Useful to shoot some slide film – BEOON+M10

[wlaidlaw]

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Thanks for the warning on screwdrivers. I as using Stanley screwdrivers and worried abut ruining the screw heads.

 

The nice thing about the A+F, Horotec and Bergeon, is that they are a lifetime purchase, as long as they are kept well away from spouses who lever open paint cans with them and son-in-laws, who use the gravity method of returning tools (drop them where you finish with them). That is because you can buy replacement blades for them, at very modest cost. 

 

Wilson

[M.RB]

Is anyone using their Leica 24MP sensor camera to digitise 120 film?

 

I've previously had success with:

• Sony a7RII,
• A piece of wood with my macro rail screwed onto it (Acting as a cheap copy stand)
• combination of M lens/adapter and those Novoflex macro rings to get the framing right.
• Neg carriers/Light table 

 

I had the whole show running vertically, just using a slotted shelf above to hold the top of my piece of wood square to the negatives above the light table.

 

This gave me digital 6x6 images about 5300 x 5300 pixels. The M10/SL/M240 etc.. would mean around 4000 x 4000?

This is only for web upload. Prints are either darkroom or colour is direct from negative/lab.

 

I sold the Sony in the end as it never left my darkroom, I had no interest in it as a general use camera, only to digitise negatives and prints.

Just curious what others are doing as I've had it with scanning (again) so just considering whether to get another Sony or look at a more multipurpose (for me) Leica body etc..

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[Doug A]

Not a Leica, but I have digitized 6x6 negatives with a 24MP Fuji X-T20. The 4000 x 4000 pixel files are fine for 12” by 12” prints, so more than adequate for online viewing.

Edited May 2, 2018 by Doug A

[jim0266]

Head-to-head the APO Rodagon bests the Componon-S. At least the two versions in my hands, so sample variations could be in play. I may have a great Rodagon and and so-so Componon-S (SN 14440752). This version is not the copy with the green circle. My Rodagon is not the later “N” version.

 

Another factor is actual focal length. The Rodagon is perfect to fill the frame of a B&W negative with the BEOON using the B, C & D tubes. The Componon must be a tad longer than 50mm as I cannot capture the entire frame with the Componon.

I have a few images up you can view and download.

Edited September 19, 2018 by jim0266

[wlaidlaw]

 

Head-to-head the APO Rodagon bests the Componon-S. At least the two versions in my hands, so sample variations could be in play. I may have a great Rodagon and and so-so Componon-S (SN 14440752). This version is not the copy with the green circle. My Rodagon is not the later “N” version.

 

Another factor is actual focal length. The Rodagon is perfect to fill the frame of a B&W negative with the BEOON using the B, C & D tubes. The Componon must be a tad longer than 50mm as I cannot capture the entire frame with the Componon.

I have a few images up you can view and download.

 

 

Interesting because with the later Componon S Green, the B, C and D tubes are perfect for the whole frame on my SL. They must have changed the focal length very slightly. 

 

Wilson

 

PS I bought a cheap Chinese copy of the Leica M adapter T to avoid having to take the original off whatever M lens I was using it on, either with SL or CL. Although unlike the original it is a dumb adapter, it works just fine on the BEOON. It was £15. W. 

Edited September 19, 2018 by wlaidlaw

[Steve Ricoh]

I have not touched the BEOON for a while, but enlarger lenses aside, a 50mm M camera lens works reasonably / acceptably well when used according to the instructions supplied.

 

I wasted too much money chasing after an enlarger lens that would work, always ran out of column height before critical focus could be achieved. I gave up and continued with the Plustek 8200i.

[wlaidlaw]

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Steve,

 

I had completely the opposite experience, where I could not get any of my 50mm Leica or Zeiss lenses to work but the Schneider Componon S 50mm worked instantly and focuses correctly for all magnifications.

 

Wilson

[Steve Ricoh]

Steve,

I had completely the opposite experience, where I could not get any of my 50mm Leica or Zeiss lenses to work but the Schneider Componon S 50mm worked instantly and focuses correctly for all magnifications.

Wilson

That's interesting Wilson, is this with the SL? When using the 50mm camera lens, I presume you focused to infinity at f11.

 

Although it shouldn't alter the outcome whether the BEOON is used with an SL plus adapter, or an M. In my case I'm using an M240.

 

I have compared BEOON measurements with other users and they are very repeatable, I suspect the outcome of success or otherwise is more to do with the variation in optics, especially enlarger lenses.

[wlaidlaw]

Steve,

 

I feel for a lens to be satisfactory, I should be able to focus it wide open. If I have to stop down, then something is wrong. I focus the Componon-S at f2.8 and image at f5.6. I have exclusively been using my SL. Now that I have a CL, it is one of the few things I use the SL for. I am currently in the Balkans and the CL is doing most of the work with occasional assistance from my M7.

