[filmscanners] Re: Service/cleanup for Nikon LS-30 in the UK?

["Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com>]

> My LS-30 (also known as the Coolscan III) has
> been producing progressively foggier and darker
> scans from both slide and negative for about
> six months now. It clearly needs some sort of
> internal clean or a service.

The mirror is probably dirty.  You can clean that yourself (I do it all the
time, on both the LS-30 and the LS-2000).

Open the door to the scanner, but do not insert any of the adapters.  Turn
the scanner on.  After making the usual noises, the scanner will advance the
scan head towards the front of the scanner.  Just before it
reaches the end of its travel, turn the scanner off; the head will stop.
Now you can clean the front-silvered mirror that reflects light to the lens
(the lens itself usually doesn't get dirty).  I use a cotton swab moistened
with a bit of Kodak lens cleaning fluid, followed by a dry cotton swab.  Be
gentle; you don't need to scrub it, you just need to gently wash the
accumulated dust out of the way.  Once the mirror is clean and dry again,
you can try it out.  If the mirror had a lot of dust on it, the improvement
will be amazing.

Usually the mirror has to have quite a coating of dust before you'll see
haziness in scans.  It took a long time for me to discover the problem the
first time it happened, because the accumulation of dust is so gradual and
takes so long to show up in scan results.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to take it in for service.  But it has
always worked for me.

The lens itself and other parts apparently never need cleaning.  I guess all
the dust settles on the mirror because of the way it faces upward.

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