VERY nice way to do this and very well presented. However, this unit has a built in lens which is not as hight a quality as a good quality camera macro lens which is normally used with other parts (such as bellows or closeup tubes) to copy photos. BUT the quality is most likely good enough for casual use. However if you are looking to do large fine art prints, I suspect the quality may suffice.
They are usually fixed focus very close to the end of the lens. So there usually isn't a way to focus them. You just have to find the sweet spot for focus and use that
I am familiar with these from the 70s-80s when they were used to make duplicate slides, as the name suggests. It wasn't so much for making a negative from your slide because slides could be printed directly. It was more for the person who maybe needed multiple copies of the same slides in order to send them out to apply for exhibitions or to use applying for jobs. But, yes indeed, they can be had for very low prices and work quite well for turning slides or negs into digital full-frame images. If you have a histogram you can use to make sure you're not clipping the highlights or shadows while shooting, that's a good idea too. It's hard to judge just looking at the digital neg on the LCD. Also, some of the light tables out there have either LED light patterns (like a screen) or fluorescent lights that can have a repeating wave pattern if the shutter speed is not right. I was finding with my older flourescent light table, 5000k so daylight balanced, but any ss over 1/30th I think it was, would give me bars of brighter and darker exposure moving across the image. Also, I had the best luck keeping negs flat using a piece of ANR glass and laying it right on top of the neg and that on top of the diffused plastic on the light table. I taped down one edge and then I could lift the other side and move the negs easily. I was able to shoot about 50-60 negs per hour, so good enough for me and way faster than using a flatbed or film scanner. I used a Nikon Z7 with the Nikon Z 50mm macro and was very satisfied with all neg sizes, 126, 35mm, and many 120 sizes. I was able to get any neg to fill the frame on a copy stand just by adjusting the height.
Literally just found out about slide copiers yesterday, I was thinking about getting a super35 to do it but this is just so much simpler and cheaper! No need to reinvent the wheel lol
@@betolov well you can get m42 to fuji adapters from b&h or from the K&F website. Assuming what you have uses an m42 screw mount. That being said, the mirrorless fuji cameras are all crop sensor, so it wouldn't cover the full frame of a 35mm negative if that's what youre planning on doing
I scanned some of my negatives from the 90s a few days ago. I got the same noise as you have on the sky. I don't know if it is from my digital camera or it is the film grain. I use ISO 100 and f/6.2 on the camera. Anyone, please let me know if it is caused by my equipment or not.
Yeah -- a not too uncommon item from online thrift-store sites since no one would use them as originally designed anymore. Many have an internal lens element also, so double-check that it is clear/fungus-free. I like your common-area floor -- is that just varnished waferboard? Thanks!
hi, this is so informative thank you! if i have a full frame dslr, could i use a duplicator like this to capture the whole 35mm image including sprockets? (yes i have one of those gimmick lomography cameras...)
Mine isn't able to capture the sprockets, just barely fits the image perfectly on full frame. But maybe some duplicators out there may have a larger field of view, I'm not sure
2 major cons, first you need a full frame dslr otherwise your picture will be crop, and second these duplicators have lens in it and the quality is not as great as it seems…
nice, I didn't know about it, anyway I bought the essential film holder because I had the macro (canon) and apparently there is no adapter like there is for nikon 105 makro to hold Film.
Yes, because these were set up specifically as slide duplicators, they just came with metal slide holders. It allows for pretty fast slide copying. Auto exposure on your digital camera will adjust if set for aperture preferred. Manual focus but usually set up to be sharp at the max. extension of the macro lens. I used to use mine with a standard Canon 50mm lens and that worked too. I must have had some extension tubes in the mix. I have one of the Nikon tubes to attach to the front of my macro lens and it works okay on a copy stand, but honestly, I could not get sharp images when I set it up on a tripod. There's too much tilt in the end of the unit. For $149 from Nikon, it's not nearly as well made as the old all metal slide duplicating tubes. I got mine for $10-20 new in the box on eBay. It worked great with my old Canon 5d, but I gave that camera away. It was easier to use than the new Nikon Z7, but I wanted the additional resolution for shooting landscapes. I tried the Sony FF, but I'm selling it, too hard to use on anything but program mode.
These slide duplicators were popular when people had 35mm s;ides and wanted copies to give to others. They were all the same. There was no quality range from cheap to expensive; they were all cheap. How cheap? The new price was usually around $40 or less. That covers the tubes, lens and interchangeable camera mount. The lens involved is very minimal. People who wanted to make quality duplicates used a bellows unit with a good macro lens (like popular today). What these units do deliver is convenience. There are no adjustments, just attach, insert slide or negative and shoot. Exposure is on you. He says quality is as good or better than an Epson flatbed. That's a pretty sad commentary on the Epson unit, and probably untrue. Most of these are "no name" brand.
