Digitise film negs with Reverser?

cosmicap · 01-13-2009, 11:18 PM

I seem to wasting my time experimenting with digitising old colour film negs with an Ohnar Reverser. I haven't got the focus right (although it should just screw on and be ata set focus?) and the field of view is only of the centre of the neg. When turning on the camera I set the focal length to 50mm. This is just a guess, the Reverser has no information and does FL make a difference anyway? Taking the out of focus results to PhotoShop and inverting the colours doesn't get me very far either. Is this a dead end or is there someone who could guide me to decent results, please. The Reverser was originally purchased to convert slides to negative in my old film days and worked tolerably well although cropped the image a bit. Perhaps its just not suited for the job.

HGMonaro · 01-14-2009, 08:55 PM

It certainly needs to be in-focus to have usable results! Maybe it's adjustable somehow. A quick google shows one for sale in NZ with instructions.. maybe email them to see if they'll scan a few pages for you!

alohadave · 01-15-2009, 10:34 AM

Negatives have an orange mask that needs to be corrected for, otherwise you'll have a color cast that will need to be fixed later.

You may have better luck taking a picture of the negative or scanning, and converting them in something like VueScan or Silverfast.

cosmicap · 01-15-2009, 09:47 PM

Thanks HGMonaro and alohadave. Could not find the aBay item with instructions-perhaps its gone. It's a simple enough gadget- a holder for the neg/slide on the end of an M42 threaded tube that has a tiny lens embedded halfway up. It is meant to be fixed focus when screwed onto the camera but does not seem to be so when attached to the 200D.

As for the orange colour caste I think I'll just have to persevere with PS. Thanks for your replies!

kkcwiebe · 03-10-2009, 07:21 AM

I can say witout a doubt that the only correct way to do this is to scan the film with a proprietary film scanner. For low end work the best way is to run out and get a Nikon supercool scan and Vuescan or Silverfast. Then read Scantips.com then scan all your film. Once finished you can sell that scanner on Ebay for 80% of your original investment! For my business I use a nikon supercoolscan 5000ED and the feeder but for large format and Hi-end scans I use a Hassleblad Imacon but the Nikons scans are near perfect all the time.
K

01-13-2009, 11:18 PM	#1
cosmicap Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Horsham, VIC, Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 108	Digitise film negs with Reverser? I seem to wasting my time experimenting with digitising old colour film negs with an Ohnar Reverser. I haven't got the focus right (although it should just screw on and be ata set focus?) and the field of view is only of the centre of the neg. When turning on the camera I set the focal length to 50mm. This is just a guess, the Reverser has no information and does FL make a difference anyway? Taking the out of focus results to PhotoShop and inverting the colours doesn't get me very far either. Is this a dead end or is there someone who could guide me to decent results, please. The Reverser was originally purchased to convert slides to negative in my old film days and worked tolerably well although cropped the image a bit. Perhaps its just not suited for the job.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Epson V700 doesn't recognise 35 negs.	raymondo	Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom	1	09-07-2010 03:33 AM
First negs from S1a - Shutter problem, or not...?	tommessenger	Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras	8	05-21-2010 09:03 AM
Telesor Zoom Reverser	drjaxon	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	1	03-10-2009 02:07 PM
Transparency or Negs for web scanning?	Ira	Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras	11	03-07-2009 07:06 AM
Ohnar zoom reverser / slide copier	Lloydy	Pentax DSLR Discussion	0	03-25-2008 04:57 PM

01-14-2009, 08:55 PM	#2
HGMonaro Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Melb. Aust Posts: 840	It certainly needs to be in-focus to have usable results! Maybe it's adjustable somehow. A quick google shows one for sale in NZ with instructions.. maybe email them to see if they'll scan a few pages for you!

01-15-2009, 10:34 AM	#3
alohadave Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Quincy, MA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,024	Negatives have an orange mask that needs to be corrected for, otherwise you'll have a color cast that will need to be fixed later. You may have better luck taking a picture of the negative or scanning, and converting them in something like VueScan or Silverfast.

01-15-2009, 09:47 PM	#4
cosmicap Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Horsham, VIC, Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 108 Original Poster	Thanks HGMonaro and alohadave. Could not find the aBay item with instructions-perhaps its gone. It's a simple enough gadget- a holder for the neg/slide on the end of an M42 threaded tube that has a tiny lens embedded halfway up. It is meant to be fixed focus when screwed onto the camera but does not seem to be so when attached to the 200D. As for the orange colour caste I think I'll just have to persevere with PS. Thanks for your replies!

03-10-2009, 07:21 AM	#5
kkcwiebe Inactive Account Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 7	I can say witout a doubt that the only correct way to do this is to scan the film with a proprietary film scanner. For low end work the best way is to run out and get a Nikon supercool scan and Vuescan or Silverfast. Then read Scantips.com then scan all your film. Once finished you can sell that scanner on Ebay for 80% of your original investment! For my business I use a nikon supercoolscan 5000ED and the feeder but for large format and Hi-end scans I use a Hassleblad Imacon but the Nikons scans are near perfect all the time. K