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Thread: Scanning with a digital camera

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    San Diego, CA
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    65

    Cool Scanning with a digital camera

    Yesterday I drove to best buy locked on the idea of buying a V700. It seems that best buy is the one with best prices on this scanner right now (check online).

    They didn't have it. Well, the item is not available for store pick up.

    I've been reading a lot about scanners here lately, and the purpose for this scanner would be to do simple scans to post the images on the web. I was hearing voices in my head saying that $500 would be to expensive for web photos. I also realized that for that eventual piece of art, a V700 would be bellow expectations.

    So here's what I tried:





    I just placed the chrome on top of the light box and took a picture using my dSLR and a decent 50mm prime lens. The definition I believe is good enough for the web. The colors are not good, and at the left it is shifting to yellow because my lightbox (an x-ray viewing box) seems to have a yellowish ligh on that side.

    I think that when I fix the lightbox and spend a bit more time on photoshop equating the colors to the original, it will be even better.

    Now I have $500 to spend elsewhere (somebody said lenses?)


    Anybody else here done the same?

  2. #2

    Re: Scanning with a digital camera

    Did you do anything to keep the film flat? Use a polarizer to minimize reflections?

    I thought about doing something similar to make 35mm slide dupes from 4x5. This would mainly reduce my lab costs of making dupes. I was not sure about all the issues, though I do have a very new twin 5000ºK light box. Seems like it should work okay for simple reproduction.

    Ciao!

    Gordon Moat
    A G Studio

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    San Diego, CA
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    Re: Scanning with a digital camera

    Quote Originally Posted by Gordon Moat View Post
    Did you do anything to keep the film flat? Use a polarizer to minimize reflections?

    I thought about doing something similar to make 35mm slide dupes from 4x5. This would mainly reduce my lab costs of making dupes. I was not sure about all the issues, though I do have a very new twin 5000ēK light box. Seems like it should work okay for simple reproduction.

    Ciao!

    Gordon Moat
    A G Studio

    No, it was 2 in the morning and that was a quick and dirty test. The brownish border at the left I believe is because the film was not flat.

    I'm confident that I'll be able to get a decent quality for web photos. My bogen tripod has "copy" extension arm, so that would help the perspective. I've used a wide aperture because I was handhelding the camera, so if I mount it in the tripod, I will be able to use smaller apertures and I'll also test with a polarizer.

  4. #4

    Re: Scanning with a digital camera

    Thanks Padu. I look forward to seeing your improved results. This might be a nice 4x5 to web solution, or for making 35mm dupes. Best of luck.

    Ciao!

    Gordon Moat
    A G Studio

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
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    2,639

    Re: Scanning with a digital camera

    I use a flatbed, with a 35mm neg scanner lightbox built in. Basically I trick it into thinking I'm scanning 35mm..

    I scan a length, check the leveling, then move the neg across, scanning up to 3 sections for one 4x5. I then stitch it together manually, as I don't trust the photostitch programs. I can get high res that way

    I use a piece of glass taped to the base to keep the neg perpendicular

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
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    2,639

    Re: Scanning with a digital camera

    hmm actually is there a way of rigging a dslr/digicam onto a 4x5 enlarger?

    I know I know, if you have the darkroom then just make a print, then scan the print.

    Be interesting if the lenspanel could be made to accept the enlarging lens, and a set of copy-bellows. In effect the neg is 'enlarged' (rather, reduced) onto the camera's sensor ??

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Sep 1998
    Location
    Loganville , GA
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    14,409

    Re: Scanning with a digital camera

    Take a look at the Novoflex CASTEL COP DIGI duplicator for slides.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
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    2,639

    Re: Scanning with a digital camera

    http://www.novoflex.com/english/html/co_ema3.php

    Looks a bit rubbish, to be fair

  9. #9
    Whatever David A. Goldfarb's Avatar
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    Mar 2000
    Location
    Honolulu, Hawai'i
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    4,658

    Re: Scanning with a digital camera

    Just for web output or anything that your digicam is good for (small prints, offset printing, etc.), it's a handy method of digitizing slides and negs. Before I had a scanner for MF and LF negs, I did this with a 5000K light pad and a sheet of glass over the neg or transparency, and I turned off the room lights to prevent reflections. For higher resolution than the camera provides, you could of course take multiple shots and stitch.

    I keep a digicam on a copy stand most of the time mainly for digitizing documents and making PDF files, because it's so much faster than a scanner. I've been considering just upgrading it and replacing my scanners with it, because it's fast, I have several good lenses for such use, and is good enough for what I need (mainly web display--if I print digitally, I get a drum scan).

  10. #10

    Re: Scanning with a digital camera

    What about just picking up a 4990 off ebay.They are under 400 bucks, and will do your art too as long as you don't go too big.I wet mount mine with a scanmax kit and the 11z14's I've been getting are mind blowing.

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