If you’ve been following me on YouTube, you might have noticed I just removed a video to then re-upload it. I edited out a part about the filmholders I use to scan negatives. This is down to a mistake on my part, and I felt it was a big enough mistake to warrant me to take down the video. The new re-edited video can be found here
I intended this video to be an overview of my scanning setup, more like a video I could reference when someone asks how I scan my negatives. I never expected it to gain any huge traction. And on that I was right, the few days it was up it gained only a few hundred views. However, I don’t want one of my reference videos to include a big mistake that I need to address every time I point someone towards the video.
The mistake
In the original video, I called out the Essential Film Holder for having bright sides causing light to reflect onto the film. This probably isn’t the issue, and I felt it could put people off the Essential Film Holder for the wrong reason.
What mislead me a.k.a. Everything on the internet isn’t true
So my initial problem with the Essential Film Holder was when scanning 120-film. I often ended up with bright sides when I scanned those negatives. Annoying, but it only takes 2 seconds to fix in post. One day I decided to try some things out. I replace the light source, from a video light with a more dedicated scanning light by cinestill. This made no difference at all.
I also tried going over my setup and adding a mirror to ensure proper alignment between film and camera, I tried scanning in a dark room, but nothing seemed to help. I still would have this issue re-occurring for me, not always but fairly often. Then one day I ordered the Pixl-latr as I’ve started shooting 4×5 and needed a film holder for that format (the essential film holder only supports 120 & 135). On chance, I tried scanning with the Pixl-latr for my next few rolls of 120, and the scans didn’t show the issue. This naturally led me into thinking it might be the essential film holders fault.
I googled “Essential Film Holder issues” and found a few Reddit posts describing the exact same issue, as well as a blog post (sources). This sealed the deal for me, it must be the Essential Film holder’s fault!
In preparation for the video, I rescanned a few images. And I had an issue with one of the images, it scanned weirdly with the Essential Film Holder but not the Pixl-latr. Surely it must be the Essential Film Holder’s fault. I recorded the video and thought I should at least mention this small issue with the Essential Film Holder. But that was a mistake on my part, I should also have e-mailed Essential Film Holder a.k.a Andrew for a comment.
Both scans have been WB corrected and inverted using negadoctor in Darktable, no other adjustments have been made.
What made me change my mind?
Andrew (from Essential Film Holder) ended up watching my video and reached out, asking for some feedback regarding the film holder. We had a chat over e-mail. I was a bit reluctant, as it must have been a design error.
Well maybe not, I ended up spending a few hours trying and replicate the issue. And I cannot!
I tried everything, shooting at bad angles, switching lighting, and turning my desk lamp to light directly on the negative holder. Whatever I tried I couldn’t replicate the issue. Then finally I inspected the negative! Looking at the edge under a loupe I could notice one side being slightly darker. So in reality the scan could just show the negative. Could it be that all my problems were bad negatives? It’s a possibility.
I will be doing more tests, and Andrew kindly provided some insights into what can cause an issue like this.
I’m off for vacation for a few weeks, so I don’t have time to dig into it any more right now. I’ll have to return to it in the future.
Note! Andrew (from Essential Film Holder) never asked for the video to be removed, it was my own decision.
Could it be the EFH after all then?
Well, it’s possible. But after trying to scan many negatives the last few days, the only ones that I experienced the problem with actually were down to uneven negatives and not the film holder.
How come the scans from the Pixl-latr worked then?
Well, the two film holders work differently, as you lay the negative directly on a diffuser with the Pixl-latr instead of sandwiching it between two pieces of plastic with a hole. So it’s possible that the Pixl-latr masks the issue better than the EFH.
And it’s also possible that it was just pure luck.
EFH updated.
It’s not obvious on the EFH site, but after e-mailing with Andrew, the film holder may have been updated since I bought it in 2022. Something that wasn’t clear in the video, another reason why I felt it unfair to Andrew and the Essential Film Holder.
Is the EFG perfect then?
No, and no film holder is. It has its real issues, but I figured I’d do a follow-up video discussing the film holders more in detail.
What I can say is that the EFH is more than decent for scanning 120 and 135-film, when set up correctly. And for 65 GBP it’s a good value as well. However as Brexit happened I need to add 25% on top of that, placing it on par with the Valoi 360, and The Lobster Film holder, both look very interesting. I haven’t tried those two, but it might be worth shopping around.
Sources:
Here are a few posts about the “issue” with light sides, most from Reddit and about 2-3 years old. To my understanding, the EFH has been updated since then, and besides Reddit (which isn’t the most trustworthy site), I’ve only found one source briefly mentioning this (all links available as of 24-08-21)
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/zdzgu6/why_you_should_not_buy_the_essential_film_holder/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/mkv2pi/dslr_scanning_light_glare_on_essential_film_holder/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/sjamcl/essential_film_holder_is_giving_light_leaks/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/18dimps/best_120_film_holder_for_camera_scanning/
https://www.learnfilm.photography/essential-film-holder-review-after-scanning-100-rolls/