Light source to digitized slides: Just acquired a Nikon 60mm and Nikon ES-2. Looking for a good light source to use that would be constant instead of using a window as the light...

farwest Loc: Utah

Just acquired a Nikon 60mm and Nikon ES-2. Looking for a good light source to use that would be constant instead of using a window as the light source. What has worked for those that have done this. Thanks in advance. I appreciate all the feedback on questions I have asked in the past. This forum has helped my journey in photography a lot.

photosbytw Loc: Blue Ridge Mountains

Have a look see at Logan Light Box for the desk
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Logan-Vintage-Light-Box-Desk-Top-Model-810-920-12-5-x-9-5/362846086132

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

I use an old color enlarger lamp. I can dial in the color compensation I choose. Got it at a garage sale, discarded everything but the lamp housing. Works great. I have a 60mm Micro as well.

Jim Plogger Loc: East Tennessee

It seems that it would be helpful to know how many or how often you digitize slides. The Epson V600 does an excellent job and is about $220.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I use an LED white light panel. About 5x7 inches or there a-bouts. Cool constant pure white light. Works for me. They are available at B&H and Adorama.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

I use a Bowens Illumitran (Flash) or Magnum unit, like an upside-down colour-head. Do a White Balance / or dial -in CMY to remove any caste. Use my FF Nikon with enlarger optics. Quick and easy, quicker than my Canon Scanner.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

Actually, I have done mine with a Nikon Speedlight and Nikon SC-28 cord for a light source. Consistant and works great.

BebuLamar

Speedlight in manual mode would work well. I used to use the upside down color head and the enlarger as copy stand but I don't have the enlarger anymore.

therwol Loc: USA

cameraf4 wrote:

Actually, I have done mine with a Nikon Speedlight and Nikon SC-28 cord for a light source. Consistant and works great.

I agree with the speedlight idea. If you use an LED light source, make sure it has very high color rendition ratings. The cheap light boxes you can buy don't cut it. You can read the specs of these light sources in the B&H online catalog.

Incandescent bulbs provide the full spectrum of light, but they put out heat and need some way to diffuse the light. Also, the color temperature (typically 2700-2900K) must be adjusted for in the camera.

From Wikipedia.

Film and video high-CRI LED lighting incompatibility
Problems have been encountered attempting to use LED lighting on film and video sets. The color spectra of LED lighting primary colors does not match the expected color wavelength bandpasses of film emulsions and digital sensors. As a result, color rendition can be completely unpredictable in optical prints, transfers to digital media from film (DIs), and video camera recordings. This phenomenon with respect to motion picture film has been documented in an LED lighting evaluation series of tests produced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences scientific staff.[35]

To that end, various other metrics such as the TLCI (television lighting consistency index) have been developed to replace the human observer with a camera observer.[36] Similar to the CRI, the metric measures quality of a light source as it would appear on camera on a scale from 0 to 100.[37] Some manufacturers say that their products have TLCI values of up to 99.[38]

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Suggestion from a very knowledgeable member here:

burkphoto wrote:

An iPhone 7 Plus or iPhone 8 Plus and a custom white balance works great. Keep the phone plugged into a power adapter and set it at maximum brightness and never to sleep.

Be sure to mask ALL stray light from entering your lens.

Use raw capture and post-processing for best results. You can recover highlight and shadow details that a JPEG would never contain.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

farwest wrote:

Just acquired a Nikon 60mm and Nikon ES-2. Looking for a good light source to use that would be constant instead of using a window as the light source. What has worked for those that have done this. Thanks in advance. I appreciate all the feedback on questions I have asked in the past. This forum has helped my journey in photography a lot.

You want a light panel that can produce 5400k daylight balanced light. Something like this LED panel from Lume Cube:

https://lumecube.com/collections/lights/products/lume-cube-panel-led

Here's a great DPReview video on the ES-2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBWNgtxMlY0&t=7s

Dik

Waveform Absolute Series LED strips have the best color rendering available from LEDs. Expensive, but worth it.

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

photosbytw wrote:

Have a look see at Logan Light Box for the desk
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Logan-Vintage-Light-Box-Desk-Top-Model-810-920-12-5-x-9-5/362846086132

Steve DeMott Loc: St. Louis, Missouri (Oakville area)

farwest wrote:

Just acquired a Nikon 60mm and Nikon ES-2. Looking for a good light source to use that would be constant instead of using a window as the light source. What has worked for those that have done this. Thanks in advance. I appreciate all the feedback on questions I have asked in the past. This forum has helped my journey in photography a lot.

check out Thrift, goodwill, or salvation Army stores and buy a slide projector for a light source (about 5-10 dollars). Put some diffusion material between the projector & slide.
Also works great for desktop projects lighting small objects
Hope this helps

Steve

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

I have not tried it but I read once that a member used his PC. He logged into MS Word and pulled up a blank page which gave a clean white screen and was perfect for slide copying. Worth a try!