granolablimp
Member
There is many camera scanning threads here, but many of them no longer have pictures which is quite unfortunate. I myself have been slowing assembling a setup to digitze slides, and now that I'm back into film I figure I could save some developing costs by making my own digital files. I did try out an epson v550 and the results were quite low quality. Anyhow, considering I have an extensive lens and macro extension ring collection I decided to rig up something with my micro four thirds camera. I figure a little more work will give me 16 MP scans vs <4 MP from the epson, with also the ability to stitch even higher.
I purchased a light table and mounted my camera over it on a tripod with some extension tubes. I did much experimenting with combinations of lenses and tubes. My main issue was that once I went past about macro magnification, the lens had to be placed very close to the subject. I'm currently working with a 40mm equivalent lens, which stopped down to about f/11 gave me the sharpest frame edges out of all the lens I tested. Adding onto the close focusing thing, because the focus distance is so damn close i have to take 2 photos of each slide, which slows me down. All said and done, the results that come out are quite good.
I just need a more efficient way to stitch. If I have to go through the effort of stitching, I want to end up with as high resolution as possible. Currently, I put the slide sideways, and imagine a square in the middle being the final result. I do this to avoid the extreme corners of the lens, which of course are slightly less sharp. This is easy to do for one slide, but I need some kind of guide because it takes much too long to place the slide in the right spot.
Dust was a problem, but that was easily remedied with an air blower. But my problem was hairs. They are static attached to the film strip. I have a anti static brush that I use for vinyl that I think would be appropriate to brush the hairs off.
Other than the issue with framing, I need some way to mask off the silver parts of my camera. Maybe my light table is set too bright, but I get some reflections visible on the slides. I am photographing the shiny side, which I assume is correct? Anyways, I was thinking of cutting a piece of black paper with a hole just where the front lens element is, to block the light reflecting off the shiny parts of my camera.
Here are a few photos of my setup, as well as a result I was able to get. I just need a bit of input on ironing out these last few issues. appreciate any input and apologies for another wall of text.
I purchased a light table and mounted my camera over it on a tripod with some extension tubes. I did much experimenting with combinations of lenses and tubes. My main issue was that once I went past about macro magnification, the lens had to be placed very close to the subject. I'm currently working with a 40mm equivalent lens, which stopped down to about f/11 gave me the sharpest frame edges out of all the lens I tested. Adding onto the close focusing thing, because the focus distance is so damn close i have to take 2 photos of each slide, which slows me down. All said and done, the results that come out are quite good.
I just need a more efficient way to stitch. If I have to go through the effort of stitching, I want to end up with as high resolution as possible. Currently, I put the slide sideways, and imagine a square in the middle being the final result. I do this to avoid the extreme corners of the lens, which of course are slightly less sharp. This is easy to do for one slide, but I need some kind of guide because it takes much too long to place the slide in the right spot.
Dust was a problem, but that was easily remedied with an air blower. But my problem was hairs. They are static attached to the film strip. I have a anti static brush that I use for vinyl that I think would be appropriate to brush the hairs off.
Other than the issue with framing, I need some way to mask off the silver parts of my camera. Maybe my light table is set too bright, but I get some reflections visible on the slides. I am photographing the shiny side, which I assume is correct? Anyways, I was thinking of cutting a piece of black paper with a hole just where the front lens element is, to block the light reflecting off the shiny parts of my camera.
Here are a few photos of my setup, as well as a result I was able to get. I just need a bit of input on ironing out these last few issues. appreciate any input and apologies for another wall of text.