BEOON advice please - functional checks prior to purchase

[jmahto]

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4 hours ago, Steve Ricoh said:

or in negative sleeves as you are doing, would result in the negs being too far away from the lens. 

In my case I am able to focus as described above using Companon-S. Column just bottoms out but it is sharp corner to corner at f8. Also my sleeves are transparent and I haven’t had any issues (except occasional moire as I said above).

[wlaidlaw]

With the later Green Stripe 50 Componon S, I am at least a turn above bottoming out on the focus column using the standard 35mm mask and the film below the BEOON. I wonder if it could be something to do with using an SL601 as my imaging camera, with a Chinese M to L adapter. I did check it for dimensions against my Leica M to L adapter, with Moore and Wright 0.005mm digital calipers and it was both within spec and 100% parallel. Of course unlike the Leica version it is dumb and does not detect 6 bit codes but that doesn't matter with the BEOON. It sits permanently on the BEOON. 

Wilson

 

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[Doug A]

(Referring to Steve's note above.) It might not be easy to fit a bellows into the available space. Another approach might be to determine the closest lengths on the too-short side and the too-long side and and look for a helical extension tube that covered that range. Unfortunately I can't suggest a starting point for your setup because I use an APSC camera.

 

Edited August 6, 2020 by Doug A

[Steve Ricoh]

I’ll look once again at a helical extension. When I last looked the problem faced was that most were M42 and therefore required stepper rings, and hence another factor to the length equation. 

Thinking further, I agree a bellows would be rather challenging. 

[wlaidlaw]

Might I suggest a simpler approach and this is what I did, having failed to get any of my Leica camera lenses to focus properly on the BEOON. I went to an old fashioned S/H photo shop (I am lucky that within 30 miles of where I live in the UK, I still have a choice of 4), with a pre-printed black and white focus target BEOON but no camera, just the focusing funnel. I then explained to the owner what I was trying to achieve and asked if I could try a selection of M39 enlarger lenses. I was offered enough to have kept me testing for a week but the second one I tried worked perfectly, the Green Stripe 50 Componon S. It came as a set of three with a Componar (a cheaper Schneider) 40mm and a Rolleinar 75mm (a nasty cheap plastic lens). From memory the asking price was £75 for the three and I think I got them for £60. He also had the 50mm APO Rodagon but was asking £250 for it and as it was a commission sale, there was no reduction possible. 

If you are going to go for the APO Rodagon 50/2.8, you will need to do some research. I think there are three generations of this lens. The one with a scalloped aperture ring with polished alloy scallops, the all black model and the model with a red ring round the barrel. I think that order is from oldest to newest but not 100% sure - so check. 

Wilson

[jmahto]

2 hours ago, jmahto said:

In my case I am able to focus as described above using Companon-S. Column just bottoms out but it is sharp corner to corner at f8. Also my sleeves are transparent and I haven’t had any issues (except occasional moire as I said above).

Mine is Green Stripe 50 Componon S. Maybe that is the difference.

[250swb]

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19 hours ago, J.Nordvik said:

If you do not have an electronic shutter I would use a modern Nikon 60mm Micro and a direct attachment to the lens. Or a Nikon Coolscan. 

That's what I use, a 60mm Nikon macro lens. It does away with extension tubes (with my setup of a copy stand) and is a perfect macro lens to use on a digital Leica M (with an adapter) as well.

[wlaidlaw]

3 hours ago, 250swb said:

That's what I use, a 60mm Nikon macro lens. It does away with extension tubes (with my setup of a copy stand) and is a perfect macro lens to use on a digital Leica M (with an adapter) as well.

I use a Noflexar R mount 60mm Macro-Bellows lens for slide copying and that also seems to work well. I don't know who made the Novoflex lens, as it is more recent than Staeble, who used to make the Novoflex branded lenses. Schneider or Rodenstock are two possible suggestions. It says: " Made in Germany",  which rules out the usual Japanese suspects. I suppose I could ask the ever helpful Martin Grahl of Novoflex but there may be an NDA from their lens manufacturer and I would not want to embarrass him. 

You do get odd people making lenses for well known camera makers. The 28-105/f3.2-4.5 HFT Rolleinar QBM mount lens for my Rolleiflex 3003 35mm system camera, was designed by Zeiss but made by Kiron in Japan, not someone who springs to mind as a competent lens maker. Surprisingly, it is an excellent lens with no visible pincushion or barrel distortion and far better than my Leica 28-70 Vario Elmar-R lens, made for them by Sigma, which has pretty dreadful pincushion distortion at the tele end. 

Wilson

[J.Nordvik]

Today I got two new cables for Nikon Coolscan ED4000. I already had a Firewire cable for my old 2009 iMac. Three cables stacked together.

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[Steve Ricoh]

19 hours ago, Doug A said:

(Referring to Steve's note above.) It might not be easy to fit a bellows into the available space. Another approach might be to determine the closest lengths on the too-short side and the too-long side and and look for a helical extension tube that covered that range. Unfortunately I can't suggest a starting point for your setup because I use an APSC camera.

 

Doug, may I ask what combination of tubes and lens you use? Are you using a  Fuji ASPC?

[Doug A]

4 hours ago, Steve Ricoh said:

Doug, may I ask what combination of tubes and lens you use? Are you using a  Fuji ASPC?

Hi Steve, My BEOON setup uses a Fuji X-T20, a 50/2.8 Schneider Componon - S and an E. Leitz New York 40mm-60mm helical extension tube. The extension tube is cranked all the way down to 40mm to fill the APSC frame with the image of the 1:1 BEOON cutout. The setting on the vertical column is turned well past the 1:1.5 mark so there is plenty of room to use a 50mm lens with the APSC camera.

