[Femto1969]

Hi, Team,

I'm into the swing of things with my Epson 800. I got it factory refurbished for $600 or so. I was very uneasy about paying this price, since it was more expensive than my actual Pentax 67 was, but now that I rely on it for quick and quality processing of my home-souped black and white negatives, I'm glad I bought it. And I'm also happily using the Silverfast Studio, which I upgraded from the version that came with the scanner.

The only thing I am not happy with (surprise, surprise) are the 120 negative holders.

They are annoying to use, and only two 6x7 negatives fit in them at once. Drag!

I've heard a bit of chatter about which holders to get to replace them:

1) Ones from BetterScanning

Which one fits the Epson 800, if any? Unfortunately these only hold two 6x7 negatives as well. And should I get the glass insert if I go this route?

2) The Epson film holder replacement without glass (Epson medium format film holder for V700/V750/V800/V850, replacement film holder without glass - ScanDig GmbH)

Looks like it will fit four 6x7 negatives which would be a dramatic improvement for me. No glass though - which may or may not be an improvement

3) The Epson film holder with glass (Epson medium format film holder for V800/V850/V700/V750, replacement film holder with glass - ScanDig GmbH)

4) Just tape the negatives to my scanner bed and/or place anti-newtonian ring glass over it

5) Some other option I'm not aware of.

Which have you used? Which do you like? Which do you think have the best value? Which do you theorize would be best?

Thanks for the help!

[smigol]

I've used the lomography digitaliza (DigitaLIZA 120 Scanning Mask · Lomography Shop). It does a good job of holding the negatives flat. It can show the edges of the film if you want to see the manufacturer marks.

[Femto1969]

Thanks, both for your input.

I'd really like a solution that can handle three or four negatives at once since my style of scanning is to get all the settings correct, start the batch scan, and go do something else (like develop film!). Then I return in some time after they are all done and keep going.

Thanks, Smigol, for showing me the Digitaliza. That is an interesting possibility. I like that you don't necessarily have to cut the film down too much. Do you use it with an Epson flatbed scanner?

[smigol]

Thanks, both for your input.
Thanks, Smigol, for showing me the Digitaliza. That is an interesting possibility. I like that you don't necessarily have to cut the film down too much. Do you use it with an Epson flatbed scanner?

I have used it with a flatbed scanner and it worked well, once I shimmed it with some post-it notes to better grab film that wanted to curl up. This became less of an issue once I started developing my own film and could properly flatten it.

Where it really excelled was when I was using it with a lightbox and taking digital shots with a macro lens. It held the negative and allowed fast repositioning of the film strip.

As you can see, there are openings that allow you to feed uncut film through the device.