I too found the same thing. Even though covered up the mirror got really dusty and the scans were really poor. Tony's instructions are pretty much what I had to do and I used denatured alcohol with a small piece of lint-free optical cloth. Just be sure not to get the swab or whatever you use too moist as drops will form on the mirror and the cleaning solution/alcohol will drip into things is shouldn't.
I guess I have another question - has anyone compared their SS4000 slide scans to the Epson V750/V700? I find the SS4000 to be terribly slow. I'm looking to archive a couple of years of slides and there's no way I want to do it with the SS4000. I'd like to mount as many as possible and do a batch scan if possible. So I'm looking at the Epson V750/V700 or perhaps picking up a Nikon Coolscan 5000 + slide feeder and then selling it after I'm done. I'd be using Vuescan. Thanks - John Roger Smith wrote: > This is very encouraging, Tony. I have had my ancient SS4000 under a > cover for several years as well, and I'm sure it could use a similar > cleaning. I may give it a try. I take it that re-assembly was not a > great problem? > > Cheers, > Roger Smith > > On 13-Jun-09, at 12:48 PM, Tony Sleep wrote: > > >> On 13/06/2009 James L. Sims wrote: >> >>> With the support for my Polaroid Sprintscan 120 now unavailable, I am >>> looking for a replacement. >>> >> Vuescan should resolve antique s/w issues on Windows, though SCSI >> support >> may become more awkward I believe ASPI drivers are available for >> Vista. On >> Mac I don't know with current OSX, but similar was possible. Same >> applies >> to SCSI Nikons etc. >> >> Regarding physical service, I recently popped the lid off my >> Polaroid 4000 >> (4 lever tabs) as it seemed to have got rather flary and low >> contrast with >> some strongly backlit slides that included bright backgrounds, despite >> living under a dust cover when not in use. >> >> Half a dozen self-tappers later and I was able to remove the lamp >> holder >> and the top of the film carrier carriage. I was then able to clean the >> angled mirror with a DSLR sensor swab - it was covered in a thick >> layer of >> dust. Inspection with a torch showed the lens to be clean, >> reflected in >> the mirror. I then cleaned every trace of dust and dirt from the >> mechanism >> surfaces I could get at, and wiped and re-lubricated the helical >> carriage >> advance screws. >> >> Result : a total transformation! Scans bright and clean, loads more >> shadow >> detail - virtually everything in Kodachrome. No flare and colour much >> easier to get spot on. The mechanism sounds happier for lubrication >> too. >> No more misfeeding neg carrier either, which the scanner has been >> mistaking for the slide carrier half the time, for about the last 4 >> years. >> I wish I'd done it earlier, as I now think I should really rescan >> quite a lot. >> >> >> >>> Has anyone had any experience with Epson's >>> V750M? The specs. look impressive if they hold up. >>> >> No experience, but if I had the money I'd have bought one to scan the >> relatively small amount of 120 I have. From reading reviews the >> V750 is >> very little different from the much cheaper V700. Lens coating >> seems very >> slightly better and you get Silverfast with the 750. Most important >> factor >> appears to be stand-offs for the film carrier, which can be >> improvised. >> Personally I'd use Vuescan anyway. >> >> >> -- >> Regards >> >> Tony Sleep >> http://tonysleep.co.uk >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> ------------------ >> Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe >> filmscanners' >> or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the >> message title or body >> >> > > > > > -- John & Karen Hinkey hin...@seanet.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe by mail to listser...@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body