burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Much better. Remember that projector lamps were 3300K to 3350K color temperature. Pro light boxes used by editors were 5000K. So if you have a high quality, adjustable LED source, experiment. Find the most neutral setting that works with your setup.

I’m using 4400K on the (under $50) Viltrox L-116t. I set a manual white balance off the light itself in auto exposure mode. Then I slow the shutter down 2.5 stops and do a test bracket to find optimum exposure, using a normally exposed slide.

I capture raw files only, but having the white balance in the EXIF table sets it for Lightroom Classic, and it only needs minor tweaks from there.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I would use a flatbed scanner or ScanCafe. A scanner works remarkably well, and you don't have to pay yourself to use it. You just have to put in the time, but that can be fun.

therwol Loc: USA

Great Photo!

therwol Loc: USA

You got it right. If you have the patience to get through all you want to transfer, just stick with this method. For the future (maybe), flatbed scanners are good for volume, but even the best can have uneven focus across a film holder. Dedicated film scanners tend to be better.

St.Mary's

burkephoto:"It's not for fumble-fingered nattering nabobs of negativity." Spiro T. Angnew lives!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Thanks! John and I were at Davidson College in the same non-frat house. I recorded his first demo tapes and photographed his first album. Genius 12-string guitarist.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I wondered if anyone caught that! Spiro was disgusting, but I loved that quote.

Kenmull

I found a simple solution. I mounted my camera onto a board and an Aputure light at the end and after adjusting the light for sunlight, works great.

nblue

I have and use the Nikon system and have had good results. Always have to remember "S" in = "S" out.

DaveyDitzer Loc: Western PA

Is it necessary to dismount the slides to get best quality?

photoman43

I agree that our of focus is the main problem I see. I use the same Nikon lens and the ES 2 when I digitize slides. You must focus each slide separately. I do this mostly with manual focus and live view. I do not set the lens to a small f stop opening like f 16 or f22. I try and use f8 or f11 to get some benefit from stopping down the lens. I want to make sure I avoid any issues from diffration.

I do all my work inside and my light source is the same for each slide. I use an old 35mm slide viewing box with a lamp that is color corrected to daylight. You could buy a light table or use a flash. I place the light box on its side right in front of the ES 2 mounted to the front of the 60mm lens.

I make sure everything is rock solid to avoid any camera movement. Camera and lens is on a tripod.

Google how to use the es2 slide digitizer: Not all these steps are needed. Figure out what what workflow will work best for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNK24oQICUc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcL_TrOATR0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPuOwoT7iPs

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yes and no. The most important thing is to keep the slide parallel to the camera sensor! That means maintaining flat film and flat mounts.

It depends on the condition of the slide. Is it mounted in a clean glass mount with anti-Newton's ring glass? Then it is probably not necessary to dismount the slide, but removing it will improve the accuracy of the color.

Is it in a warped paper mount with noticeable creases and loose adhesive? Then either remount the slide or remove it from the mount and place it in a film holder.

I use the rather excellent Essential Film Holder slide carrier. It works reasonably well. Since I'm using Micro 4/3 with a 30mm macro lens, I use f/5.6 most of the time. Diffraction limiting of sharpness is readily apparent starting at f/8, so I try to stay at f/4 to f/6.3, the best all-around quality apertures on my lens. If I have to, I'll use f/8 to reduce the effects of curl in paper or plastic mounted slides.

Once in a while, I have a slide with too much curl. I remove it from the mount, clean it, put it in an enlarger negative carrier, and use that as my film holder (see my white paper, there's a photo of it). I have to do that for strips of film shorter than four 35mm frames, anyway. Longer strips can be pushed and pulled through the EFH.

JimRPhoto Loc: Raleigh NC

Hi Gatorcoach. I’m in the midst of doing the same thing. Also using the Nikon ES-2 with a macro lens. I suggest use autofocus, which is the only way I’ve done it. I have the camera on a tripod at a north facing window that gets good diffused light, use a remote release to avoid camera shake. I have had excellent results - I actually went back and re-did the prior scanned ones which were not in focus. The camera autofocus will find the right focus point. Recall the film may curve in the mount, so I have my autofocus in the center. If the film has degraded, of course you will get less adequate results. But with autofocus, auto exposure (which I adjust with plus or minus from time to time) you should get great results. Let me know if you want to discuss further. I’ve done over a thousand so far. JimR

therwol Loc: USA

So I would want to know if the OP (Gatorcoach) tried autofocus first. (Are you still reading?) I would normally suggest trying it, especially with such a solid setup, however the pictures that were initially posted were out of focus, and it would be assumed that someone would try autofocus first.

I can think of a reason why it wouldn't work well in the normal mode with the mirror down. Many lenses have to be fine tuned to the camera in this scenario. (I can assure you that I know because I have a D810 and D850 and have fine tuned a number of lenses because of visible near and far focusing.) The depth of field at 1:1 requires critical focus. If I were using autofocus copying slides, then I'd do it in the Live View mode where fine tuning the lens is not necessary, but from personal experience, autofocus in the Live View mode can suffer with a subject that doesn't have a lot of contrast.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you use autofocus, for the sharpest results, be sure to photograph the EMULSION side of the film. The image will not be right-reading, but you can flop the orientation in Lightroom Classic or another software. Flopping is creating a mirror image of an image. If you have a mirror image to start with, because you photographed the emulsion instead of the base, then flopping that mirror image makes it "right reading" again.

WHY photograph the emulsion? Especially with black-and-white film and Kodachrome slides, the image is built-up as metallic silver (B&W), or ridged layers of dyes (Kodachrome). If you use AF with the BASE (shiny side of the film) towards the sensor, the AF mechanism is likely to focus on the base of the film, a few thousandths of an inch away from the actual image in/on the emulsion side. I learned this through repeated testing. It really makes a big difference. The results are far more consistently sharp when you use AF on the emulsion side of the film.