Scanning with a digital camera

I have a few Durst and Nikon enlarger lenses...so I guess I would be looking for a 39mm to [digital camera mount] adapter for those?
Click to expand...
If you have an enlarger you may be able to use it as a copy stand..I use my Leica Valoy-2 for this and a BEOON..
Here is the BEOON..
yvpdgnz.jpg

Here is the Valoy..w/copystand attachment..
Casez6o.jpg
 
^^^ Great set-up. I have a Philips 35mm enlarger in the loft that’s currently unused. I’ll dig it out today and see if there’s any way to attach a tripod head.
 
FujiLove said:
Thanks for the tips, all really helpful.

I would be looking to scan 35mm, Xpan and medium format negatives and slide film, mostly with the aim of producing colour prints up to A3 size for the medium format images. Colour only - I’m happy in the darkroom for anything B&W. I currently use a Pakon for 35mm, and a flatbed for medium format and would be looking to replace both. I love the Pakon, but despise the Epson and I’m finding it puts me off shooting colour film in my medium format cameras.
...
Negative conversion would be Lightroom + Nate’s NLP plugin.
Click to expand...

I say, rig up some kind of illumination and give it a try. See if you like it. Seriously, try iPhone and Lightroom CC for your MF negatives.

24MPx Mirrorless body and a macro lens will be a significant step up in resolution vs. 6MPx Pakon and vs flatbed for MF.

A little story with punch-line: After a couple of iterations, I was getting results I was pretty happy with. But then I discovered I could do a lot better. Punch-line: keep experimenting and adjusting, use some constant for comparison, and keep comparing. I have a USAF 1951 test slide for resolution and good films of a Color-checker for color.

One more comment: Resolution is pretty easy (equipment and tangible technique). Color is harder (NLP is a break-through). Among the colors, warm tones and saturated red are toughest from color negatives (have these colors in your comparison sample).

Post some results!
 
ColSebastianMoran said:
I say, rig up some kind of illumination and give it a try. See if you like it. Seriously, try iPhone and Lightroom CC for your MF negatives.

24MPx Mirrorless body and a macro lens will be a significant step up in resolution vs. 6MPx Pakon and vs flatbed for MF.

A little story with punch-line: After a couple of iterations, I was getting results I was pretty happy with. But then I discovered I could do a lot better. Punch-line: keep experimenting and adjusting, use some constant for comparison, and keep comparing. I have a USAF 1951 test slide for resolution and good films of a Color-checker for color.

One more comment: Resolution is pretty easy (equipment and tangible technique). Color is harder (NLP is a break-through). Among the colors, warm tones and saturated red are toughest from color negatives (have these colors in your comparison sample).

Post some results!
Click to expand...

Thanks again for the info. Going to start gathering the bits and pieces I need. Just one last question (for now!)... there’s quite a price difference between the used 16MP and 24MP cameras. Around triple the price when I’ve been looking at Fuji X E1 vs E3 for instance. I presume two 16MP shots stitched in Photoshop will be the same (or better) than one 24MP shot, or am I missing something? I realise that will add an extra couple of steps of work.
 
FujiLove said:
... there’s quite a price difference between the used 16MP and 24MP cameras. Around triple the price when I’ve been looking at Fuji X E1 vs E3 for instance. I presume two 16MP shots stitched in Photoshop will be the same (pr better) than one 24MP shot, or am I missing something? I realise that will add an extra couple of steps of work.
Click to expand...

Sure, that works. Just the extra work as you noted.
 
Camera-scan friends -

What are you doing when your camera-scan produces too much detail, when the grain shows too much? Comparing some of my camera-scans to lab scans (from mid 2000's), I like their smoothness better than what I'm getting today, especially for skies and faces.

Do you smooth, and how? ... in Lightroom? ... in PS?

Example: 1:1 from 6MPx lab-scan in 2002, 1:2 of 24MPx camera-scan today. From a 2002 slide.

020600-Tuscany-Box2-01-LabScan-vs-CameraScan-C.png
 
I use an old Sony NEX-5T (+Leica BEOON, EL-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 enlarging lens). One advantage I can think of over a comparable Fuji X series APS-C camera is the tilting screen. For longer digitizing sessions, it's nice not having to crane my neck to look straight down at the LCD screen.

My NEX-5T is 16MP, and I lose a little bit of resolution because it doesn't fill the entire frame. If you need/want more resolution, you can substitute for a newer Sony axxxx. I think the latest and greatest a6500 is 24MP. So far, 16MP has been sufficient for my needs, digitizing 135 and 120 (stitched) up to 6x7. Most of the black and white photos on my Flickr are digitized with the NEX-5T setup, so you can judge for yourself the results. With the exception of some bleached FP-100c peel-apart negatives, most of my film digitizing is with black & white film. Thus far, I've been sending color film to a lab for processing and scanning. However, I'm considering taking everything including developing "in-house", and using Negative Lab Pro for the conversions.
 
dourbalistar said:
I use an old Sony NEX-5T (+Leica BEOON, EL-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 enlarging lens). One advantage I can think of over a comparable Fuji X series APS-C camera is the tilting screen. ...
If you need/want more resolution, you can substitute for a newer Sony axxxx. I think the latest and greatest a6500 is 24MP. ...
Click to expand...

