On 31/05/2013 12:01 PM, Alan C wrote:
I would experiment with warming them up before flattening them.
Vinyl/Plastic softens quite easily. I think moisture will cause damage.
Alan C
I don't think I would go this route, or at least not with dry heat. The
film is curled because the emulsion side has dehumidified and is pulling
the acetate (or whatever the base is), and there is no matching anti
curl layer on the back side of the film.
You could try hanging the negs in a bathroom and then turning on the
shower to raise the humidity in the room. This might flatten the negs
out as the gelatin absorbs some moisture..
bill
-----Original Message----- From: Stan Halpin
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 7:27 PM
To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List
Subject: Help needed with curly film
Remember film?
Short story: I am trying to scan some old negatives (color and B&W).
"Old" as in some of the B&W go back to the early 1940's. Mostly cut
into strips of 4 or 6 frames. Some are badly cupped and/or curled to
the point that I cannot make them stay within the film holder on the
flatbed scanner (Epson V600). Any suggestions for practical means of
flattening these? There is a large number of negatives involved, most
of them probably have nothing of merit worth scanning/preserving, but
I can't tell until I scan/preview.
Longer story: My father-in-law was a prolific photographer. He has
multiple notebooks of neatly filed an labeled contact sheets &
negatives (35mm, 645, 6x6, some 3x4", some 4x5). Those are in fairly
good condition and easy to deal with; most will go directly to the
local Center for the Arts (MCFTA) or Historical Society. (For 20+
years he was the primary photographer for the MCFTA, everything from
portraits of board members to publicity shots for advertising posters
for upcoming concerts and plays, etc.) But there are a few shoe boxes
with items less well preserved. The negatives are mostly cut with one
roll together in a sleeve, mostly annotated with the date taken and
the date he made prints from the negs. Some of those are usable,
particularly the medium-format (scannable), some are badly cupped, and
some have somehow gotten into a lengthwise spiral.
So do I soak and hang out to dry, with appropriate weights attached?
Any better, easier, alternative?
stan
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow
the directions.
