Darren Addy wrote: > We have a web project at work that involves digitizing some 35mm > slides. > I have an Epson Perfection V600 Photo which could do the job, but I > decided to snag a Pentax Bellows II and slide attachment off of eBay > and hope to do the job with my K-3. > > By my calculations, the K-3 should give the equivalent of a 3840 dpi > scan. I've got an off-camera flash attachment, for illumination so I'm > hoping that once I get the bellows and lens combo set up correctly that > I won't have to move anything... just feed the slides in and out. > The old Bellows II is an m42 but I've seen people using them with > modern K-mount DSLRs, so I'm assuming it is possible. > > Those of you that have been down this road, any words of wisdom or > "gotchas" to look out for? Or are there other advantages to using the > scanner (like automatic dust removal, maybe?) that might convince me to > feed the scanner instead of this setup? > -- > Life is too short to put up with bad bokeh.
A subject I am all too involved with is scanning slides and trying to find different ways to do so. I've come to the conclusion that there are no shortcuts, and I also use an Epson V600 which does an excellent job. It, as you know, only scans 4 slides at a time and I believe the V850 does 12. That, in hindsight would have been quicker, but I found the V600 at a super price. I've also got a Nikon Coolscan IV, but the results aren't any better than the V600, and it will take you as long to scan 1 slide. What else? I've tried the tripod set up over a lightbox with a K3, and not been over impressed. I've tried the bellows set with the slide attachment and extension tubes and then you have light issues, or have difficulty getting all of the frame of the slide in focus (but OK for parts of a slide - like a pre-computer crop). I've had remote diffused flash guns set up behind the slide to get the right light exposure - but it will drive you nuts. The only in camera way I've found works is to use a full frame camera; Nikon do two lenses I think which are suitable a 58mm and (the one I've used) a 60mm macro with the ES-1 slide carrier attached. Better results, but there are still focus and light issues to get consistent images you will be happy with. You know where this is going.... Use the scanner! Malcolm -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
