[pathdoc]

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So a short while ago, a very nice chap on this forum sold me his copy of the Pentax Macro Bellows II, an affair that ran on a single rail with a retaining screw at both ends and has a bellows setup for M42 lenses.

Not long after this arrived in the post, what should appear on e-bay but the Asahi Pentax Slide Copier? Aha, i said, and pounced on it eagerly; just hand me a desk lamp and my film digitisation worries are over!

Today it arrived, and I attempted to marry the two. NO GO. It seems there are TWO versions at least of the lens-bellows-camera half, this one and one that rides on TWO rails, and confusingly it is the SECOND which is described even in the Spotmatic-era book "The Asahi Pentax Way". There is a lug on the slide copier half which prevents it from locking together with the camera-bellows rail that I have, but probably does fit into a slot on the K mount (and later Spotmatic-era) versions.

Joy turned to despair, but then I remembered hey, the 35mm Limited Macro is probably the closest-focusing lens that Pentax ever made. Perhaps I can just hook it directly up to the slide copier and run with it. The only problem here is the integral hood, but I found that if I slid that all the way back and left the protective filter on, the bellows will take the filter inside itself and lock onto the camera. Desk lamp on, film in and away we go!

Not quite - there's not quite enough stand-off distance between the sensor plane and the film to capture the entire frame. What have I got? Another UV filter? No. Hang on, I have a 49-52mm step up ring and a 52-49mm step DOWN ring. Put those in series with the UV filter and we have JUST enough stand-off to get the whole thing in. Better still, I have an old screw-in hood for 49mm lenses that has long since lost its rubber, and that (when I can get it together with the rest of the stuff) should provide even MORE stand-off! Some experimentation may be required to prevent vignetting, BUT we are essentially just about there.

The next question, of course, relates to negative-to-positive conversion. There are online and downloadable apps for that, sure, but they add to workflow and waste time. And then it hit me - the K-5's own inbuilt filters! I flicked through them, and SURE ENOUGH, ONE IS AN INVERSION FILTER. And on top of that we have white balance adjustments to match my light source (a cool white 60W CFL desklamp)... TRIUMPH!! I have a thing I can hold in my two hands, feed film into frame by frame, point it at the light source to get good exposure, and click, one frame after another. Lovely positive JPEGs, straight out of the camera from film to SD card!

The quality isn't great so far, and I'll have to do a fair bit to optimise the settings, but right now I couldn't be happier! Proof of concept, yay!!!

Now to get that first roll of B&W film finished so I can develop it at home...

[Kath]

Congratulations on your invention. You've confirmed my belief that persistence is at least 50% of the solution. Creativity is another 45%.


The other 5% might be having a lot of old stuff in the cupboard you can pull out and... voila!

[pathdoc]

The other thing, I realised, is that now I have a reason to go look up how to save user settings. One default for day to day stuff; another for all the filters I need to take jpegs of negatives. Looks like I'm really going to end up wringing my money's worth out of this thing after all!

[From1980]

Good for you pathdoc and congratulations on beating your challenge. Lot of fun to rig up a solution like this isn`t it? And cost effective.

[Des]

For those with Pathdoc's patience: Pentax Slide copier and auto bellows, K T6-2x rear converter, tube extensions

[pathdoc]

It's not so much patience as a forced workaround, but it ended up working far better than I ever expected. It constitutes a warning to be VERY careful if you buy the parts separately to ensure you have the right bits - long and the short is that the single-polygonal-rail bellows does NOT work with the circular-rail slide copier unless you can work some sort of lash-up or are willing and able to machine the face of the bellows rail to accept the square lug of the slide copier. We live and learn, and neither of the people who sold me the two components separately can or should be blamed for this.

Now that I know what to look for, I shall be on the scrounge to see if I can find the matching slide holder on the cheap.

On the other hand, the money I spent on the macro bellows hasn't been wasted because camera, bellows, lens and all can be arranged to balance neatly on the table top and can be picked up with ease for an awesome mobile M42 macro setup. I don't have a double auto cable release system so I have to meter closed down 24/7 and supply plenty of light to focus and expose with, but it gives my film bodies macro capability without needing to go scrounging for a dedicated film-era macro lens. WIN!

---------- Post added 24-12-15 at 09:46 ----------

The other 5% might be having a lot of old stuff in the cupboard you can pull out

This concerns me a great deal, because it constitutes an excuse to accumulate "a lot of old stuff". Spouses who do not share our interests to the same obsessive degree tend not to appreciate this.

[From1980]

This concerns me a great deal, because it constitutes an excuse to accumulate "a lot of old stuff". Spouses who do not share our interests to the same obsessive degree tend not to appreciate this.

Yes I am guilty and right now in the process of weeding out accumulated items from several camera and lens systems. Sometimes I have to admit part of the old collection is hanging around because "someday I might find a use for this" and that`s just not happening after a few years or thirty.

[Kath]

"someday I might find a use for this".

I have an entire garage full of things that fit this category. It's difficult to get motivated to clean it all out bcause, just when I decide it's time, I find something I need in there. Then it's like, "See? This place is a goldmine!"

[pathdoc]

I have an entire garage full of things that fit this category. It's difficult to get motivated to clean it all out bcause, just when I decide it's time, I find something I need in there. Then it's like, "See? This place is a goldmine!"

When civilisation collapses, the savvy survivors will flock to you for all your useful junk and you will find yourself a very wealthy person indeed.

[Kath]

When civilisation collapses, the savvy survivors will flock to you for all your useful junk and you will find yourself a very wealthy person indeed.

Ha! Good one! Then I'll finally be vindicated! I'll console myself with that while the cars rot out in the driveway. Poor things, they've never seen the inside of a garage...

[From1980]

When civilisation collapses, the savvy survivors will flock to you for all your useful junk and you will find yourself a very wealthy person indeed.

If I`m around then I`ll still be looking for film and processing or solar powered digital.

[Not a Number]

Wait, I'm confused. I thought the Bellows Unit II is the one with two round rails while the later Auto Bellows and Bellow Unit III/K have the single X-beam rail. The X-beam units have an integrated focus slider while the Unit II requires an add-on focus rail.

The Unit II uses the Pentax Slide Copier that has an extension tube/rail that fits into a socket on the front of the bellows. The slide copier for the Unit III and Auto Bellows has a screw.

Pictures are worth a thousand words

[pathdoc]

Wait, I'm confused. I thought the Bellows Unit II is the one with two round rails while the later Auto Bellows and Bellow Unit III/K have the single X-beam rail. The X-beam units have an integrated focus slider while the Unit II requires an add-on focus rail.

The Unit II uses the Pentax Slide Copier that has an extension tube/rail that fits into a socket on the front of the bellows. The slide copier for the Unit III and Auto Bellows has a screw.

Pictures are worth a thousand words

After Christmas I'll be able to get pictures up.

[LesDMess]

Pic of Pentax Auto Bellows K and Pentax Slide Copier K

[pathdoc]

Same rail shape, same base, but I don't think mine has the double release, and it's M42 rather than K mount.