5Dii with Nikon PB-4/PS-4 as a filmscanner

<p>Here are some results of experiments using a Canon 5Dii with a Nikon PB-4 bellows and PS-4 slide copying adapter as a film scanner for 35mm slides (<a href="http://abdallah.hiof.no/pb-4/">http://abdallah.hiof.no/pb-4/</a> ) and Minox 8x11mm negative film (<a href="http://abdallah.hiof.no/minox/20090427-minox-scan/">http://abdallah.hiof.no/minox/20090427-minox-scan/</a> )<br>

- Børre Ludvigsen</p>

<p>Thanks for showing these. I've not done it yet as I don't have a newer full frame DSLR or the bellows setup, but I've been looking for bellows + slide adapters for a good price. Prepping for the future when decent negative scanners are no longer made. I'm sure at that point I'll have a decent DSLR and I'll be all set.</p>

<p>Sure. The bellows don't have to be Nikon's top-of-the-line, but a slide copy adapter is very helpful. Nor do I believe that a full frame DSLR is necessary. The point is that with a decent lens and adequate magnification, both slides and negatives can be digitized in a practicable and satisfactory manner when faced with the drudgery of a flat-bed or film scanner. In fact it's perfectly possible to make a fixed slide copying setup with some sold cardboard tubing, black matt painted on the inside using plastic lens- and body caps with large enough holes glued to either end. A cannibalized sun shade, filter ring or reversal ring could be used to mount a tube with a slide or negative holder at the right distance from the front element of a good 50mm lens which would handle the fine focus adjustment. Takes a bit of deft scalpel work, ensuring parallel planes and 2-component glue, but perfectly doable and very low cost.<br>

- Børre</p>

<p>In my experience of scanning negatives, even a negative completely fresh from processing cannot be scanned at an adequate level of quality without having an IR channel available as the basis for the removal of flaws. That's the one facility on even rather basic film scanners that is missing if you use a slide copier and camera body setup to do the job.</p>

<p>In the past the question about a DSLR as a scanner was always answered with "forget it".</p>

But today DSLRs like a Canon 5D Mark2 offer a very high resolution, practically no noise and a lot of speed.<br /> <br /> So, it's time for an update, and thanks to Børre this question was opened again. <br /> <br /> Børre, did you (or someone else here) try to capture a 35mm black-and-white negative as a RAW file? Could you do that and show us the result? I am very curious to see that and believe that, perhaps, a dedicated top-notch macro lens might even render better results.

<br />

I might be tempted to sell my Imacon scanner afterwards 8-)<br />

<p>There is now a directory: <a href="http://abdallah.hiof.no/pb-4/canon_raw/ ">http://abdallah.hiof.no/pb-4/canon_raw/</a> which contains a sampling of Canon RAW images of digitized 125PX negatives.<br>

- Børre</p>

<p>Those negatives are pretty scruffy with all the streaking and dust, but it's the scanning method we're discussing. So for comparison, here is <a href="http://abdallah.hiof.no/2008-florence/html/20080918_171536.html">http://abdallah.hiof.no/2008-florence/html/20080918_171536.html</a> sample straight out of an M8 using a 40/2.0 C.<br>

- Børre</p>

<p>Børre, thanks a lot, that is quite impressive. I think I will talk to my camera dealer and ask him for a live test with my negatives and see how much I can tweak the results. Most of my negatives are Tri-X and Tmax 100, two very different tasks.</p>