Robert Ley

I am in the first stages of coping 35mm slides, 1000+ so it is a big project that I would only like to do once.
I am using a Bowens illumitran that I can mount either my Nikon D600 or my DX D7100. The illumatran comes with what was once a decent 60mm f:5.6 Companon enlarging lens.

While starting to copy I discovered that there is a slight amount of haze in the lens as I was getting flare on slides that had a bright spot in the image, say a stream or bright water feature. I switched over to my 60mm f:2.8 macro lens and the D600 but was having some trouble focusing.

My major question is when using a bellows with a lens that is focus-able do you put the lens at infinity and use the bellows or can you use a combination of the bellows and the lens?

I have been thinking of using the D7100 to photograph most of the slides as jpeg's and then using the D600 and shooting select slides that I want to work with in Raw.

I have an older Nikon 35mm f:2 that I could mount on the illumitran with the D7100 or I could probably still use the 60mm f:2.8.

Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Robert

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

It's been a while since I dealt with this, but since the act of focusing the lens merely involves moving the elements forwards and backwards by twisting the helicoid and the bellows is just another way to move said elements back and forth, I imagine it won't matter which way you go.

Of course, you could actually try both ways out to see what works best...