mdarnton
Well-known
Lukitas, those look SO much better than the first ones you were doing a few months ago!
CamB
Member
Thanks for the helpful tips - it's nice to know I'm on the right track.
johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
Hm.
I have an Imacon FlexTight here that so far is putting up a fight when it comes to scanning like its supposed to do. Somethings overheating and shutting the darn thing down.
I'm still hoping to get it sorted (several options to go so I'm optimistic, both by nature and in this specific case
) but if it all falls apart, this is definitely a thread I'll be revisiting often since I'll then be building my own 35mm to 6x9cm capable rig for sure
I have an Imacon FlexTight here that so far is putting up a fight when it comes to scanning like its supposed to do. Somethings overheating and shutting the darn thing down.
I'm still hoping to get it sorted (several options to go so I'm optimistic, both by nature and in this specific case
) but if it all falls apart, this is definitely a thread I'll be revisiting often since I'll then be building my own 35mm to 6x9cm capable rig for sure
robbeiflex
Well-known
Here is another shot from my Canon 7D, 24-70 f4 L, and Canon 35R setup. This one is a bit more indicative of the quality I am getting, since it is my usual HP5+ in XTOL 1+1 and therefore a bit more grainy than the one above. I am much happier with the results than with my Canon 8800f:
Citroën by robsomogyi, on Flickr
Cheers,
Rob
Citroën by robsomogyi, on FlickrCheers,
Rob
johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
So.
I got bored tonight and Robs setup wouldn't leave me in peace so I started looking round the house to see how I could cobble up something from the stuff I have lying about, since I do not fancy having more stuff lying about en am a great fan of re-use, or multi-purpose stuff.
At some point I thought of the large format camera's of the 1940's that could also double as an enlarger. And then it hit me and I constructed THIS Son of Frankenstein:
And shot this with it:
I used:
Taped the negative to the inside of the accessory ground glass, fixated the lens at the proper distance with tape, used shutter speed, aperture and flash power to get the correct exposure.
Imported the DNG in Photoshop first (totally unnecessary) and finished it off in Lightroom.
The GXR can do 12MP DNG files and has live view with focus enhancement. Wasn't that hard to get the focus right.
I'm thinking about sacrificing an old 6x9 Horseman film cassette, since it can easily take the film size I want to shoot, and has rails that will allow for negatives to be enclosed behind a piece of milk frosted glass that I'd need to get.
The setup is pretty sturdy when set up on the proper tripod head.
Hm. Maybe I should reconsider selling that GXR and get me a Nikkor 55mm Micro...
I got bored tonight and Robs setup wouldn't leave me in peace
so I started looking round the house to see how I could cobble up something from the stuff I have lying about, since I do not fancy having more stuff lying about en am a great fan of re-use, or multi-purpose stuff.At some point I thought of the large format camera's of the 1940's that could also double as an enlarger. And then it hit me and I constructed THIS Son of Frankenstein:
And shot this with it:
I used:
- Horseman 980 Medium Format camera
- Horseman accessory ground glass
- Nikkor AF 28-85mm macro lens
- Kipon Nikkor F -> Leica M adapter
- Ricoh GXR with Mount unit
- LumoPro LP180 flash
- Radio triggers
- TV remote, some rubber bands and tape, white wall to bounce the flash
Taped the negative to the inside of the accessory ground glass, fixated the lens at the proper distance with tape, used shutter speed, aperture and flash power to get the correct exposure.
Imported the DNG in Photoshop first (totally unnecessary) and finished it off in Lightroom.
The GXR can do 12MP DNG files and has live view with focus enhancement. Wasn't that hard to get the focus right.
I'm thinking about sacrificing an old 6x9 Horseman film cassette, since it can easily take the film size I want to shoot, and has rails that will allow for negatives to be enclosed behind a piece of milk frosted glass that I'd need to get.
The setup is pretty sturdy when set up on the proper tripod head.
Hm. Maybe I should reconsider selling that GXR and get me a Nikkor 55mm Micro...
Attachments
crsantin
Established
My camera scanning is done with a Polaroid slide scanner and a separately purchased film holder. The results seem very acceptable with the copier mounted on my D90 and Nikkor 55/3.5 + PK-13 extension tube. I usually point the unit out the window though I sometimes use a flash bounced off a white wall.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polaroid-HD...-Cameras-/201081258349?_trksid=p2054897.l5660
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281418348541?lpid=82
What film is this in your sample? How do you deal with the orange mask of colour negative? Black and white would be a simple inversion but what about colour? Your set-up seems very effective and affordable, I'd like to try it out.
CamB
Member
Not that you asked me, but I deal with orange mask by scanning in raw and using the eye dropper to get a decent white balance (that mostly cures the mask), then making some extra tweaks to individual colour curves.
It works ok - I was reasonably satisfied with the last effort but it's definitely not perfect. Here's the only example I have to hand, which is from APS film in the 90s from a crappy little camera (ie, the scanning isn't entirely to blame). The band at the top is white before inversion and changing the colours!
