35mm SLIDE COPYING WITH THE DIGILUX 2

[foz405]

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I'm pretty new at this, but I believe it is possible to make good copies of my 35mm slides using a lightbox, a frame to hold the camera, and a close-up lens (with a step-up adaptor to use a 77mm lens).

I have rather limited financial resources and don't want to go out and buy all sorts of lenses and experiment if someone already knows how. Obviously my frame will need to be a specific height (which I can make), and since I'm shooting RAW, I can tweak the colour balance and so forth through Photoshop as required. In any case, many of my slides go back to the bad days of Agfa and Anscochrome and will need major work. Only the Kodachrome ones are any good, which fortunately is the bulk.

I digress.

Can anyone help me get started please ? I'd be very grateful.

 

PS I'm so new at this, I have yet to take delivery of my Digilux 2 which I bought only a couple of days ago. Prior to that I had a Contax G2 kit.

 

Foz

[lesh]

You might want to look out for one of the D2's predecessors, the Digilux Zoom (year 2000) - this model was offered with an accessory from Leica to hold the camera and slides for duplication. Could be that you'd find both in the usual online marketplaces, and it should be a low cost solution.

However....the camera is now showing it's age a bit with only 1.3MP. In my experience the results were not particularly encouraging and, combined with the necessary post processing it was a slow process. But if you like the challenge, have the time, and don't want to blow too much cash..............

Otherwise, there are some recent gadgets out there which claim to do slide duplicating - Googling might help you there. Good luck with the project.

[lesh]

PS - Forgot to mention that the attachment for the Digilux Zoom is called the 'Digicopy' and it comes complete with the famous red dot.

[John Thawley]

Hmmm... perhaps just get a slide scanner? They're awfully affordable and will more than likely yield far better results.

 

I would think the focus distance on the Digilux 2 along with getting the light even is going to be quite a challenge.

 

Maybe I'm missing something.

 

JT

[ismon]

The Digilux 2 is a great camera, but it's not a Swiss Army Knife. There are just some tasks that are impractical The filter size is the problem here. The strongest close-up available is a +5 Diopter. That will only get you down to about business card size. I was pleasantly surprised with simple JPGS using a Vlux-1 and some Elpro 3 and 4 (55mm thread) from an old Leicaflex outfit. It was easy to white balance the lightbox, autoexpose, and autofocus. The grain was sharp, so was the dust. I guess there's no free lunch. A scanner with ICE would have been less labor intensive in post production, but the simple copy set up was workable.

[Saltspring]

As already pointed out there are advantages to scanners but they can be quite slow.

For quick previews, I often use a 50mm Olympus macro on my Digilux 3 on a copy stand with good success over a light table or slide duplicator. I have not tried my D2, as has already been noted the extreme closeup options are limited.

Many old 35mm enlargers can be used, minus their heads, in place of a copy stand at a reasonable price too these days. Shooting RAW also makes it a flexible choice to obtain a good tonal range and to enable correcting for dye fading. A good clean also does not go astray either.

For some more serious pursuits of camera scans, as they are often called, have a look at this forum.

 

Scans and Camera Scans

 

cheers,

Douglas

[wda]

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I assume that you want digital files capable of producing high quality prints or for reproduction. That means that you need to fill your digital frame for maximum information and maximise the pixel count. I would support John Thawley's recommendation and buy a dedicated 35mm film scanner. You should be able to buy a second-hand Nikon Coolscan for rather less than you paid for your Digilux 2. Both optics and alignment are optimized for scanning and you should get superior results. Avoid cheap flat-bed scanners which are not well-specified for scanning small slides.

[foz405]

Thanks to everyone for their time. I will take the advice and look for a S/H Nikon Coolscan instead of mucking around - besides I can always sell it on when I'm finished.