Slide duplicator

[freelance]

I am copying some old slides, positive and negatives with a scanner, but the

results are not good. I would like to buy a slide duplicator manual focus. I

have adapters for eos to nikon manual focus and ef-fd adapters without glass

(magnifies). What could be better, a canon Fd or a nikon manual slide

duplicator?. Is there any model to adapt to an eos without a bellows, directly

to the adapter, I mean to the camera + adapter ?

 

Am I asking something strange or impossible?

[freelance]

I imagine that a Nikon would be better as the slide is going to be cropped by a 40D. I think I would need a FF to get the whole slide too. I think a photo professional scanner (4000 dpi) would be the solution.

[les_gyug1]

If you are thinking of some of those old "Spiratone"-type slide duplicator tubes that mostly came with t-mounts, then think no further. The results will not be better than a slide scanner. In fact they will be much worse. The optics of all those cheap old beasts were truly awful. You can probably pick them up easily (and really cheaply) from anyone who has one. Scanners that have 4000 dpi seem to have dropped incredibly in price in the last few years, and dedicated film/slide scanners with even higher dpi are not that expensive anymore either. Probably the most important thing is to get the digital retouching (anti-dust spot) software.

 

You could try projecting the image with a slide projector, and then using any digital camera on a tripod. I don't know how that would turn out by comparison (probably not as good as a 4000 dpi scanner).

[freelance]

Thank you very much, Les!

 

I am sure now that I have to go for the scanner

[frankz]

I've done a bit of the duplication in years past with a Canon Autobellows and the attachment for the end specifically for copying slides. I always ran into a contrast problem that had to be fixed by first shooting a grey card at a known brightness to cut the film's contrast then shooting the slide. I can't imagine how doing the same with a digital camera will be too much different.

 

 

Stick with your scanner - the few slides I've scanned came out a lot better than the copied ones of years ago.

[mendel_leisk]

You don't mention what scanner you have, so assuming it is a flatbed with scanner attachment, a dedicated film scanner would be a big improvement. The Nikon Coolscan V (or 5000 if you can afford it) are almost the only choices now. The V will deliver virtually the same quality as the 500, though a little slower, and without the capapability to batch process large qty's of slides.

 

BTW, a camera with a crop factor such as the 40D would not be hampered in any way, copying slides. You are still just taking a photograph of something, the sensor size is immaterial.

[freelance]

Thanks for your opinions.

 

I am using normal office scanners with devices for films, not a dedicated film scanner. I'll have a look at the Nikon Coolscan. In relation with the crop sensor I thought that the duplicators in a crop camera cropped the slide at the size of the sensor. Anyway, if the quality is bad, the scan option is the best one.

[PuppyDigs]

I agree, a real dedicated film scanner is impossible to beat. Most flatbeds are a cruel joke. I've

tried to dup a few slides with an old T-mount slide doodad on my 5D and the results were

poor to terrible. It was quick but almost useless. I have an old Canon FS4000US and the

4000dpi scans make my T-mount and flatbed scans look silly. Yes, every scan needs to be

tweaked, but once you get a good workflow it's only a couple minutes per slide/neg. I really

like the SilverFast plugins.

[mendel_leisk]

"I thought that the duplicators in a crop camera cropped the slide at the size of the sensor"

 

That might be. The duplicator might be designed for full frame. I hadn't thought it through that well.

[JDMvW]

I just want to second Les on the Spiratone type scanners. I bought one for my little Spiratone collection, but it's of no use for copying slides, and frankly, I don't think that the bellows + various apparatus would be enormously better. A good 4000dpi and up scanner for film is advised, and don't forget to look at how long it takes to make such a scan. Some of the cheaper scanners do a fine job, if you have lots of time and only scan in a few pictures. They can be hell, though, if you are doing 100s or even 1000s of slides, negatives, etc.