I’m still experimenting with my scanning setup. Vertical setups have an advantage in that the film can be put flat on the table, vs, the horizontal setup that has it’s advantages in other areas.
Currently testing this setup that is configured for best stability:
- Column (and baseboard) of a Fujimoto “Lucky” enlarger for 6x9 and smaller
- Shim to align the Novoflex rail (3.) Alignment done with a mirror.
- Novoflex rail with Arca clamp slider
- EOS R7 in a Tilta full cage that locks into the strap lugs of the camera for improved rigidity and a non-extending, fully manual 7 Artisan 60mm macro lens model II.
- Kaiser plano light panel
Thanks to the low position of the camera and the full cage, the rig is almost perfectly rigid. The position of the camera is for 1:1 reproduction, for 35 format negatives, the camera is at about halfway up the rail. the shim is a piece of cardboard plus some adhesive tape to hold the shim on the rail. With a setup that is so short, one could DIY something with a baseboard and some right angle brackets holding the rail. BTW, a rail with a spindle would really be useful, but Novoflex wants 650 Euros, which is a lot if we don’t take into account that it is sturdy, precise and built in Europe. For the moment, I’ll have to tighten the lock screw (the blue knob) very firmly to prevent the carriage from creeping downwards.
The full cage makes a real difference in stability, Attaching to the camera in three places helps to overcome the elasticity of the camera body attached by a single srew. Also, the orientation of the arca swiss mount is horizontal. This prevents the camera of slipping out of the rail carrier when the camera needs to be taken out.
If the big holder is in its lowest position as shown and with the camera in the lowes and highest position of the Novoflex, I get imaging ratios as shown in the screen capture below.
At 1:1, the lens is sharp at both f/2.8 and f/8, corners are at about 84% of center brightness.
At 1:3, f/2.8 looks a bit softer than with f/8 and corners are at about 96% of center brightness.
Test object: “Emulsion side” of a 50+ years old plastic “Geodreieck” as used in schools of the time.
The lens has simple pincushion distortion at macro distances. Manually correctable in Lightroom.