SL Macro lens for film negatives

[hirohhhh]

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I never used a macro lens because I never need one. When I bought a film camera, I considered buying a macro lens, but the good ones were quite expensive compared to the scanner, so I purchased the scanner instead as a newbie in film photography. Now, I'm shooting quite a lot of film, and generally, I'm not too fond of scanners, the software that comes with it, a lot of dust that is inevitably captured with the scan. I'm thinking of buying a macro lens.

I watched this video where this guy uses some old Canon lenses that he purchases for $75. So I thought maybe it shouldn't be necessarily the expensive one because I'll shoot mostly negatives.

I also checked this article, but the lenses referenced here are thousands of dollars, which is a bit steep for me for what I need it. If I can buy something good cheap, I'd switch to capturing with a camera, but if I have to spend thousands for the macro lens, I think I'll stick with a scanner.

[jackbaty]

Let us know if you find anything. I am considering a Novaflex adapter for my SL and an older Nikkor macro. I'd also like to hear about cheaper adapter options, since I don't need auto-focus, which I think is the selling point of the Novaflex.

 

 

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[dkCambridgeshire]

There are various ways / methods for slide / negative copying and for regular use it's worth considering buying decent equipment rather than cheap/budget price items.

One of the most versatile copiers is the Novoflex Castelcop digi slide copier which does not require a copy stand and can be used on a regular tripod head 

https://www.speedgraphic.co.uk/bellows_systems/novoflex_castelcop_digi_slide_copier/19206_p.html

... but the accessory mini tripod and focusing rack are optional extras and not included in the price 

However, Ffordes list a Novoflex bellows with Novoflex 100mm macro lens .. the bellows is compatible with the Castelcop 

https://www.ffordes.com/p/PX-IV47BQ43382/macro-equipment/bellows-105mm-f4-macro.  ... and would likely also need another rear end Novoflex adapter ... depending on which adapter is already fitted (if any) 

 

... and would also need a focusing rack 

 

https://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Novoflex-Castel-Q-Focusing-Rack_292705.html. (cheaper focusing racks available elsewhere) 

 

The Castel focusing rack is fully compatible with the Castelop ... the Castelop's rails slide into the two holes in the front of the rack 

 

The Castel focusing rack has an Arca dovetail saddle; a camera plus 1:1 macro lens , with a small Arca plate screwed into the camera's tripod thread, will fit into the Castel's dovetail saddle  

 

 

Another potential solution is an Olympus bellows with slide copier 

 

https://www.ffordes.com/p/SOR-18-032445/macro-equipment/autobellows-copier 

 

... the actual slide copying unit accepts both mounted slides and film strips 

 

but would need an OM lens ... preferable an OM macro lens e.g 

 

https://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Olympus-OM-50mm-F3.5-Macro_284382.html

 

... would also require an OM to Leica adapter 

 

 

If you already have a copy stand a regular macro lens would suffice ... preferable a lens focusing natively to 1:1 ...

 

or a marque macro lens with dedicated 1:1 tube eg 

 

https://www.ffordes.com/p/SOR-21-037568/minolta-manual/50mm-f35-md-macro-11-tube

 

Diffused window light will suffice as a good light source for horizonal copying ... tape some engineers drafting film onto a convenient window 

 

For copy stand or horizontal copying a simple small battery powered 'daylight light temperature' light box will also suffice e.g. 

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/photolux-a5-led-ultra-slim-light-panel-1678004/

 

Film to be copied can be held flat on the light panel by a piece of 2mm glass ... but smooth the sharp edges of the glass with carborundum paper to avoid injury ... or use gaffer tape around the perimeter 

 

Enlarging lenses can be used on bellows or a vari-extension tube instead of macro lenses but will require necessary adapters. Used enlarging lenses are usually reasonably priced but best to select a 6 element optic. 

 

Custom white balance can avoid colour casts 

 

Above intended as a guide only.