 

Wilson

[Steve Ricoh]

I thought the BEOON instructions said infinity at f11 for a 50mm. Written in the day when the only school in town was film, using film to copy ... film I guess. For what reason I'm not sure.

[a.noctilux]

On 9/26/2018 at 12:52 AM, Steve Ricoh said:

I thought the BEOON instructions said infinity at f11 for a 50mm. Written in the day when the only school in town was film, using film to copy ... film I guess. For what reason I'm not sure.

In my long (some more years to come ...) digital M scanning, I tried to use f/11 or f/16 (if possible),

in real use, the best compromise with most lenses, I've found is not to close further than f/8 not to have lost some IQ.

Resolving K25 grains in many 50-60mm lenses is reachable at f/5.6 or f/6.3 .

[Steve Ricoh]

50 minutes ago, a.noctilux said:

In my long (some more years to come ...) digital M scanning, I tried to use f/11 or f/16 (if possible),

in real use, the best compromise with most lenses, I've found is not to close further than f/8 not to have lost some IQ.

Resolving K25 grains in many 50-60mm lenses is reachable at f/5.6 or f/6.3 .

Detraction kicks in at what, f11 or f16? Is that so with FF 35mm? It's true for smaller sensors.

[wlaidlaw]

Schneider specifically state that the maximum resolution of their Componon S series is from f5.6 to f8. There is a very good explanation of diffraction limitation on the internet from Cambridge in Colour here: https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm I always struggled with the concept and I did physics at university, admittedly materials science physics which is rather different. 

Wilson

[a.noctilux]

3 hours ago, Steve Ricoh said:

Detraction kicks in at what, f11 or f16? Is that so with FF 35mm? It's true for smaller sensors.

Diffractions begin (in my real world experiences) about f/8 in 50mm lenses for 1:1 copying on FF sensor.

For many "macro lenses" that I use (Nikkor, S-Planar, Macro-Elmarit, Macro-Zuiko, Macro-Takumar ), I can use f/11 for curved old slides for best results ( compromise diffraction/dof/etc.).

 

[Guest Nowhereman]

I haven't "scanned" with the BEEON for over a year, but I have notes on a comparison of scanning with the DR Summicron at f/11 and the Focotar II at f/5.6, f/8 and f/11. The first conclusion was that the Focotar II had a flatter field than the DR Summicron. In the corners, there was slightly more sharpness than with the Focotar II. But the difference was so small that I didn't no need to rescan even one of the final scans I had made with the DR Summicorn. Second, the Focotar II scans at f/5.6 and f/8 were virtually indistinguishable; the scans at f/11 had slightly less sharp grain than at f/5.6 and f/8. I don't recall if I posted these conclusions earlier in this thread.
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[humerc]

The BEOON sounds really interesting after reading this thread!

I looked all over the Internet but it seems really hard to find a complete set.

If anybody has one for sale - please send me a message

Really want to try this out!

[wlaidlaw]

There are various modern equivalents to the BEOON (Kaiser etc), which is really just a device to hold a camera at a set but adjustable distance above an illuminated slide or film plus a series of lens extender rings. As well as the BEOON, I have a Leica/Novoflex 16880/BR-2 bellows, which I use with my SL 601 camera, an R to L adapter, an R mount Novoflexar 60mm macro lens (these are very cheap second hand) and a Novoflex Castel-COP slide holder. This is a bit quicker to use than the BEOON for slides but slower for film strips. Capture One now supports tethered shooting with the SL601, which will be an improvement on Image Capture, which I was using cable tethered with a mini-HDMI to USB lead. On the BEOON, like a number of other forum members, I found I got better results with an enlarging lens than a photography lens. I use a Schneider-Kreuznach 50mm/f2,8 Componon S green stripe lens. I have also used a borrowed Rodenstock 50mm/f2.8 APO Rodagon lens, which was marginally better in the corners than the Componon but was over four times the price. In reality there is probably more sample variation than the difference between the two lenses. 

Wilson

[a.noctilux]

Alternative to Beoon is using bellows (or only lens) with SLR 50/60mm macro lens.

When I need consistent electronic flash light for copying, my light table is not as easy to use as slide copier in front of bellows+macro lens.

[wlaidlaw]

4 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

Alternative to Beoon is using bellows (or only lens) with SLR 50/60mm macro lens.

When I need consistent electronic flash light for copying, my light table is not as easy to use as slide copier in front of bellows+macro lens.

I have all this kit, an SL601, R to L adapter, Leica/Novoflex 16880/BR-2 bellows, Noflexar 60mm reporgraphics lens and Novoflex Digi-Cop slide holder. I have used it a few times for mounted slides but far prefer the BEOON. I can copy cut film at around 5 times the speed with the BEOON as with the Bellows/mounted slides set up. 

Wilson

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Hallo,

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