It works ok - I was reasonably satisfied with the last effort but it's definitely not perfect. Here's the only example I have to hand, which is from APS film in the 90s from a crappy little camera (ie, the scanning isn't entirely to blame). The band at the top is white before inversion and changing the colours!
pbo
Established
To add to CamB's answer, you can also use the eyedropper to set the black point to some point on the film edge since you know it's completely dark, then do some fine tuning with the gray point.
Wenge
Registered User
I found Nex7 best for shooting med. format 6/4.5 film, over a tablet for backlight. Using a pvc pipe cut to the length to jive w/camera lens. Sharpest lens I have for this is the Nikon 55 2.8
crsantin
Established
Not that you asked me, but I deal with orange mask by scanning in raw and using the eye dropper to get a decent white balance (that mostly cures the mask), then making some extra tweaks to individual colour curves.
It works ok - I was reasonably satisfied with the last effort but it's definitely not perfect. Here's the only example I have to hand, which is from APS film in the 90s from a crappy little camera (ie, the scanning isn't entirely to blame). The band at the top is white before inversion and changing the colours!
Ok thanks, it makes sense. I'll give it a try once I have my digital scanning rig set up.
crsantin
Established
What are you using to fix the negative to the tablet to keep it flat? Are you simply taping the edge?
John E Earley
Tuol Sleng S21-0174
That slide is Ektachrome (from about 1970) but I've also copied color and b&w negs and inverted (and color corrected) in PS Elements. Sometimes the color negs come out nice and sometimes not. I'm still working on a standard system. The b&w negs come out great after some adjustments in Elements.
ETA I think I probably need a more consistent light source for best results when camera scanning color negs.
charjohncarter
Veteran
Fernando2
Well-known
Interesting thread!
While I have a few scanners, I'm very interested in DSLR scanning.
I just purchased a Nikon PB-5 + PS-5 kit; I already had a Nikkor 55/2.8.
I plan to attach them to my Canon 5DmkII (with Fotodiox adapter).
My idea is to turn the camera 90° (long side of sensor vs. short side of film) and take 2 shots per 35mm frame, with a 1.5:1 macro reproduction ratio.
This should give me almost 6000 ppi.
I'll then recompose the 2 shots to get the whole frame.
Stay tuned for results and comparisons with dedicated filmscanners.
Fernando
While I have a few scanners, I'm very interested in DSLR scanning.
I just purchased a Nikon PB-5 + PS-5 kit; I already had a Nikkor 55/2.8.
I plan to attach them to my Canon 5DmkII (with Fotodiox adapter).
My idea is to turn the camera 90° (long side of sensor vs. short side of film) and take 2 shots per 35mm frame, with a 1.5:1 macro reproduction ratio.
This should give me almost 6000 ppi.
I'll then recompose the 2 shots to get the whole frame.
Stay tuned for results and comparisons with dedicated filmscanners.
Fernando
Wenge
Registered User
The pvc pipe I'm using has the right inner-diameter (just over 2-1/4") to hold the 6x4.5 film flat on the rig I use. I've been on the road for a while, and when I get a chance I'll post a photo of my rig w/explanation. You can't just set the film directly on the tablet or the pixels on the screen will show through, so I fashioned a rig to rest over the tablet. (Will try to post this in the next few days.)
Mark
Wenge
Registered User
Followup post..using Sony Nex7 to copy 645 b&w film with the 55/2.8 micro-Nikkor ais lens (with Nikon>E Fotodiox adapter).
This rig I came up with consists of a $10 dollar, 2-inch (~5cm) pvc Compression Coupling as the support (see below), along with a tablet for the backlight. (The part is ~8-inch x 4-inch). The rig works great but it's not perfect as a slight edge-crop may be required in post, since the extreme corners are slightly cropped on my older Mamiya 645 1000s exposures..no big deal to me since the file gets most of the 24mpx.
The required part is sold at Home Depot sku# = 363-693 (Nov. 2014) (likely also at other plumbers/hardware stores). Each end of the coupler includes a black rubber grommet/washer under the screw-on caps, while one of the rubber grommets is required for the rig.
To make the rig I unscrew both ends of the coupler, remove both rubber grommets, then glue (w/few drops Super Glue) one rubber grommet back in place into the end of coupler which becomes the main camera support. It also prevents the top-heavy camera from shifting/tipping over, while supporting the camera & lens which fits inside the grommet.
For the backlight I use a Samsung tablet by making an all-white image-file w/paint program and saved into the gallery for the backlight image. I then cover tablet screen with piece of white matte photo paper which diffuses the tablet screen-pixels (or the pixels will resolve through the film). I set tablet screen to "always on" with the brightest setting.
I set the lens to f/5.6 with Nex7 base iso 200, while controling exposure with shutter speed and histogram to even out exposure and avoid clipping.
Focus peaking set to med/yellow is key in combination with the evf to nail focus. After a few practices the procedure becomes intuitive and fast.