Remember though that the focal length of a lens is the distance from the optical node of the lens to the image when the object is at infinity. It has nothing to do with the distance from the optical node to the mounting flange on the lens. And it is the latter distance that has everything to do with what will focus with what on the BEOON. And there is no standard for that distance on enlarging lenses. As I wrote in my earlier note, once you depart from camera and lens that the BEOON was designed to work with it is up to you to discover what extension tube length is needed. And as you and I have both discovered that can get expensive 😀

BTW, one advantage of using an APSC camera for digitizing 35mm negatives that I haven't seen mentioned is that it avoids using the corners of the full frame image produced by the lens. Everything else being equal, this will produce better results than a full frame camera.

[Steve Ricoh]

Thanks kindly Doug.

[robert blu]

Today I made a couple of attempts to "photoscan" a B&W negative with my new BEOON and the M10. Just to familiarize with the system. I used  a 50 cron.

Unfortunately I have not a modern light table, my one is at least 15 years old !!! And I never used it inthe last 10 years, still surprised it worked!

So I'm going to buy a modern one, LED type to dedicate to the BEOON use.

If i correctly understand from what I rread in the previous pages  it is better to use one not much larger than the BEOON base (around 13.5x13.5 cm) and eventually  cover the excess area outside the base to avoid reflections etc.

Is this correct or a larger one would make the work easier? Thanks in advance for any suggestion, I'm with the BEOON an absolute beginner !

 

[Guest Nowhereman]

Robert - I use a light table that's about 25 x 18 cm and has a light that is 6000K, if I remember correctly. I usually place a piece of black PVC on the side of that is not covered by the BEOON. But I haven't noticed any difference whether I cover or not.
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[wlaidlaw]

18 minutes ago, robert blu said:

Today I made a couple of attempts to "photoscan" a B&W negative with my new BEOON and the M10. Just to familiarize with the system. I used  a 50 cron.

Unfortunately I have not a modern light table, my one is at least 15 years old !!! And I never used it inthe last 10 years, still surprised it worked!

So I'm going to buy a modern one, LED type to dedicate to the BEOON use.

If i correctly understand from what I rread in the previous pages  it is better to use one not much larger than the BEOON base (around 13.5x13.5 cm) and eventually  cover the excess area outside the base to avoid reflections etc.

Is this correct or a larger one would make the work easier? Thanks in advance for any suggestion, I'm with the BEOON an absolute beginner !

 

Robert, 

I use an A5 size light table of 5400ºK and it works fine with my BEOON. When I first started with it I use to be meticulous about covering the surplus with dead black cardboard. One day I tried without and found it made no difference, so now I don't bother. I note that on Novoflex's earlier slide copying devices, like the Leica-Novovflex 16880/BR-2 R mount double bellows system I have, they have a secondary bellows to exclude stray light between the imaging macro lens and the slide holder. On their more modern ones like I now use for slide copying (CASTEL-COP-DIGI), they don't bother with stray light exclusion either. 

I too started with an old Jessops light table which used multiple 12V caravan fluorescent tubes and the results were dreadful, with multi-coloured stripes across the scan. I am now using a mid-price LED  light table from Speedgraphic. I don't know if an expensive light table would produce any better results or would be just a waste of money. There is a very wide range of prices. At the higher end, Reflecta light tables seem to be very well regarded. 

Wilson

[Steve Ricoh]

Anyone using their BEOON to ‘camera-scan’ 6x6 cm negatives, and if so what lens are using on a Leica M?

[a.noctilux]

1 hour ago, Steve Ricoh said:

Anyone using their BEOON to ‘camera-scan’ 6x6 cm negatives, and if so what lens are using on a Leica M?

Never use Beoon for 58mmx58mm, only pano view negatives.

Maybe flatness of negatives can be problems ?

I happen to scan some Xpan films, 24x65mm negatives with Beoon and 50-60mm as usual with very nice results.

Most lenses would be good (or better than 1:1) for 1:2 use scanning larger negatives.

 

Here for example with Focotar 50mm at 1:2 with Agfa Vista plus 200 ISO from Xpan negative ... two magnets to keep it flat

second is detail of left part 100% view

 

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100%

[ramarren]

On 8/17/2020 at 10:16 AM, Steve Ricoh said:

Anyone using their BEOON to ‘camera-scan’ 6x6 cm negatives, and if so what lens are using on a Leica M?

The BEOON works best with only a very short range of focal lengths ... you can't go too far away from 50mm and stay within the physical range of adjustments available.

For capturing a Hasselblad 6x6 negative (actual dimensions 56x56 mm) to 35FF format, you need 1:2.33 magnification; a little less (1:2.4-2.5) makes it easier to position the entire image area within the center of the FF format frame and capture a little of the rebate. I've done this capture using a Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 lens fitted to Nikon F->M-mount adapter on the BEOON, capturing to a Sony A7, Leica M-P 240, and Leica SL bodies. You need a lens with a macro focusing helicoid to allow getting the whole negative to fill as much of the digital capture sensor as possible; no arrangement of fixed extension rings on a standard lens that I've found works as well. 

An aside: the BEOON does well to capture full-frame 35mm negatives and slides with the Leica CL (APS-C format) at about the 1:1.5 setting using a 50mm lens. I've found that the Color Skopar 50/2.5 and Summicron-M 50/2 both do a very good job for this.

G

Edited July 14, 2021 by ramarren

[gbealnz]

I happened onto one recently, so will try it for you Steve.

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[Steve Ricoh]

16 hours ago, gbealnz said:

I happened onto one recently, so will try it for you Steve.

A Beoon ? I thought you had one in a nice wooden box, or did you sell it.

Or do you mean the technique @ramarrendiscusses above in his very useful post.