I’m considering investing in either the Epson V850 or going with a mirrorless film scanning process. Since I’ll be shooting family portraits and wedding photography, the mirrorless setup seems more efficient. However, for the highest resolution and DPI, I’m debating whether to stick with this plan. I currently have a Sony A7CII but would also need to purchase a macro lens, and I’m torn between the Sigma 105mm or 70mm. That said, both lenses are over $500, so if there are any cheaper alternatives that still provide excellent image quality and a clean look, I’d love to consider those as well.
I’ll be shooting mostly 120 film, with some 35mm. I’ve also heard that getting an adapter for other cheaper lenses could obviously be a more affordable option, but I’m wondering if the image quality would stay consistent compared to newer lenses like the Sigma macros.
The lens options I’m considering to name a few:
Minolta AF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Sigma 105mm or 70mm
Sony 50mm F2.8 macro
Using an adapter to get other lenses, like Canon or Nikon
I’ll also be getting the Negative Supply Basic Riser Mini MK2 - Basic Copy Stand for the setup.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
What prompted you to suggest the Laowa lenses over Sigma? I see that they’re around $450 used, which is slightly cheaper than the Sigma 105mm, but aside from cost, I’m curious—what stands out about these lenses compared to the others? Do they offer any unique advantages in terms of image quality, build, or ease of use for film scanning?
Your 33MP full frame Sony should produce excellent results on 35mm with the right lens. Photographing 35mm is the most challenging in terms of the lens that you choose, and the rest of your setup actually. I’d be concerned about that Basic Riser copy stand personally and with any stand you want to be sure that it is tall enough to work with the focal length of the lens and the film format, 100mm plus might be pushing it.
Are you intending to scan all the frames that you take, possibly before the rolls are cut into strips, or simply to scan selected frames and get lab scans when the films are processed?
With 120 will it be 6x6 or 645/6x7? With 6x6 of course you need to crop so a maximum of 4672 x 4672 pixels. The V850 could handle that but would be slower, it won’t be able to compete in terms of 35mm though, potentially you’ll get much better results from your camera.
Here’s a link to a comparison test for the 70mm Sigma ART on a 30MP Full Frame Canon. That lens gets a lot of recommendations and the focal length might suit your setup better than 100/105mm.
Sorry, just trying to understand better. Are you referring to the SIGMA 70mm F/2.8 DG Macro Art (Sony E-Mount), or are you suggesting the Canon version and using an adapter for it?
Thanks, that’s a serious commitment then. 645 gives you more megapixels than 6x6 though you still lose some megapixels compared to 35mm. Have you thought about a film holder for both 645 and 35mm? It needs to be able to deal easily with uncut film.
I was planning on getting Negative Supply Basic Film Carrier 120 MK2 for Medium Format Film Scanning or Valoi film holder for 120mm and 35mm with an affordable light source (anything above cri 90). Let me know what you think
I don’t have experience of either I’m afraid but I noticed that you didn’t have a holder on your list. Valoi seem to have a good following but hopefully others can recommend from experience.
With all due respect, review the previous threads on this forum. The question has been answered 10 000 times already. It looks like you are going to do shooting professionally. So money per se, the cost of lens which very reasonable US$500 should not be an issue. You should be only concerned about quality and efficiency. As people pointed out Sigma macro lens with native Sony mount will serve you the best in both terms.
They have good reports from several sites that test lenses seriously, and the 100mm has a tripod clamp (if you order it) that can help to increase the stability of a scanning rig. Camera bodies aren’t that stiff and attaching the lens instead of the camera helps to reduce elasticity and vibration.
If you look at the last few posts in this thread you can download excellent scans from the Laowa 65mm f2.8 Macro, top end results for APS-C with Vlad’s Test Target. Certainly worth considering, manual focus instead of AF for the Sigma.
you can get an old 645 film lens and adapt it, I’m shooting a Fuji GFX and an old adapted mamiya macro lens and it knocks my Canon EF 100mm macro out of the park.
If you are on a budget, consider using a reverse mount lens, You might already have a 50 or 60 mm, though the best choice would be a manual focus and manual aperature. Any brand will work with any camera. Reverse mount rings are <$20. I have a Sony A7r3 and have tried many lenses. In reverse mount, wide lens have more magnification and telephotos less. I’m currently using a Venus Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra-Macro Lens for Sony FE and it is excellent. My curent needs include scanning 16 & 8mm movie film. The lens is great but it is too strong to use in the field, I’m scanning old film. I’ve used macro lenses at 90-120mm and they are very useful for both scanning film and people or close focusing.
The only other note here is that scanners IMO, are unbearably slow even if your software allows it to scan multiple frames and save them separately. Scanners all lie about their resolution, scan at native resolution because they upres with old software. Use todays AI to upres, it’s much better.
PS. Another choice is extension tubes. I have some inexpensive, automatic extensions for Sony, so you can use any lens you already have. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N0QZLNJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1