Jump to content

DSLR Slide Copying


Recommended Posts

All of my images on Alamy are from my DSLRs, but I have quite a collection of slides that I am thinking of converting to digital.  I have ordered the Nikon slide copier attachment and thought I would try that route.  The cameras that I would use would be my D90 or D3200.  I don't have a macro lens but do have a 50mm and extension tubes, not sure how that would work.  My slides are a mix of Kodachrome, Ektachrome, and Fujichrome.  Just wondered if others have used this method and how it compares to scanning.

Marvin

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks I read the other thread and thats good info.  I tried this with the Nikon ES-1 slide copier, 50mm lens, and estension tubes, but I don't have enough resolution with this setup.  Probably need the macro lens to get the resolution.  With film scanners getting more rare this may be the best way for the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

David Kilpatrick is a master at this but he hasn't been by for a while.

I believe he uses an Illumitran, and word must have got round because it's one of the few pieces of film kit that sells for decent money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heads up there is one on (illumitran) ebay £0.99, no bids yet, collect only in UK.  1 day left.

 

Allan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Probably need the macro lens to get the resolution.  With film scanners getting more rare this may be the best way for the future.

 

Marvin you need a true flat field macro lens designed for 1:1 and you need to use it at optimum aperture. That would be any true macro lens, but not a zoom lens with a so called macro function.
 
Your normal 50mm lens is not flat field or corrected for 1:1, so when you use it to focus on the centre of the transparency the corners will be out of focus. In addition a non macro 50mm will be softer in the centre than a macro when used at 1:1.
 
Using a 15 megapixel and higher digital camera with a true macro lens will give you a better result that a nikonscan or other medium priced scanner. You will get a better result in terms of both dynamic range and also sharpness.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I looked at that one what all do you need to get it to work.  Are there slide and negative carriers and what about adapting it to a Nikon DSLR.  I have never used one of these.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It might not have all the film carriers. You might need to make them  out of card.

it's a good price, much cheaper than the UK price.

You would need the usual adapters to fit the bellows- probably T2 or similar.

If I could buy it for £100, I would have it. I have 5000 decent slides.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn’t go overboard on hunting for gear that looks like it belongs on the set of Dr Who (the original Dr Who that is). 

The essential kit is a good camera, preferably full-frame, with a high pixel count, and, as has been pointed out, a genuine macro lens such as a Micro-Nikkor with a flat focal plane. 

Constructing a light box with an even illumination is not rocket science.  The one I currently use is as simple as it gets. 

 

Much depends on what outcome you want.  My main objective is to dupe slides that I know are highly marketable but were previously unusable, mainly through under exposure, occasionally because of difficult lighting such as very bright sunlight, or night lighting - and produce files that are passable by QCs even more stringent than Alamy's - although most do end up here.  For this the essentials are:

 

1. Camera and lens as above

2. Something to keep the film completely flat such as a glass neg carrier

3. Bracketed exposures

4. Shoot raw

5. Convert different exposures into layers, having first worked them in LR

 

Like any good workflow, once you have broken it down into sequential steps, it can be done a lot quicker and more efficiently than it so appears on paper. 

The main problems I had initially were focus, light spill and camera shake.

 

There is some quite useful info here:  http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2012/01/scan-film-with-camera-1.html

 

(Do it clumsily and results will be half-assed as the addendum here suggests.  But do it well, and you can achieve results not achievable with any known scanner)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks all for the suggestions.  As all of my cameras are DX I thought about the 40mm micro Nikkor but not sure that that with a 24mp camera would be enough. I still have my old Minolta Dimage 3200 film scanner but don't have up to date software to run it.  I have considered using it with VueScan or other software, but colors don't seem to be that good on it.  I do have negative carriers for my old Beseler enlarger and a light box.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Heads up there is one on (illumitran) ebay £0.99, no bids yet, collect only in UK.  1 day left.

 

 

Well, I am now the owner of this item. If it works, I plan to use it to copy my old 6x6 transparencies.

