Leica gear for film scanning?

[hansvons]

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On 9/7/2023 at 8:51 AM, Aryel said:

I will go and check what they have in second hand shops.

I don't know whether the Sigma 70mm Macro is available second-hand in your area, but I can say that the lens is incredibly sharp from edge to edge at 1:1 and at f 8.0 and comparable cheap. I've tried a couple of alternatives, and the Sigma macro stopped my search. 

[Doug A]

On 9/6/2023 at 11:45 AM, BernardC said:

...You need a lens that can do 1:1 for 35mm negs on full frame, or 1:2 for an APS-C/MFT camera....

Actually you need a lens that can do about 1:1.5 for APS-C. The APS-C sensor is about 16x24mm. 

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[Steve Ricoh]

On 9/6/2023 at 4:55 PM, spydrxx said:

I should add that I use an electronic view finder VF-2, same as the one Leica rebranded for its use, as my eyesight is somewhat impaired. I also use it the camera clamped unto an unused enlarger and made a small lightbox for my negatives. Any of the recent m4/3 camera could do a fine job though with the right lens. I got mine 2nd hand with the VF really cheap from a popular online retailer, as it wasn't the latest model.

I’ve used a 16MP U4/3 on my BEOON, with adaptors, the thing going against it is the mismatch between 3x2 and 4x3. End up throwing away unused MPs. Other than that it’s ok for web use.

Edited September 9, 2023 by Steve Ricoh

[Aryel]

Thanks a lot for all the inputs. Went to my favourite shops today but they did not have any Panasonic. I got a chance to try a second hand SL2-S and that is quite tempting. However, it is much more $ than what I'd like to spend if it is just for scanning. I think I am confused about which camera to get only because I have been tempted to try out a digital set up for quite some time. Conclusion: I better take my time and think it through 😁

[charlesphoto99]

43 minutes ago, Aryel said:

Thanks a lot for all the inputs. Went to my favourite shops today but they did not have any Panasonic. I got a chance to try a second hand SL2-S and that is quite tempting. However, it is much more $ than what I'd like to spend if it is just for scanning. I think I am confused about which camera to get only because I have been tempted to try out a digital set up for quite some time. Conclusion: I better take my time and think it through 😁

An SL2-S is overkill unless you need it/use it for other things. If you want to stick to 24mp then a Nikon D750 or equivalent is good enough (my dealer has a number of them used for $599). Plenty of decent macro lenses available for Nikons, oem or third party. 

[jakontil]

51 minutes ago, charlesphoto99 said:

An SL2-S is overkill unless you need it/use it for other things. If you want to stick to 24mp then a Nikon D750 or equivalent is good enough (my dealer has a number of them used for $599). Plenty of decent macro lenses available for Nikons, oem or third party. 

I agree very much with overkill and unless to be used in conjunction with other needs

it happened to me, i have epson and plustek for scanning, but i was able to get the good old nikkor lenses, hence i started using my m10 r and now m11 lol

[hansvons]

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1 hour ago, charlesphoto99 said:

An SL2-S is overkill unless you need it/use it for other things.

Yes. I use my SL2-S for scanning but it also sees some use for video and quick turn-around photography. It’s the best 24 MP camera on the market if colour and sensitivity are important.

Scanning works best in linear RGB mode which somewhat bypasses the manufacturer’s colour science. Plus, high sensitivity isn't needed for scanning. 

[Aryel]

1 hour ago, charlesphoto99 said:

An SL2-S is overkill unless you need it/use it for other things. If you want to stick to 24mp then a Nikon D750 or equivalent is good enough (my dealer has a number of them used for $599). Plenty of decent macro lenses available for Nikons, oem or third party. 

1 hour ago, jakontil said:

I agree very much with overkill and unless to be used in conjunction with other needs

it happened to me, i have epson and plustek for scanning, but i was able to get the good old nikkor lenses, hence i started using my m10 r and now m11 lol

4 minutes ago, hansvons said:

Yes. I use my SL2-S for scanning but it also sees some use for video and quick turn-around photography. It’s the best 24 MP camera on the market if colour and sensitivity are important.

Scanning works best in linear RGB mode which somewhat bypasses the manufacturer’s colour science. Plus, high sensitivity isn't needed for scanning. 

Thanks a lot and I fully agree that an sl2-s just for scanning would be a waste. For scanning my understanding is that any decent digital camera will work.  That's why I need to workout whether I want to shoot digital and if so, which part of my photography. If no, just go cheap...