The film is placed emulsion-side-up on top of the paper on top of the tablet. It looks dimly-lit at first but with long enough exposure it works fine..again the histogram works great to help pull out the shadow detail by slightly over-exposing right (on a negative).
TO USE IT...Set the film strip onto the paper, emulsion-up, on top of the lit/locked tablet. Then gently set the pvc rig down onto the film, positioning each corner of the image centered while looking down the middle of the pvc pipe. It'll look like it crops the corners more than it actually does..the lens gets most of it. Then while holding the rig with one hand, set camera/lens down into the rubber grommet, nail focus, adjust as needed, and expose with timer.
Once exposure is made I invert the negative in post and adjust levels, curves, exposure as required.
Focus peaking with magnified EVF is key as critical focus is seen through the evf with such touchy focus with this Nikkor 55/2.8
This rig I came up with consists of a $10 dollar, 2-inch (~5cm) pvc Compression Coupling as the support (see below), along with a tablet for the backlight. (The part is ~8-inch x 4-inch). The rig works great but it's not perfect as a slight edge-crop may be required in post, since the extreme corners are slightly cropped on my older Mamiya 645 1000s exposures..no big deal to me since the file gets most of the 24mpx.
The required part is sold at Home Depot sku# = 363-693 (Nov. 2014) (likely also at other plumbers/hardware stores). Each end of the coupler includes a black rubber grommet/washer under the screw-on caps, while one of the rubber grommets is required for the rig.
To make the rig I unscrew both ends of the coupler, remove both rubber grommets, then glue (w/few drops Super Glue) one rubber grommet back in place into the end of coupler which becomes the main camera support. It also prevents the top-heavy camera from shifting/tipping over, while supporting the camera & lens which fits inside the grommet.
For the backlight I use a Samsung tablet by making an all-white image-file w/paint program and saved into the gallery for the backlight image. I then cover tablet screen with piece of white matte photo paper which diffuses the tablet screen-pixels (or the pixels will resolve through the film). I set tablet screen to "always on" with the brightest setting.
I set the lens to f/5.6 with Nex7 base iso 200, while controling exposure with shutter speed and histogram to even out exposure and avoid clipping.
Focus peaking set to med/yellow is key in combination with the evf to nail focus. After a few practices the procedure becomes intuitive and fast.
The film is placed emulsion-side-up on top of the paper on top of the tablet. It looks dimly-lit at first but with long enough exposure it works fine..again the histogram works great to help pull out the shadow detail by slightly over-exposing right (on a negative).
TO USE IT...Set the film strip onto the paper, emulsion-up, on top of the lit/locked tablet. Then gently set the pvc rig down onto the film, positioning each corner of the image centered while looking down the middle of the pvc pipe. It'll look like it crops the corners more than it actually does..the lens gets most of it. Then while holding the rig with one hand, set camera/lens down into the rubber grommet, nail focus, adjust as needed, and expose with timer.
Once exposure is made I invert the negative in post and adjust levels, curves, exposure as required.
Focus peaking with magnified EVF is key as critical focus is seen through the evf with such touchy focus with this Nikkor 55/2.8
Attachments
Wenge
Registered User
sample Nex7, Nikkor 55/2.8
Mamiya 645 1000s; 80/2.8
copy-neg
Mamiya 645 1000s; 80/2.8
copy-neg
Samouraï
Well-known
Would you not see the texture of the light platform through the film? Horizontal setups aren't as clean as this, but they allow control of the everything around the focal plane. Right?
And how does light the light source affect the quality of the reproduction? I'd imagine that a fluorescent bulb or an LED light source wouldn't look as good as a tungsten light source.
ColSebastianMoran
( IRL Richard Karash )
Yes, use the eyedropper… But, I get much better results if I change the illumination before trying the eyedropper. I added green and blue using a color head; then the eyedropper is making less of an adjustment.
Here's a sample, not perfect, but not bad either.
jloden
Established
My camera scanning is done with a Polaroid slide scanner and a separately purchased film holder. The results seem very acceptable with the copier mounted on my D90 and Nikkor 55/3.5 + PK-13 extension tube. I usually point the unit out the window though I sometimes use a flash bounced off a white wall.
Nice to see someone else using that setup! Just yesterday I ordered the same Polaroid duplicator and a 35mm negative holding adapter for it from Amazon. I'm hoping it'll make alignment and setup a little easier than my current Rube Goldberg contraption.
Currently I am using a setup similar to mdarnton's above, but since I didn't have a copy stand handy I'm using a tripod suspended over our dining room table. I use the same kind of cheap video light and a piece of white plastic (from a 3-ring binder divider) as a light table. The results are surprisingly ok considering, but I am looking forward to having a negative carrier that will hopefully avoid light bleed around the edges of the negatives.
A couple samples in color and B&W:
Portra 400 by jloden, on Flickr
Portra 400 by jloden, on Flickr
Ilford HP5+ by jloden, on Flickr
Ilford HP5+ by jloden, on Flickr