 

Attempting copying without the proper tools can be a frustrating experience ... best to commit yourself to acquiring decent kit 

 

BW

 

dunk

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by dkCambridgeshire

[dkCambridgeshire]

2 hours ago, jackbaty said:

Let us know if you find anything. I am considering a Novaflex adapter for my SL and an older Nikkor macro. I'd also like to hear about cheaper adapter options, since I don't need auto-focus, which I think is the selling point of the Novaflex.

 

 

Have a look at GOBE adapters ... I just bought a Minolta A to Leica SL GOBE adapter and it's as well made as any of my Novoflex adatpers .  Older Nikon macro lenses would be excellent for copying. A manual focus Micro Nikkor 105/2.8 focuses to 1:1 ... the older  105/4 micro Nikkor needs a ring to achieve 1:1 ... as do the manual focus 55mm Micro Nikkors 

Ref GOBE adapters: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/317969-minolta-or-sony-stf-135-28-t45-on-leica-sl/?do=findComment&comment=4143710.  ... please read final sentence

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by dkCambridgeshire

[hirohhhh]

Thanks dkCambridgeshire, this was very comprehensive. I didn't mean to go super cheap. I just don't feel spending many thousands on a macro lens, like I did with all my previous SL primes. I found Sigma 70mm F2.8 DG Macro Art lens quite interesting, and the pricing is reasonable (around $500).

Did anyone try this lens, especially for capturing/scanning negatives?

[AZN]

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I use the Nikon 60mm Micro-Nikkor for film copying:

https://www.dpreview.com/products/nikon/lenses/nikon_60_2p8d_micro

The film is mounted onto the end of the lens using a Nikon Slide Copying Adapter:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1357884-REG/nikon_27192_es_2_film_digitalizing_adapet.html

I also have a blue filter in there to boost the colour temperature to keep the noise in the blue channel down, plus a few spacer rings to move the film away from the lens a bit to give you a bit more wriggle-room

[dkCambridgeshire]

6 minutes ago, hirohhhh said:

Thanks dkCambridgeshire, this was very comprehensive. I didn't mean to go super cheap. I just don't feel spending many thousands on a macro lens, like I did with all my previous SL primes. I found Sigma 70mm F2.8 DG Macro Art lens quite interesting, and the pricing is reasonable (around $500).

Did anyone try this lens, especially for capturing/scanning negatives?

For macro photography (photomacrography) there is no real need to spend $'000's on an AF macro lens. Some of the world's most expert and experienced photomacrographers participate on the Photomacrography Forum managed by Rik Littlefield who designed and develops Zerene Stacker software. His members use the simplest types of macro objectives including enlarging lenses and proven microscope lenses. Lens manufacturers try and brainwash photographers into using their latest AF macro lenses but such optics are compromises as they're designed to image to infinity as well as for close-up distances. Enlarging lenses and recycled scanner lenses will usually out-perform marque macro lenses. Furthermore, it's better to manually focus a macro lens rather than rely on AF. All explained on the Photomacrography Forum in the various sections https://www.photomacrography.net

[Photoworks]

I have been scanning the last few months with the SL2.

I have started with 100 R lens with 1:1 adapter and then moved to sigma 105 Lens that  is great solution. alternatively more affordable is bellow with enlarger lens. A good enlarger lens has been used forever and they are already optimized for closeup focus.

I tether to capture one raw files and insert curves to get positive out of negative.
Lightroom has a Negative Lab Pro plugin what works great. but slow!

Capture one has now a plugin that can do almost the same ant it is free !

https://www.mwilmes.com/toolbox
Analogue Toolbox for Capture One

Film tray:
FC-35/120 is the last film carrier https://www.abdicamera.com/shop/p/fc-35120

and 

https://www.negative.supply

I use a flash instead of a Lightbox and a plexiglas sheet, that gives me a 1/125 f9 and ISO200. and I change the power of the flash to adjust exposure.

this way I can shoot on a sunny days and don't have any reflection on the film.

Some LED light-boxes  don't have  un-even lights and other flicker.