I have a link in the description of the video with some sample images. I'm not saying all slide duplicators are great, I'm sure a lot are trash, but this one happens to be pretty good
@@dsikid3 It all depends on what you plan to do with the resulting image. If you are putting it on a computer monitor or phone, then it all makes no significant difference. If you plan to enlarge the image and make a print to hang, whether digitally or in the darkroom, then you really need to stick with the dedicated film scanner (not flatbed) or a macro copying rig. The marco rig under best lens situation can resolve about the same as the top of line Epson flatbed, but it look better and cleaner because it can focus more precisely than the flatbed. There is not a consumer macro lens today which will resolve more 125 lines per millimeter, and that translates into about the resolution of an Epson 850. The best (old) Nikon and Minolta scanners can generate a linear resolution which is some 30-40% better, but they bring to the table the computer fussy to run issues and take vastly longer to scan out any given image. That is partly why those scanners are not being made today, leaving only trash like the Plustek models to represent that technology.
They don't talk about it because it is obsolete. Try an Epson 4490 flatbed scanner. Make sure it includes the slide and negative holders. Mine works great.
VERY nice way to do this and very well presented. However, this unit has a built in lens which is not as hight a quality as a good quality camera macro lens which is normally used with other parts (such as bellows or closeup tubes) to copy photos. BUT the quality is most likely good enough for casual use. However if you are looking to do large fine art prints, I suspect the quality may suffice.
How do you focus it? I have one of these. It has a zoom dial on it but no focus ring, so everything is constantly out of focus.
They are usually fixed focus very close to the end of the lens. So there usually isn't a way to focus them. You just have to find the sweet spot for focus and use that
I am familiar with these from the 70s-80s when they were used to make duplicate slides, as the name suggests. It wasn't so much for making a negative from your slide because slides could be printed directly. It was more for the person who maybe needed multiple copies of the same slides in order to send them out to apply for exhibitions or to use applying for jobs. But, yes indeed, they can be had for very low prices and work quite well for turning slides or negs into digital full-frame images. If you have a histogram you can use to make sure you're not clipping the highlights or shadows while shooting, that's a good idea too. It's hard to judge just looking at the digital neg on the LCD. Also, some of the light tables out there have either LED light patterns (like a screen) or fluorescent lights that can have a repeating wave pattern if the shutter speed is not right. I was finding with my older flourescent light table, 5000k so daylight balanced, but any ss over 1/30th I think it was, would give me bars of brighter and darker exposure moving across the image. Also, I had the best luck keeping negs flat using a piece of ANR glass and laying it right on top of the neg and that on top of the diffused plastic on the light table. I taped down one edge and then I could lift the other side and move the negs easily. I was able to shoot about 50-60 negs per hour, so good enough for me and way faster than using a flatbed or film scanner. I used a Nikon Z7 with the Nikon Z 50mm macro and was very satisfied with all neg sizes, 126, 35mm, and many 120 sizes. I was able to get any neg to fill the frame on a copy stand just by adjusting the height.
Literally just found out about slide copiers yesterday, I was thinking about getting a super35 to do it but this is just so much simpler and cheaper! No need to reinvent the wheel lol
The review is all over the place. But I am following because of the turd joke. 100%
I've seen one of these at a shop which sells used gear, I may pick it up, sounds like an absolutely amazing idea, thank you loads!
My pleasure 🙂
can't wait to try this! thank you!!
Awesome character and great vibe. Cheers from Prague, Czechia
I'm pretty sure you can still use an apsc sensor and just take multiple pictures and stitch them together
I like your editing style. I just subbed.
But can it be placed on a DX camera? Because it seems it wouldn't align with a crop sensor?
You'd only be able to have an angle of view the same size as your crop sensor. So a dx sensor will capture an area equal to the sensor
@@dsikid3 oh I see. Thanks!
Is there an adapter for Fuji?
I believe there is
@@dsikid3 any idea where I can get one?
@@betolov well you can get m42 to fuji adapters from b&h or from the K&F website. Assuming what you have uses an m42 screw mount. That being said, the mirrorless fuji cameras are all crop sensor, so it wouldn't cover the full frame of a 35mm negative if that's what youre planning on doing
Why didn't I ever think of this? Thank you!
