Advice on this DSLR scanning setup

Digital Camera Scanning
1

Yo, I’m new to DSLR scanning and just finished buying everything I thought I would need to get started, however I just watched Ribsy’s new video interviewing Nate and they mentioned the issues that come from scanning with vintage lens and extension tubes which as it happens, is exactly what I bought.

Right now I have :

GH5
Essential Film Holder
Canon FD Macro 50mm f/3.5
Canon Extension Tube FD25-U
SUPON L122T Light Panel

Does anyone have any experience with something similar? Will I still be able to get consistent results with this setup or should I really consider buying a newer macro lens?

Appreciate any help!

2

My best advice:

  • Read the guide!
  • Take your gear, set up your rig, start taking a few shots of negatives and see how they convert and if you like the results.
  • Then post your questions, together with image(s) for illustration, so that we might be able to help.

Maybe your gear does what you want in a good way. No need for further investments then - and you can start working on refining your skills.

This forum contains a lot of information on how folks work and what gear they use. I’d put my focus on how they work, more than on gear.

3

Will do, I’ll do some testing and come back with the results. Thank You!

4

I haven’t used an extension tube setup but have been testing some backlights. Will post them in a few days. One suggestion is before taking shots of negatives or trying to fix some odd lighting problem with them - focus on a negative, remove it (manual focus, leave it focused there) and then take shots of just your backlight. Find the exposure you’ll need and in particular if the backlight (and combination of the lens etc) gives you a nice flat light.
If the panel is dimmable, the LEDs are probably modulated and this can show up at faster shutter speeds. Try different exposure speeds to find when/where banding shows up, if at all. My ArtoGraph (which is only meant as a tracing tablet anyway) shows bands at 1/60.
Andy

5

I’m using a fairly new Tamron macro. With extension tubes it shows a bit more vignetting than I’d like so I suggest that you frame the negs a bit loose to allow a crop back to the evenly illuminated image.

6

Or try to shoot without the extension tubes if you have a macro lens. Try most of the combinations that make sense and pick the best.