 

Apparently the seller, who has a business in the old TVR factory near Blackpool, inherited it from TVR. So I've unwittingly picked up a little piece of British sports car history for 99p.

 

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Heads up there is one on (illumitran) ebay £0.99, no bids yet, collect only in UK.  1 day left.

 

 

Well, I am now the owner of this item. If it works, I plan to use it to copy my old 6x6 transparencies.

 

Apparently the seller, who has a business in the old TVR factory near Blackpool, inherited it from TVR. So I've unwittingly picked up a little piece of British sports car history for 99p.

 

Alan

 

 

You got a good deal there Alan…..I looked at it myself but running a 4.7 litre V8 from Portsmouth to collect it made it not very viable !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Heads up there is one on (illumitran) ebay £0.99, no bids yet, collect only in UK.  1 day left.

 

 

Well, I am now the owner of this item. If it works, I plan to use it to copy my old 6x6 transparencies.

 

Apparently the seller, who has a business in the old TVR factory near Blackpool, inherited it from TVR. So I've unwittingly picked up a little piece of British sports car history for 99p.

 

Alan

 

 

Great acquisition Alan well done. :)  Wish I could obtain my equipment at those prices. ;)

 

Allan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Heads up there is one on (illumitran) ebay £0.99, no bids yet, collect only in UK.  1 day left.

 

 

Well, I am now the owner of this item. If it works, I plan to use it to copy my old 6x6 transparencies.

 

Apparently the seller, who has a business in the old TVR factory near Blackpool, inherited it from TVR. So I've unwittingly picked up a little piece of British sports car history for 99p.

 

Alan

 

 

Great acquisition Alan well done. :)  Wish I could obtain my equipment at those prices. ;)

 

 

I don't know whether it works yet! And there was petrol on top, though I did combine it with a trip to Liverpool for another reason so the travel cost wasn't huge.

 

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Get an 80 mm enlarger lens like a schneider and make a mount so you can fix it onto bellows onto the illumitran.         I have hundreds of 6x6 slides scanned this way.   The enlarger lens has a flat field of focus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Get an 80 mm enlarger lens like a schneider and make a mount so you can fix it onto bellows onto the illumitran.

 

The unit came with bellows and a 75mm Rodenstock. The other end is a Nikon mount which is no good for me but I don't imagine it will be difficult to find a Canon adaptor. The flash appears to work so the only remaining issue is that the flash cable has an old-style pre-DSLR connector. I'm assuming it's possible to get an adaptor somewhere.

 

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Get an 80 mm enlarger lens like a schneider and make a mount so you can fix it onto bellows onto the illumitran.

 

The unit came with bellows and a 75mm Rodenstock. The other end is a Nikon mount which is no good for me but I don't imagine it will be difficult to find a Canon adaptor. The flash appears to work so the only remaining issue is that the flash cable has an old-style pre-DSLR connector. I'm assuming it's possible to get an adaptor somewhere.

 

Alan

 

The Chinese ones work - hotshoe to PC- but you need to be aware of the trigger voltage and what your camera can tolerate. You may need one of the fancy adaptors.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

The Chinese ones work - hotshoe to PC- but you need to be aware of the trigger voltage and what your camera can tolerate. You may need one of the fancy adaptors.

 

 

Ah yes, many thanks for reminding me of that. I probably wouldn't have thought of it and it wouldn't be much of a bargain if I ended up with an expensive repair to the 5D2!

 

I'd give you a greenie but I don't play the silly reputation game.

 

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Canon says the 5D is rated to 250V so you're fine.

So the Illumitran doesn't have a standard PC flash plug then?

It's got the old-style small one that would have fitted a film SLR, not the modern larger threaded plug, and the cable is wired into the base unit so it can't easily be replaced. It looks as though adaptors are available on eBay provided I can make sure I get the right one. Alternatively I guess I could snip the plug off and replace it with a PC plug.

 

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.