[jackbaty]

On 2/18/2021 at 9:22 AM, dkCambridgeshire said:

Have a look at GOBE adapters ... I just bought a Minolta A to Leica SL GOBE adapter and it's as well made as any of my Novoflex adatpers .  Older Nikon macro lenses would be excellent for copying. A manual focus Micro Nikkor 105/2.8 focuses to 1:1 ... the older  105/4 micro Nikkor needs a ring to achieve 1:1 ... as do the manual focus 55mm Micro Nikkors 

Ref GOBE adapters: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/317969-minolta-or-sony-stf-135-28-t45-on-leica-sl/?do=findComment&comment=4143710.  ... please read final sentence

 

Thanks! I'll check out the GOBE adapters. Also, thanks for the reference to the Capture One Analog Toolbox in a later comment. Negative Lab Pro was the only thing keeping me using Lightroom.

[AZN]

On 2/19/2021 at 6:32 AM, Photoworks said:

Capture one has now a plugin that can do almost the same ant it is free !

https://www.mwilmes.com/toolbox
Analogue Toolbox for Capture One

This sounded fantastic.  Unless I am missing something, it appears you can only download the software if (1) you are on facebook and (2) are a member of the developer's private group.

[hirohhhh]

Despite the price difference, does anyone know how Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro compares to Leica APO-MACRO-SUMMARIT-S 120 f/2.5, in terms of sharpness, iq and overall quality? I will most likely use Macro only for scanning negatives, as I have couple other SL lenses for my digital photography.

Edited February 19, 2021 by hirohhhh

[Photoworks]

3 hours ago, AZN said:

This sounded fantastic.  Unless I am missing something, it appears you can only download the software if (1) you are on facebook and (2) are a member of the developer's private group.

yes. the current version is 0.7

[Stuart Richardson]

15 hours ago, hirohhhh said:

Despite the price difference, does anyone know how Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro compares to Leica APO-MACRO-SUMMARIT-S 120 f/2.5, in terms of sharpness, iq and overall quality? I will most likely use Macro only for scanning negatives, as I have couple other SL lenses for my digital photography.

I have not used the Sigma, so I cannot comment on that front, but I do have the 120mm APO Macro Summarit S. It is the best lens in the S system, and one of the best lenses Leica has ever made. It is sharp from 2.5 to f/16 or f/13 depending on the body, it has nearly zero distortion, it has a completely flat field, it is has no longitudinal chromatic aberration, no regular chromatic aberration and it has beautiful smooth bokeh. It works very well on the SL2, both as a macro and as a general purpose lens. The challenge of sharpness is more related to depth of field than aperture. If you are looking to get this lens, I think it would be a shame to use it only for macro. It is an exceptional general purpose lens.

If you only intend to use Macro, my guess is that the Sigma will be less expensive and very suitable. It looks like it has very sharp lens, and perhaps sharper on center than the Leica, but it is hard to tell as the Sigma chart only lists for 10 and 30 lp/mm and the Leica for 10, 20 and 40 lp/mm. It also does not specify what distance. The Leica looks like it might not have the same snap wide open in the macro range, but it has more even performance across the field, especially across the 35mm field. (The Leica MTF is for the larger sensor in the S). The Sigma is not listed as being APO, so it would be interesting to see how it performs on that front. One big advantage to the Sigma is that it goes to 1 to 1, while the Leica goes to 1 to 2.

My guess is that the 120mm is the better overall lens, but that the 70mm is better if you want a lens for macro work only in L mount. The shorter focal length increases DOF and the 1 to 1 is useful for film scanning.

[BernardC]

I've done this quite a bit lately, and also helped a friend who shoots 4x5 and medium format.

Lens-wise, I use a bellows with enlarging lenses (that I already owned). My friend uses an old 55mm macro which goes to 1:2. That's fine for medium format and bigger negatives, but you'll want 1:1 if you copy 35mm film.

