Hi folks,
I’ve been digitally scanning some old pictures as a personal hobby, thus I’m looking for less than $300 lens maybe a bit more if quality is much more improved. I’ve been using Rodenstock Rodagon enlarger lens mounted in reverse that gives me pretty good scan in combination with the Skier box. However this setup is very difficult to replicate consistently once I removes the camera. Obviously I use the camera for personal photo and video rather than scanning.
Thus I’m looking for an auto or manual focused macro lens that is set and forget, I can remove the lens and come back to it pretty easily and get consistently good scan results.
I’ve read the suggestions here, most are for Sony full frames and I’m reading that there would be issue with magnification if I use, e.g. FE 50 mm F2.8 Macro or Sigma 70mm F2.8 DG Macro, as both of these lenses are very good but they are full frame lenses could cause issues used in A6400 for scanning. Other than these two, what would be the recommended lenses for Sony APS-C? For example Sony E 30 mm F3.5 Macro is hardly mentioned, this is under $300 new, is this macro lens really bad for the purpose of scanning?
There’s exactly one other thread asking this question last year. Also from reading other threads, it seems longer focal is preferred, I guess that’s the reason the Sony 30mm Macro is not on the list.
Thanks beforehand.
I’d not consider the 30mm sony lens due to what I can read here:
https://opticallimits.com/sony-alpha-aps-c-lens-tests/719-sony30f35nex?start=1
The only other macro lens opticallimits tested an a APS-C E-mount Sony is the >300 USD 90mm lens, which seems to be one of the best lenses you can get… You might want to check out one of the manual lenses from China. Check out this site for ideas:
Thank you for your quick response and the link. I’ve checked that out, it sounds like the 7Artisans macro fits my bill. Although I might be increasing my budget, specifically thinking about the Sony FE 50 mm F2.8 Macro since this is a light lens that can double as portrait prime on the A6400. Currently new this is just a little over 500 at BestBuy and used a little over USD 400 on ebay.
Any idea how bad this full frame lens is gonna be fitted into a crop factor camera? If the cropping/magnification is not a problem for DSLR scanning, this is what I might get.
I shoot with a Canon 80D it’s not full frame ether. and use a Tamron 90mm 2.8 macro that is a great lens. I bought it on eBay for $200 It’s sharp, and allows the camera to be a comfortable distance from the neg or slide. It’s auto and manual focus. Not sure if it’s made for Sony but if so I would check it out. The 90 mm works great for portraits. It’s an all around good lens.
I don’t think you need to worry about using an FX lens on a DX camera body. The field of view is reduced i.e, the frame is cropped to mimic what a longer lens would ‘see’ - so your 50mm becomes equivalent to a 100mm. This means only the more highly corrected central area of the lens is used in capturing the image so if anything performance is enhanced. Also you get the benefit of a longer working distance.
I have the same issue, I want to setup my film scanning system. I just want to use Sony a6000 aps-c. But don’t know what is the optimized lens for it.
I have 3 possible options:
- Zeiss Touit 50mm F/2.8 Makro for Sony Aps-c
(That will be 80mm focus length)
Pros: With this option I will have autofocus lens which probably solves the focusing issue.
Possible Cons: With 1:1 magnificence I need more working distance for scanning? Dose the 80mm focus length long enough to make the film scanning without distortion in comparison with the optimized 100mm?
- Laowa 65mm F/2.8 Macro for Sony Aps-c
(That will be mostly perfect focus length 97.5mm for Macro)
Pros: it has 2:1 magnificence so that helps in fitting full frame film to Aps-c sensor.
Cons: I have to adjust the focus in each beginning of the scanning. Possible lower quality than the ZEISS lens?
Or
Sony 90mm F/2.8 Macro (although some said it would be better an aps-c lens for aps-c camera)
Pros: use the crop center that gives sharper result?
Cons: I don’t have Sony full frame camera so I cannot enjoy the full function of this lens.
I don’t consider 7artisam 60mm since it doesn’t have autofocus and Laowa 65mm have a little bit more focus length with the same price.
Please help me to decide. I want the optimized condition theoretically without considering the cost of those lenses
Many thanks
Hi there, welcome to the forum. Bear in mind that with APS-C you are not looking for a lens that will go to 1:1 in order to cover a 35mm negative or transparency, the Sony APS-C sensor is 23.5 x 15.6 mm so the ratio is actually 15.6:24, so around 1:1.5, less magnification in other words. I’m not sure that you need worry about getting close to 100mm (35mm equivalent) in terms of focal length but certainly there are good Macro lenses from 55mm to 90mm that will perform well on APS-C. The relatively inexpensive 55mm Micro-Nikkor f2.8 works well but if you need AF then the Sigma ART 70mm f2.8 Macro is very well thought of. The actual visible difference between the results of those two lenses on APS-C will be negligible on 24MP in my opinion, or to put it another way if you had 50MP and above on full frame then your choice of lenses would need to be much more considered, though the Sigma would still be on the short list.
Sorry, my Reply above.
Thank you very much for the fast reply. Very appreciated.
Now I understand that I need less magnificence rather than 1:1. So, that means, I might need a little bit more working distance if I use 1:1 Macro lens light Zeiss Touit 50mm F/2.8 (the closest free working distance is 5cm which is good for me to set up the system, in other words, more than 5cm to make it less than 1:1 to fit the APS-C sensor, right?)
So you mean I can use neither 55mm Micro-Nikkor f2.8 (with adapter to E mount) will work on my Sony a6000? That’s great, it would be quite a saving.
Also please note that the 55mm Micro-Nikkor is designed to be used with extension tubes for higher magnifications, this meant that for full 1:1 it needed the PK-13 27.5mm extension tube but on APS-C you’ll still need a short extension tube to photograph a 35mm frame, around 12-14mm will do it. It doesn’t have to be Nikon but the Nikon PK-12 would be fine although you won’t be using the Auto exposure coupling.
I don’t know anything about your Zeiss lens I’m afraid.
I should probably also point out that with a manual lens like this it is easier to focus if you can set the focus on the lens first so that you fill the frame with your subject but then move the camera and lens together to establish fine focus using a macro focusing rail, like a Nisi NM-180 perhaps.