Originally posted by Jonathan Mac Here are some of the first shots from my 645. I'm not very impressed by them but I don't know if that's due to the camera or the scan. They were scanned on an Epson V500, which I just bought, so I'm still learning how to use it and the learning curve seems very steep. The sharpness of the scans (at 2400) are not impressive, especially on the medium format. 35mm negatives seem to be better, perhaps they are flatter.
All taken with the FA 75mm f/2.8. The first is the only one of the roll that wasn't shot wide open.
I also have a 645n and the 75mm f2.8. My first scans with my Epson V700 weren't good, to put it mildly. 120 film is "floppier" than 35mm, and the carrier for 120 with my scanner isn't very good. I'd imagine the carrier with your V500 is similar, flimsy plastic and no way to clamp the film. I bit the bullet and bought a carrier from betterscanning.com and a piece of anti-Newton's rings glass. Wasn't cheap, but what a difference!
The new carrier is heavy plastic, it has little snap-in strips to support the film strip between frames, and its height is adjustable in really fine increments. This last is time consuming but important. What I did was load in a good negative, taken with a tripod, with lots of fine detail both in the center and at the edges. Then a scan at 2400, examine on monitor, adjust by a little, scan again, etc. When the last scan shows a
reduction in sharpness, go back to the just prior adjustment, and that should be it. Keep records! The glass helps keep the film flat, and if it ain't flat you can't get sharp. The web site describes the process.
You could try shimming the stock carrier, but the allen wrench adjustments on the new carrier are much more convenient, not to mention the superior rigidity.
When you get things dialed in properly you'll be amazed at what image quality the 645 delivers. After all it has about 2.7 times the area of a 35mm negative.
Good luck, and hang in there.