Jump to content

A little macro fun


ramarren

Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The Leitz R Universal Focusing Bellows arrived yesterday and included the manual. It is exactly what I need ... Fitted with the Summicron-R 50mm, it will capture an image field just a hair smaller than a Minox negative at maximum extension with the lens set to .5m focus distance. This means there's also some extra capability to work with for optimizing the capture. 

 

It is also beautifully made, a delight to work with, and cost less than the Macro Adapter R! Thank you for putting the idea in my head, dunk. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

The Leitz R Universal Focusing Bellows arrived yesterday and included the manual. It is exactly what I need ... Fitted with the Summicron-R 50mm, it will capture an image field just a hair smaller than a Minox negative at maximum extension with the lens set to .5m focus distance. This means there's also some extra capability to work with for optimizing the capture. 

 

It is also beautifully made, a delight to work with, and cost less than the Macro Adapter R! Thank you for putting the idea in my head, dunk. 

 

 

You're welcome; it's a beaut - as is the matching Mk I 100/4 Macro Elmar R bellows lens which can also be found on dealers' shelves at knock-down prices - unloved but very capable and with a superb built-in telescopic lens hood against which most other hoods are mere gestures. 

 

dunk

Link to post
Share on other sites

I may eventually pick up the Macro-Elmar-R 100/4, seems a perfect match to the bellows.

 

Meanwhile I scanned and rendered the manual to a PDF for any that might want it. There's a wealth of good information in it—amazing for a book of only 12 pages! 

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25268645/Leitz_Focusing-Bellows-R_instruction-manual.pdf

Link to post
Share on other sites

I may eventually pick up the Macro-Elmar-R 100/4, seems a perfect match to the bellows.

 

Meanwhile I scanned and rendered the manual to a PDF for any that might want it. There's a wealth of good information in it—amazing for a book of only 12 pages! 

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25268645/Leitz_Focusing-Bellows-R_instruction-manual.pdf

 

 

 

There are two versions of the Leitz 100/4 R Macro Elmar bellows lens i.e. the 11230 (365g , Series 7 filter) and the 11270 (290g, E55 filter) … latter does not have the substantial hood but might have better lens coatings .

 

… and there's also the 11232 version in the normal focusing mount. I have the 11230 and the 11232; I've not used or handled the 11270. The build quality of the 11230 first attracted me to the Leica R system.

 

dunk 

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Plenty

 

23876358711_73bc8e1af8_o.jpg

Minox C, APX25

scanned with Panasonic L1 + ZD 35mm f/3.5 + EC-14

 

And that's not even a particularly sharp one. The scan in that instance was about 6 Mpixel original. 

 

How are you holding your 8 x 11 negative flat? I have tried between two pieces of glass but then I got Newton's rings. I now send my exposed 8 x 11 film, both Minox and Sharan, to Paul O'Sullivan at minox-submini.co.uk, who develops it and has built an 8 x 11 scanner out of a Minox enlarger to send me back 4.7mp scans (JPEG or TIFF). 

 

Wilson

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

How are you holding your 8 x 11 negative flat? I have tried between two pieces of glass but then I got Newton's rings. I now send my exposed 8 x 11 film, both Minox and Sharan, to Paul O'Sullivan at minox-submini.co.uk, who develops it and has built an 8 x 11 scanner out of a Minox enlarger to send me back 4.7mp scans (JPEG or TIFF). 

 

 

I constructed a film holder/mask out of stiff card stock (standard weight 3x5 inch index cards...) that holds the Minox negative adequately flat for camera capture. (Sized to a 35mm strip's width, I can also fit it into a manual 35mm negative carrier for my Nikon Coolscan V).

 

I tried using the Super Coolscan 9000 with an ANR glass carrier but it was a bit unwieldy to work with. I tried using a Beseler 23 film holder too, but the metal is too thick and the large film holder is unwieldy to use with a macro setup. Scavenging parts out of a broken Minox enlarger is an interesting idea. 

 

(My biggest problem right now is finding my Minox negatives! The storage box I have them in ... about 100 rolls worth ... has gone missing. I know it's here in the condo somewhere ... argh.)

Link to post
Share on other sites

I constructed a film holder/mask out of stiff card stock (standard weight 3x5 inch index cards...) that holds the Minox negative adequately flat for camera capture. (Sized to a 35mm strip's width, I can also fit it into a manual 35mm negative carrier for my Nikon Coolscan V).

 

I tried using the Super Coolscan 9000 with an ANR glass carrier but it was a bit unwieldy to work with. I tried using a Beseler 23 film holder too, but the metal is too thick and the large film holder is unwieldy to use with a macro setup. Scavenging parts out of a broken Minox enlarger is an interesting idea. 