You are very welcome 😊
I scanned some of my negatives from the 90s a few days ago. I got the same noise as you have on the sky. I don't know if it is from my digital camera or it is the film grain. I use ISO 100 and f/6.2 on the camera. Anyone, please let me know if it is caused by my equipment or not.
Yeah -- a not too uncommon item from online thrift-store sites since no one would use them as originally designed anymore. Many have an internal lens element also, so double-check that it is clear/fungus-free. I like your common-area floor -- is that just varnished waferboard? Thanks!
That's some good advice! And yeah, the floor is just varnished waferboard. Cheap but practical
Wait just wondering, why can't you just directly use a sony e to m42 adapter?
I very well could, but I had the 3 adapter already so that's what I did. Saves me some money
@@dsikid3 Ah I see, alright thank you, will check it out
hi, this is so informative thank you! if i have a full frame dslr, could i use a duplicator like this to capture the whole 35mm image including sprockets? (yes i have one of those gimmick lomography cameras...)
Mine isn't able to capture the sprockets, just barely fits the image perfectly on full frame. But maybe some duplicators out there may have a larger field of view, I'm not sure
@@dsikid3 Forget it! these were made to duplicate 35mm slides. They are slightly less than full frame coverage to avoid including the slide mount.
2 major cons, first you need a full frame dslr otherwise your picture will be crop, and second these duplicators have lens in it and the quality is not as great as it seems…
1. That is very true. I go over that.
2. That is very true. It can be a gamble
Nikon makes one as well.
amazing! teach us how to develop!
That'll be a video for some other day, hopefully
I have a bunch of those , lens quality is not good.
nice, I didn't know about it, anyway I bought the essential film holder because I had the macro (canon) and apparently there is no adapter like there is for nikon 105 makro to hold Film.
Yes, because these were set up specifically as slide duplicators, they just came with metal slide holders. It allows for pretty fast slide copying. Auto exposure on your digital camera will adjust if set for aperture preferred. Manual focus but usually set up to be sharp at the max. extension of the macro lens. I used to use mine with a standard Canon 50mm lens and that worked too. I must have had some extension tubes in the mix. I have one of the Nikon tubes to attach to the front of my macro lens and it works okay on a copy stand, but honestly, I could not get sharp images when I set it up on a tripod. There's too much tilt in the end of the unit. For $149 from Nikon, it's not nearly as well made as the old all metal slide duplicating tubes. I got mine for $10-20 new in the box on eBay. It worked great with my old Canon 5d, but I gave that camera away. It was easier to use than the new Nikon Z7, but I wanted the additional resolution for shooting landscapes. I tried the Sony FF, but I'm selling it, too hard to use on anything but program mode.
These slide duplicators were popular when people had 35mm s;ides and wanted copies to give to others. They were all the same. There was no quality range from cheap to expensive; they were all cheap. How cheap? The new price was usually around $40 or less. That covers the tubes, lens and interchangeable camera mount. The lens involved is very minimal. People who wanted to make quality duplicates used a bellows unit with a good macro lens (like popular today). What these units do deliver is convenience. There are no adjustments, just attach, insert slide or negative and shoot. Exposure is on you. He says quality is as good or better than an Epson flatbed. That's a pretty sad commentary on the Epson unit, and probably untrue. Most of these are "no name" brand.
I have a link in the description of the video with some sample images. I'm not saying all slide duplicators are great, I'm sure a lot are trash, but this one happens to be pretty good
@@dsikid3 It all depends on what you plan to do with the resulting image. If you are putting it on a computer monitor or phone, then it all makes no significant difference. If you plan to enlarge the image and make a print to hang, whether digitally or in the darkroom, then you really need to stick with the dedicated film scanner (not flatbed) or a macro copying rig. The marco rig under best lens situation can resolve about the same as the top of line Epson flatbed, but it look better and cleaner because it can focus more precisely than the flatbed. There is not a consumer macro lens today which will resolve more 125 lines per millimeter, and that translates into about the resolution of an Epson 850. The best (old) Nikon and Minolta scanners can generate a linear resolution which is some 30-40% better, but they bring to the table the computer fussy to run issues and take vastly longer to scan out any given image. That is partly why those scanners are not being made today, leaving only trash like the Plustek models to represent that technology.
They don't talk about it because it is obsolete. Try an Epson 4490 flatbed scanner. Make sure it includes the slide and negative holders. Mine works great.
I'm not saying scanning doesn't work great. But don't knock slide slide copiers it till you try it ;)
literally the worst way