 

[jakontil]

Well if solely only for scanning, even an apsc should suffice, imho what matters most is the lens coverage for close up shooting

i shoot films and digital as my back up sometimes my lone driver but i wont invest anymore on other digital

[charlesphoto99]

It also depends on what you intend to make the final 'product.' If just for web, then you don't need much. If you intend to print 24X36 inch prints at 600dpi, then you might need better. 

[hansvons]

2 hours ago, Aryel said:

I need to workout whether I want to shoot digital

You seem to be such a proficient and avid film photographer that going rogue and shooting digital will get you nowhere. 

Edited September 9, 2023 by hansvons

[250swb]

2 hours ago, Aryel said:

 That's why I need to workout whether I want to shoot digital and if so, which part of my photography. If no, just go cheap...

 

But if you are looking for a better scanning option consider that you also get a bonus camera and not just something that sits on a desk? And if you don’t want to go to full frame consider the option that many recent APSC or M43 cameras with IBIS can do pixel shift capture, meaning you still generate a very high resolution image from your negative.

[BernardC]

19 hours ago, 250swb said:

And if you don’t want to go to full frame consider the option that many recent APSC or M43 cameras with IBIS can do pixel shift capture, meaning you still generate a very high resolution image from your negative.

That's what I was thinking. Olympus has offered multi-shot for a decade now, and there are several outstanding macro lenses in the Micro Four Thirds mount (including a Leica-branded Lumix, if that matters to you). Your local camera shop probably has everything you need in their used section.

[Steve Ricoh]

Like I said before, there’s a mismatch in sensor aspect ratio, 3x2 v 4x3. However sensor shift should offset the losses somewhat.

For B&W I’m using a Beoon with a suitable adapter for u4/3, and an enlarger lens. Works fine but as it’s one of the first generation u4/3 without sensor shift I’m throwing many MPs away. For colour I use the Plustek with Silverfast. Don’t know yet what I’m going to do with the LC-W ‘endless’ panos. 

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Steve Ricoh

[Aryel]

Thanks a lot for all the advices. Plan is to try to find and check the Leica SL1.

My reasoning is that whilst not so cheap, it should be more than good enough for scanning. It will also allow me to play and explore digital with my existing lenses for which full frame is important to me (I am a Thambar boy😀). 

I don’t care about ibis or auto focus at this stage. 

Thanks again for all the info. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Aryel

[hansvons]

2 hours ago, Aryel said:

Thanks a lot for all the advices. Plan is to try to find and check the Leica SL1.

My reasoning is that whilst not so cheap, it should be more than good enough for scanning. It will also allow me to play and explore digital with my existing lenses for which full frame is important to me (I am a Thambar boy😀). 

I don’t care about ibis or auto focus at this stage. 

Thanks again for all the info. 

Sounds like a plan. The lenses for digital experiments are there, the SL1 colour is excellent, and the resale value won't go down much as it's already at its lower end. 

Try to find the Essential Filmholder because it’s on discount right now. It does what it should. As a light use your smartphone (works great!) and as a copy stand your old tripod. Never press the trigger, release the shutter via the camera’s timer, app, or tethered computer.

Try tethering the camera to your computer as you will get instant feedback. Scanning is all about grain sharpness from corner to corner. That sharpness comes down primarily to the macro lens and later in the pipeline to grain-aimed sharpening and subtle use of the structure slider.

 

[Aryel]

My first trial at camera scanning. This is a new version of this image. I picked up this one as I never really liked the results of delta 3200 scanned with the epson (probably my bad). Still need to tune the pipeline and sharpening but I already much prefer how the grains was captured here. Will play with a sharper image next. 

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m2, 35 summilux pre-asph, delta3200 (dd-x), scanned negative

 

I am really thankful for all the advices received!

Edited September 29, 2023 by Aryel

[hansvons]

18 hours ago, Aryel said:

This is a new version of this image.

Worlds better! Film scanning is all about the grain and sharpening. Which lens did you use?

[250swb]

When you start to be intuitive with how sharpening scans works it'll be a breeze. To my mind it's all about being sympathetic to the grain, don't over sharpen fine grain and don't under sharpen heavy grain, it 'is what it is' so to speak.

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Hallo,

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[Aryel]

3 hours ago, hansvons said:

Worlds better! Film scanning is all about the grain and sharpening. Which lens did you use?

The Sigma 70 f2.8 Macro. Very happy with it so far. Thanks for recommending!

3 hours ago, 250swb said:

When you start to be intuitive with how sharpening scans works it'll be a breeze. To my mind it's all about being sympathetic to the grain, don't over sharpen fine grain and don't under sharpen heavy grain, it 'is what it is' so to speak.

Thanks for the tip. It is very helpful cause I usually pay attention to the edges only. One bad habit to correct.