 

(My biggest problem right now is finding my Minox negatives! The storage box I have them in ... about 100 rolls worth ... has gone missing. I know it's here in the condo somewhere ... argh.)

 

 

:D Found them! Buggers were hiding... 

Link to post
Share on other sites

:D Found them! Buggers were hiding... 

 

They're small enough to do that. I have found the Sharan film much easier to scan. I think it is on a thinner base material and is less curly than the Minox film (all my Minox film is Adox). I need to keep both sorts of film, as although they are supposed to be interchangeable cassettes, the film base must make a difference. The Sharan film can tear in my Minox C and the Minox film can jam in my Sharan 8 x 11 Rolleiflex. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

They're small enough to do that. I have found the Sharan film much easier to scan. I think it is on a thinner base material and is less curly than the Minox film (all my Minox film is Adox). I need to keep both sorts of film, as although they are supposed to be interchangeable cassettes, the film base must make a difference. The Sharan film can tear in my Minox C and the Minox film can jam in my Sharan 8 x 11 Rolleiflex. 

 

 

Most of my Minox negs are Agfa APX 25 or APX 100. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

My test run of the Minox negative copy rig ... The Leica SL plus Focusing Bellows R used with a Summicron-R 50mm f/2 lens nets very satisfactory results! 

 
The Setup:
 
24075397171_937e1cd767_o.jpg
 
Using Leitz Focusing Bellows R and Summicron-R 50mm f/2 to copy Minox 8x11mm negatives. Approximate magnification: 2.7:1
 
Examples: 
 
Deutsches Museum
Munich 1997
 
23790193219_c3e6661ddd_o.jpg
Capture, unprocessed.
 
23862367600_4c8982e46c_o.jpg
 
Inverted and rendered.
 
Minox B, APX100  - HC110
Processed 01 Mar 98, Taken Nov 97
20100515-0015-20
 
 
Deutsches Museum - Turbine
Munich 1997
 
23790191609_a24822a2b0_o.jpg
 
Capture, unprocessed.
 
24157999585_9a2a712944_o.jpg
 
Inverted and rendered.
 
Minox B, APX100 - HC110
Processed 01 Mar 98, Taken Nov 97
20100515-0015-22
 
The tripod is temporary, I used it just to test the setup notion. It wobbles too much to focus precisely at this magnification.
I'll make a much sturdier stand to hold the camera/bellows/lens assembly. 
 
Enjoy!
Link to post
Share on other sites

I found the wobbling a problem too, when I was taking a macro a few weeks ago with the SL, using either a Zeiss 50mm ZM Planar or 75mm Rolleinar enlargement lens . Although I have a very rigid tripod arrangement, the issue was it was sitting on carpet, which allowed the tripod to move fractionally from when I was adjusting the micrometer focus screw at the front edge of my Novoflex bellows, to when I went back to the iPad to take the photo. That reminds me I must go to my local engineering shop to see if they have finished cutting the threads on the replacement guide rods for the bellows, which went missing when I lent it to someone else. 

 

Wilson

Link to post
Share on other sites

I found the wobbling a problem too, when I was taking a macro a few weeks ago with the SL, using either a Zeiss 50mm ZM Planar or 75mm Rolleinar enlargement lens . Although I have a very rigid tripod arrangement, the issue was it was sitting on carpet, which allowed the tripod to move fractionally from when I was adjusting the micrometer focus screw at the front edge of my Novoflex bellows, to when I went back to the iPad to take the photo. That reminds me I must go to my local engineering shop to see if they have finished cutting the threads on the replacement guide rods for the bellows, which went missing when I lent it to someone else. 

 

 

Same problem with carpet here, which I address by putting the spikes on the tripod feet (I'm confident my tripod is very rigid too). But a tripod is not really the best solution anyway for this kind of copy work—the tripod is cumbersome and takes up a lot of space, you have to work around it, and when set to hold the column horizontally for this arrangement, it loses a good bit of its stability. 

 

A more orthodox copy stand arrangement will work best for this kind of negative capture. It doesn't have to be fancy or flexible: just a short, rigid arm with a mounting for the camera/bellows/lens assembly about 8 inches above the base will do, able to support about 1.5 kilos without flexing. An enlarger base and support, sans head, would work. Or.. I have a friend who owns a machinists/fabrication shop. He might be able to make something for me inexpensively. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I took an enlarger down to the dump last year. It was not a great one (a Johnsons basic colour cold head). I had no takers on eBay even at £1 and of course the schools will no longer take analogue equipment and no doubt, it would not pass their "elf 'n safety" tests. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...