Dear swarm-intelligence,
I was hoping to get some advice from you on the following topic:
Recently I got a hold of a very nice/cute Agfa Optima 1535 in perfect working condition. It is the first 35mm camera that I genuinely bought (put aside the ones I “inherited” or found or what not…) as my plan was to get a tiny-tiny camera with a pleasing quality for everyday use for around 50€. I was very happy that the first 2 testrolls I shot through didn’t disappoint me at all! It’s a great camera and I’m very happy with the results.
I want to use the camera exclusively for b&w and my goal is to also start developing at home. The test rolls were developed by my local lab. It was 1 HP+ (shot at 200/ dev. Ilfotec) and 1 APX100 (shot at box speed/dev. Rodinal).
So now to my questions:
I digitized them with my Fuji XH-1/Canon FD 50mm Macro/copy stand setup that I use for my medium format process. I’m not a big fan of this particular process, as my apartment is super small and I have to set everything up and stow away after done using. So ultimately I think I want to get rid of “dsrl” scanning (especially for mf). But please discard the medium format for now…
So for 35mm I thought about how to optimize my setup and get the most IQ out of the negatives and have a more convenient/economical output… my two ideas were: let’s either get the Plustek 8200i or try it with a Slide Duplicator (NIKON ES-2, KAISER).
I’ve read and seen good things from the Plustek, but I’m aware that it’ll take more time. The question here I guess is: Will the bump in IQ justify the time/money spent on this machine vs. my existing setup???
And for the slide copier I’m a bit unsure… in a way it seems to be super easy, but I haven’t figured yet out what will work for APS-C and if it’s the best solution for me. Maybe some of you are using a slide copier on an APS-C camera and can recommend either of the two? Apparently it’s better to use a full-frame camera with some of them for 1:1 reproduction – at least that’s what I read for the older ones on ebay and such. Also: Would I need extension rings for my 50mm macro to get closer?!?
Because they might get compressed here…I’ve also put 4 frames of each roll in my dropbox for you to judge (full size jpgs). They were converted with NLP (LAB – Shadow Hard) and some minor adjustments for shadows/hightlights.
I’d really appreciate your feedback on my thoughts/questions.
Thx in advance,
Marcus