The basic setup is dead simple. A tripod, suitably leveled. Hint: you can use a flat mirror to make sure you are centered on your film. The light source is an old light table. If you don't already have a light table, apparently the Kaiser Slimlite series is very even, and not too expensive.

We both use enlarger negative carriers to flatten the film. They also mask light outside of the negative area, which helps with flare. You could make something similar out-of black cardboard. Make sure that your room lights are off, or at least that they aren't shining on your film. You can build a simple tent with black fabric if excess ambient light is an issue.

On the software side, I've settled on RawTherapy. It's an Open-Source (free) raw processor with versions for Mac, Windows, and Linux. It has a "film negative" mode which does most of the work for you. From there you can fine-tune colour and contrast. You can save your settings and apply them to a group of images, so you will end-up with a bunch of pre-sets for different types of film.

Getting great B&W results is very simple. Colour can be more tricky. The software lets you use a white reference to help with colours (a picture of a grey card will do), but that usually isn't available if you are copying film of unknown vintage. You will run into the same frustrations that people had printing colour negatives in the darkroom, except that you have more variables to control (which can be bad), and you don't have to wait to see the results. Note that up-to 10% of men are partially colour-blind (the number is lower for women), so get a second opinion if you are new at colour corrections.

The process is quite fast once it's dialed-in.

[bags27]

The Sigma 70 is very sharp. It's a bit weird to use on its own as a pure macro lens, but as a scanning lens, it's terrific. I've heard that the 105 is even better.

I have migrated to a different system for scanning (Fuji MF with Mamiya 645 120 f/4 macro), but if I ever return to Leica (maybe an SL2), I'd definitely use the Sigma 105.

For color conversion, Neg Lab Pro is pretty much the gold standard  for LR. Although DIY is really easy in Camera Raw for B&W, NLP does a great job on that, too, and more quickly.

What has just come out and seems very, very good for color development in PS, is 

https://negmaster.com/product/negmaster-full-version/

For film holder, over the past year (since he invented this while sheltering) this is certainly the most in-demand (I actually have two of them for different set-ups). And there's no better person in customer service than Andrew.

https://clifforth.co.uk/

[helged]

Sharp it is, the Sigma 105: https://www.lenstip.com/595.4-Lens_review-Sigma_A_105_mm_f_2.8_DG_DN_Macro_Image_resolution.html

[hirohhhh]

Hey thanks all for suggestions and advices:

I purchased Sigma 70mm Macro, as I’ll use it almost exclusively for scanning film.

For other scanning accessories, I found this relatively new company Negative Supply, that I’m fascinated with and also wanted to support what they do, so I ordered:

Copy stand: https://www.negative.supply/shop-all/basic-riser-mk1
Film carrier: https://www.negative.supply/shop-all/film-carrier-120
Light source: https://www.negative.supply/shop-all/light-source

I really like this setup and I think I’ll ditch my bulky Epson scanner as soon as this arrives.

Edited February 20, 2021 by hirohhhh

[bags27]

3 hours ago, hirohhhh said:

Hey thanks all for suggestions and advices:

I purchased Sigma 70mm Macro, as I’ll use it almost exclusively for scanning film.

For other scanning accessories, I found this relatively new company Negative Supply, that I’m fascinated with and also wanted to support what they do, so I ordered:

Copy stand: https://www.negative.supply/shop-all/basic-riser-mk1
Film carrier: https://www.negative.supply/shop-all/film-carrier-120
Light source: https://www.negative.supply/shop-all/light-source

I really like this setup and I think I’ll ditch my bulky Epson scanner as soon as this arrives.

you found a good company. Some of their stuff seems a bit costly to me, but it's all top quality.

Enjoy scanning. The thing I like most about it is that it is still real photography. 

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Hallo,

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[hirohhhh]

I got Sigma 70mm Macro lens today and it's fantastic. I mean for less than $600, I'm impressed with its macro capabilities. Can't compare with much more expensive Leica macro lenses, because I never saw it in person, but I think this is more than enough for scanning film negatives.

 

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