rji2goleez wrote:
I have a question for those who scan at home . . . DUST!
My first few rolls were not really a problem using the Valoi Easy35. My most recent roll however, has been a dust nightmare. While the Valoi has a brush where the negatives are fed into the chamber, I still blow the negatives with a Rocket blower. However, I can't believe how many dust specs I have to remove in post. I event tried wiping the negatives with a micro fiber sprayed with lens cleaning fluid. The film in this case was Kodak ProImage 100.
So for those who scan at home, any tips and tricks to keep the dust away?
First is to dry the home-developed film strip in a as dust-free environment as possible. I prefer using either a bathroom where I turn on the shower for about 5 minutes to suck out the dust from the air. Other option is for example my basement with not much air circulation present and low-dust environment (in a new basement where no dust has accumulated over years of course).
Before scanning, I use a rocket blower which has only little effect to remove dust from my experience since the acrylic film can be statically adhesive to dust particles. I do not recommend to wipe the strip to scan - normally more dust accumulates instead on the film. If using a cloth, don't use micro fiber - they can scratch the film! Instead use a clean cloth suitable to clean glasses. But again, I do not recommend using a cloth in general.
Instead what I found effective is an automated dust removal tool in the scanning software. SilverFast 8 has one for example which is quite good. Normally I only have to clean up a few additional dust spots left over in the final scan.
Oct 11, 2023 at 08:50 PM
Previous versions of retrofocus's message #16364024 « Curious about Film »