NEX-5T is great.

If you want more resolution, the Sony A6000 is, I think, a sweet spot for camera-scan: 24MPx, Focus peaking and Focus Magnifier, tilt screen. And, now down in price a good bit.
 
ColSebastianMoran said:
NEX-5T is great.

If you want more resolution, the Sony A6000 is, I think, a sweet spot for camera-scan: 24MPx, Focus peaking and Focus Magnifier, tilt screen. And, now down in price a good bit.
Click to expand...

It was the first "serious" camera I bought when I first started learning photography. When I made the transition to film, I built a digitizing setup up around the NEX-5T because I already had it. 😀
 
ColSebastianMoran said:
Camera-scan friends -

What are you doing when your camera-scan produces too much detail, when the grain shows too much? Comparing some of my camera-scans to lab scans (from mid 2000's), I like their smoothness better than what I'm getting today, especially for skies and faces.
Click to expand...

Solution in LR:
- Reduce capture sharpening, start at zero
- Add luminance noise reduction, and increase color noise reduction
- Start with Clarity at zero

Now, the grain is less visible, images less gritty, more like the scans for 2000's.

And, FWIW, opened up mount from one of the slides of this set. Film is Kodak EL-2, probably Elitechrome 400, probably has more grain than a slower film.
 
Found a nice refurbished 'as-new' Sony A7 with full warranty, so decided to go the whole full-frame hog with that one. I have an M39 adapter on its way so I can try out my enlarger lenses.

I'll be using my old iPad as a lightbox to begin with. I've heard the newer iPads make perfect light sources due to their discreet RGB wide gamut output, but the older ones are not so good. I'll see how I get on before spending more money on a lightpad. Any thoughts on that?

Now need to go and scrabble around in the loft and find my old 35mm enlarger to use as a copy stand!



dourbalistar said:
I use an old Sony NEX-5T (+Leica BEOON, EL-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 enlarging lens). One advantage I can think of over a comparable Fuji X series APS-C camera is the tilting screen. For longer digitizing sessions, it's nice not having to crane my neck to look straight down at the LCD screen.

My NEX-5T is 16MP, and I lose a little bit of resolution because it doesn't fill the entire frame. If you need/want more resolution, you can substitute for a newer Sony axxxx. I think the latest and greatest a6500 is 24MP. So far, 16MP has been sufficient for my needs, digitizing 135 and 120 (stitched) up to 6x7. Most of the black and white photos on my Flickr are digitized with the NEX-5T setup, so you can judge for yourself the results. With the exception of some bleached FP-100c peel-apart negatives, most of my film digitizing is with black & white film. Thus far, I've been sending color film to a lab for processing and scanning. However, I'm considering taking everything including developing "in-house", and using Negative Lab Pro for the conversions.
Click to expand...
 
FujiLove said:
Found a nice refurbished 'as-new' Sony A7 with full warranty, so decided to go the whole full-frame hog with that one. I have an M39 adapter on its way so I can try out my enlarger lenses.

I'll be using my old iPad as a lightbox to begin with. I've heard the newer iPads make perfect light sources due to their discreet RGB wide gamut output, but the older ones are not so good. ...
Click to expand...

Congrats. A7 and A6000 are my go-to's for this.

Hearing exactly that point, I tested the new iPhone 7 screen and it surprisingly turned out better than other light sources for cam-scan of negatives with NLP. (Other quality sources were quite good too.) I have never seen any test with earlier iPhone/iPad.
 
ColSebastianMoran said:
Congrats. A7 and A6000 are my go-to's for this.

Hearing exactly that point, I tested the new iPhone 7 screen and it surprisingly turned out better than other light sources for cam-scan of negatives with NLP. (Other quality sources were quite good too.) I have never seen any test with earlier iPhone/iPad.
Click to expand...


Just FYI, I picked up those snippets of info about the iPad light source on Nate's NLP forum: https://forums.negativelabpro.com/


The light source info is here: https://forums.negativelabpro.com/t/suggested-backlight-sources-for-scanning-film-with-dslr/130
 
Stiching may introduce artifacts. When I tried it for film pano shots I would notice that a tiny difference in the evenness of your light source could create what looks like seams in the stich.
 
Just getting to grips with the A7. So far really impressed with the handling and features.

I’ve mounted an old LTM lens using a M39 adapter and all’s good. What’s not so good is I can’t figure out the best way to get my enlarger lenses working as macro lenses. They mount fine using the Fotodiox adapter, but obviously won’t focus. Should I be mounting them on top of a focussing helicoid (A7 > adapter > helicoid > lens) for macro work, or will I need bellows? The lenses are 50mm and 80mm.
 
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