On 30 Dec 2001 at 16:15, Christian Skofteland wrote: > Ok, I know we've covered this in the past but I'm going to ask again (and > pay attention to the answers this time!): > > How the #$!%&*(^*%$ do you get all the dust off your slides or negatives > before you scan them?
Hi Christian, There are a few issues to consider WRT to your question, they are pertinent to both conventional printing and digital scanning (however scanning seems more sensitized to dust etc.) Firstly you will be chasing your tail if the room that you are working in is not clean ie it has to be regularly dusted and/or vacuum cleaned. Some photogs I know of even employ active filters and/or positive Ion generators to further reduce airborne dust and contaminants. The ultimate film cleaner that I found is from a company called Dycem, it consists of two opposing "sticky" rollers that the film is passed through along with an earthed anti-static brush across the film at the exit. The dust gets stuck on the rollers (which can be easily cleaned) and the brush neutralizes the charge on the film so that new dust is not immediately attracted to it. (I can't remember the URL but I have a pic.) The unfortunate thing is that this gear was really expensive (I don't remember just how much but I was glad that I was sitting down when I read the price :-) I thought that it was a good idea so I made a dodgy copy of it. I found some Taiwanese sticky lint removers made of what I guess was a similar material and have been using them with some success. BTW they just wash out in mild detergent, it's really weird rubbery stuff? I also have some really good water based foaming anti-static cleaner (VDU-99 from CRC Industries) that cleans and makes my work areas anti-static, this helps. Compressed Air (or Nitrogen) can make things a lot easier too, a quick spray before the film goes into the scanner ensures that all but sticky dust is removed from the film surface. Again though if the room is not clean this can serve to just stir up the dust and make more problems. I have a small bottle of nitrogen, a regulator (Oxygen), 10m of hose and a gun style fitting, I use this set-up to clean my film, scanners, cameras and lenses too. The cost of the hardware was under US$55 and I just rent the bottle. I hope that this helps :-) Just one more reason to love digital cameras. Cheers, Rob Studdert HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA Tel +61-2-9554-4110 UTC(GMT) +10 Hours [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://members.ozemail.com.au/~distudio/publications.html - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
