Hello ; I have set up a digital printing platform, using an Agfa Duoscan HiD, and an Epson 1160 / Lyson quadtone inks, which works very well with 4x5 negatives, not least because there is a dedicated glassless film holder for the scanner which holds the negatives very flat. I have a problem, however, when I try to scan my 6x17 negatives and transparencies - there is no dedicated film holder, and I end up scanning film which is not fully flat on a glass bed, which also produces Newton's rings.

My question ; has anyone found an elegant solution to scanning 6x17 film, ideally a glassless holder which is able to keep the film rigid and flat? Is it worth considering buying a 6x17 carrier from a 5x7 enlarger, which could then be inserted into the scanner?

Happy New Year to everyone on this forum!

-- fw (finneganswake@altavista.net), December 31, 2001

Answers

until you find or construct your glassless holder, try to scan the matte site of the film. thats what I do with my 8x10 Negatives on a normal flatbed scanner. This way, my experience says, the film seems to be flat, without Newton´s rings. Oliver

-- Oliver Ruether (info@oliver-ruether.de), December 31, 2001.

I scan mine on an Agfa Arcus II using the 5x7 mask and have no problems. Altough I have not outputted a print larger then 17" the 17" print looks great.

-- Bob Salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), December 31, 2001.

Thnaks for your replies. Bob ; is there a dedicated glassless 5x7 Agfa holder available for the duoscan scanners? If so, this could be the answer.

-- fw (finneganswake@altavista.net), January 01, 2002.

Have a look at DiaCOVER. They have excellent flatbed scan holders even for 6x17.

Regards,

-- Thilo Schmid (tschmid@2pix.de), January 01, 2002.

Thilo - thanks, that is a very interesting link.

-- fw (finneganswake@altavista.net), January 01, 2002.

Just remeber that Agfa is now out of the scanner business in N. America now.

-- Tim Atherton (tim@kairosphoto.com), January 01, 2002.

Tim,

AGFA has quit consumer digital imaging. That does not mean, that they are totally out of the scanner business. It more likely means that in the future they will not try to compete with EPSON & Co, but with manufactureres like Linotype/Heidelberg. The latter have never entered the consumer market, but they sure do manufacture good scanning solutions. If not the best ones.

Regards,

-- Thilo Schmid (tschmid@2pix.de), January 01, 2002.

I was just going by the following press release Tilo: "Agfa announced it will discontinue the sale of its digital camera and desktop scanner products in North America, as of December 31, 2001. This includes all markets in Canada, the United States and Mexico. “This decision is part of a regional strategy to create a renewed focus on Agfa’s core competencies in the areas of photography, graphic arts prepress, and medical and technical imaging,” said Heikki Koskimies, President and CEO, Agfa Corporation."

The point being, don't expect to buy a new Agfa scanner (Duoscan, Arcus or otherwise) in the Americas any time soon.

Tim A

-- Tim Atherton (tim@kairosphoto.com), January 01, 2002.