coplanar with the sign, the reflection is to the side. Hopefully the camera used here was properly aligned. The ghost sprocket holes are offset, but not visibly distorted. So, if it is a reflection, it should reoccur. I removed my uv filter and there were no other ghosts! ![dsc_5503](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/negativelabpro/original/2X/a/a45b8e30de837d2168af782427a4f4f00ad65d0d.jpeg)