LaserSoft Imaging

New to the forum. My 120tf scanner failed to scan 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7 and 6x9 in Overview. Screenshot shows what was happening ...

I wore myself out reading web sites and discussions on Silverfast forum, eventually coming across this site ...

http://www.neat.com/helpcenter/mac-trou ... ner-issue/

Read the last paragraph which explains setting up a "Guest" account on Mac computer. I did this and it saved my sanity, Silverfast 6.6.2r5 working fine again. It was not the scanner, I knew that all the time, the scanner was practically new old stock when I bought it two years ago, less than a hundred scans the previous owner, first owner, claimed. I did though, clean the mirror, lens and optical sensor. I also adjusted the sensor for maximum sharpness. It was easy to do, it has adjusting screws and by scanning a properly exposed B&W negative (35mm) with thin contrasty lines in the subject, I was able to compare for sharpness. There was a substantial difference between the "before" and "after" scans. The aluminium base on the 120tf will, over time, expand and contract and settle in a different position (different length to factory specs), hence the adjustable sensor. The sensor has a very narrow 0.8mm Depth of Field, my tests revealed. The scanned film needs to be curved no more than say 0.7mm before the scanned image is sharp from edge to edge.

Another problem I encountered was a chattering film holder, I fixed this by slightly bending a guide that the holder runs in. It's only through using a feeler gauge can it be determined if there's enough clearance between the guide and holder but the guide on mine was touching the holder and tended to slow it down. After I bent the guide up a little, I then smeared some lithium grease on it for good measure.

Dear user,

If you have to create a fresh user account it is a sure sign that there are some issues regarding the access rights. Have you tried repairing the disk permissions using the OS X Disk Utility?


If you have strongly curved film it often helps to set the focus point halfway between the edge and the middle of the image.

Kind regards,
Arne

Thanks Arne - yes I'll check "permissions" but I have no trouble scanning 35mm in my Administrator Account. The problem with the medium formats only started when I recently tried to scan 6x4.5 for the first time. The first image was ok in Overview, but the rest were a portion of a neg and a portion of the next one. I got around this by cutting individual negatives and scanning just one each time. After a while things went completely out of control with medium format, the scanner would start at the wrong end, scanning the last image first repeatedly, regardless of which 6x size I was attempting to scan, or even if there was no film in the holder ... and yet, 35mm was still scanning with no problems at all.

The screen shot I posted shows a scan of a blank space in the film holder, I had three 6x4.5 images only in the holder, but the scanner scanned the last image first, which happened to be the blank space. It was scanned repeatedly in Overview. With the case off the scanner and watching the movements of the scan transporter and holder, I could see the blank space getting scanned over and over.

I'm sure there is something in my Administrator Account interfering with Silverfast. When I installed the 6.6.2r5 quite some time ago, I was notified of "Port not working - install Silverfast again" .... which I did, but got the same message. Silverfast still scanned though, I did a considerable number of scans before the medium format problem started.

The problem was resolved by scanning in "Guest Account", all medium format sizes scanned good but the 6x4.5 is still out of wack after the first image in Overview. The Bronica camera I shoot with leaves 8mm between each negative. Perhaps that's too much, I don't really know. What do you think ?

If the film is curved, I use the anti-newton ring glass that came with the scanner

Regards - ozi

PS, Scanning in a casual "Guest Account" - all scans will be lost if exiting that account without first saving them to Macintosh Hard Drive, where they can be retrieved in the Administrator Account

Dear Ozi,

I am really at a loss here.
Have you tired to create a genuine new account? Not a just a guest account.

Kind regards,
Arne

No Arne, just a guest account. I clicked on "System Preferences" > "Accounts" > Guest Account" …. then checked the box "Allow guests to log in" (it is necessary, to click on the padlock icon first to type an Administrator password, if one is used)

Guest Account doesn't save anything, but Silverfast is in my Administration account and it shows up in the Guest account's Application folder, and that is where I launch Silverfast from.

The Guest account is fresh and uncontaminated, I aim to keep it that way. Because of that, I'm now able to do sharp, good quality, trouble free scanning, even my Chinese Shanghi GP 100 looks good, with every bit of dynamic range that film can muster, showing up on the screen - But 6x4.5 is still a problem, they overlap in Overview. I have to use the "Compensate Film Strip Offset" arrow to bring an image into alignment, before doing the final scan. It's not a big deal, but without that "Offset" arrow, I'd be lost.

Regards - ozi