Topic: Scanning Without a Scanner: Digitizing Your Film with a DSLR

[gothamtomato]

Hi all,

I thought you all would be interested in this blog article about using a DSLR instead of a film scanner: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/scanning-without-scanner-digitizing-your-film-dslr?BI=4906

I haven't tried this yet myself, but I am going to give it a shot because I'd love to consolidate my workspace. I'd be curious if anyone here has tried it.

[Bryan]

That's how I scan negatives.  I use an iPad with a piece of translucent white plastic to scatter the pixels, otherwise you will see them through the negative.  There's a free app called filmScanner Lite that turns the iPad into a light table.  Others I have seen use a remote flash for the light source.  I also use old glass-less negative holders from an enlarger to hold the negatives flat.  I used to do it with a sheet of glass from an old picture frame but without anti-newton glass it's hard to avoid newton rings.  A circular polarizing filter did help with the newton rings most of the time.  A tripod or copy stand works to hold the camera, just make sure you are square with the negative.  Make sure the room is dark and block any stray light from your light source, you can get reflections on the lens or the glass. 

The camera I use is an Olympus OM-1 E-M5.  The kit lens has a macro setting.

[Francois]

In the technique for scanning color film, they're really making their life hard for absolutely nothing!
Here's what I do:
1. inverse the image
2. open the levels, take the white eyedropper and select a region that should be white.

That's it!
The color cast will be perfectly removed in the blink of an eye. If you don't like the result, you can undo and try with a different region. If you get the film edge, it makes things even easier.

What I found is that my camera needs to underexpose the negatives just slightly so that they come out brighter when reversed.

[imagesfrugales]

http://photobutmore.de/exakta/zubehoer/diakopier/

That's exactly what I use for 35 mm film together with a 80 mm Rodagon enlarger lens and a APS-C Sony A58 for b/w and transparency. 20 finest MP.  Almost on par with a Nikon scanner. For ultra-contrasty transparencies you could do a HDR-scan. Live view with electronic magnifier is the killer feature. Behind the milky screen I put a small daylight energy saving lamp. With some bellows settings you could even make full resolution crop scans. That would even beat a Nikon scanner. Extremely easy to handle. Once set up, no further refocussing needed, attach the dslr and shoot with 2 sec self timer.

For highest definition you could use a Apo-Rodagon and still save loads of bucks you can waste with film. Or buy a 40 MP full format dslr with a 50 mm Apo-Rodagon and go scaring the drum scanners. But I'm more than satisfied with my budget solution, notice the beautiful grain:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8584/29148678385_f9275008b7_o.jpg

With color neg I didn't get good results so far, maybe I should try it again. And clean negs are a must!

[Francois]

And clean negs are a must!

Definitely!
No digital ICE wizardry here!