Problems with Slide Duplicator

paulelescoces · 03-21-2010, 02:29 AM

Hi All,

have a fairly large slide collection and have been looking for some time at how to digitize this.

I realized that my father in law had an old pentax mount slide duplicator... you mount directly on the camera, drop slide & diffusor at the end of the device and fire off against a backlight.
I tried the duplicator... and liked the results, however the issue I have is that I only get a crop of the image.... I guess is because the duplicator is projecting a 35mm image, and with a APS-C sensor I get the centre crop.
The duplicator istself does not seem to have any "adjustment mechanism" I cannot zoom, I cannot focus (although focus on images looks ok).

anyone with experience of these slide duplicators can suggest anyway to get the full image on APS-C?

JeffJS · 03-21-2010, 02:55 AM

Originally posted by paulelescoces

Hi All,

have a fairly large slide collection and have been looking for some time at how to digitize this.

I realized that my father in law had an old pentax mount slide duplicator... you mount directly on the camera, drop slide & diffusor at the end of the device and fire off against a backlight.
I tried the duplicator... and liked the results, however the issue I have is that I only get a crop of the image.... I guess is because the duplicator is projecting a 35mm image, and with a APS-C sensor I get the centre crop.
The duplicator istself does not seem to have any "adjustment mechanism" I cannot zoom, I cannot focus (although focus on images looks ok).

anyone with experience of these slide duplicators can suggest anyway to get the full image on APS-C?

You've discovered the same problem that sent me on a goose chase finally ending up with an Epson V700 (I wanted it for other formats too). They did make Zoom type slide duplicators (Spiratone) but they zoom IN rather than out. Works great for copying slides onto 35mm film but for digital with a crop sensor, no go. I tried a Pentax Bellows with a slide copier and was able to do it using a 50-200mm lens at about 60mm and the bellows fully extended. Cumbersome, slow, and fair results at best. That was the end of my trying to use a Camera to copy slides into digital format.

Others have had luck with projecting the slides onto a screen and taking photos of them. Others use a Macro lens and backlight the slides. In the end though, I honestly think the best way to go is a dedicated scanner of some sort.

550

Wheatfield · 03-21-2010, 06:17 AM

I was able to do it, but I had to use a 77mm lens on the bellows along with a close up lens.
The slide duplicator had to be moved farther from the lens than it's bellows would allow, so I had to make a tube cut to length to allow it.
I decided it was too much effort and abandoned the project.

RioRico · 03-21-2010, 09:44 AM

And THIS is why it's vital for Pentoya to release a FF dSLR -- so we can all copy our slides with existing duplicators!! Forget all that keeping-up-with-the-Canikony's nonsense -- slide duplication is the killer app!

Ratmagiclady · 03-21-2010, 09:59 AM

Yeah, this is an issue, there: I've been able to get full coverage with an old screwmount bellows, an enlarger lens, and the slide duplicator attachment, though. By the time you do this, scanner options look pretty good if you have the computing power and such, (Not having this ind of motivated this project to begin with.

)

SWEngineer · 03-21-2010, 01:00 PM

My suggestion: Just drop the slide duplicator part.

I "copied" a bunch of slides for my brother a few years ago using a cheap, small 'light
table' with a cardboard cutout so light only passed through the slide. On the camera
side: *istDS + M4/100 macro lens on M (K?) bellows mounted on a tripod. I thought
the result was great, and way cheaper than buying a scanner (since I already had the
other stuff). I guess if you have thousands of slides, a scanner is the better option.
But for a few hundred, the small hassle seems well worth the $$$ saved.

I'm planning to photograph my slide collection (100's, not 1000's) once I upgrade my
camera. KX is tempting. Or maybe I'll hold on longer and see what replaces the K7
or fills the gap in between.

03-21-2010, 02:29 AM	#1
paulelescoces Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Switzerland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 252	Problems with Slide Duplicator Hi All, have a fairly large slide collection and have been looking for some time at how to digitize this. I realized that my father in law had an old pentax mount slide duplicator... you mount directly on the camera, drop slide & diffusor at the end of the device and fire off against a backlight. I tried the duplicator... and liked the results, however the issue I have is that I only get a crop of the image.... I guess is because the duplicator is projecting a 35mm image, and with a APS-C sensor I get the centre crop. The duplicator istself does not seem to have any "adjustment mechanism" I cannot zoom, I cannot focus (although focus on images looks ok). anyone with experience of these slide duplicators can suggest anyway to get the full image on APS-C?

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03-21-2010, 02:55 AM	#2
JeffJS Inactive Account Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Michigan, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 7,484	Originally posted by paulelescoces Hi All, have a fairly large slide collection and have been looking for some time at how to digitize this. I realized that my father in law had an old pentax mount slide duplicator... you mount directly on the camera, drop slide & diffusor at the end of the device and fire off against a backlight. I tried the duplicator... and liked the results, however the issue I have is that I only get a crop of the image.... I guess is because the duplicator is projecting a 35mm image, and with a APS-C sensor I get the centre crop. The duplicator istself does not seem to have any "adjustment mechanism" I cannot zoom, I cannot focus (although focus on images looks ok). anyone with experience of these slide duplicators can suggest anyway to get the full image on APS-C? You've discovered the same problem that sent me on a goose chase finally ending up with an Epson V700 (I wanted it for other formats too). They did make Zoom type slide duplicators (Spiratone) but they zoom IN rather than out. Works great for copying slides onto 35mm film but for digital with a crop sensor, no go. I tried a Pentax Bellows with a slide copier and was able to do it using a 50-200mm lens at about 60mm and the bellows fully extended. Cumbersome, slow, and fair results at best. That was the end of my trying to use a Camera to copy slides into digital format. Others have had luck with projecting the slides onto a screen and taking photos of them. Others use a Macro lens and backlight the slides. In the end though, I honestly think the best way to go is a dedicated scanner of some sort. 550

03-21-2010, 06:17 AM	#3
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,981	I was able to do it, but I had to use a 77mm lens on the bellows along with a close up lens. The slide duplicator had to be moved farther from the lens than it's bellows would allow, so I had to make a tube cut to length to allow it. I decided it was too much effort and abandoned the project.

03-21-2010, 09:44 AM	#4
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	And THIS is why it's vital for Pentoya to release a FF dSLR -- so we can all copy our slides with existing duplicators!! Forget all that keeping-up-with-the-Canikony's nonsense -- slide duplication is the killer app!

03-21-2010, 09:59 AM	#5
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Yeah, this is an issue, there: I've been able to get full coverage with an old screwmount bellows, an enlarger lens, and the slide duplicator attachment, though. By the time you do this, scanner options look pretty good if you have the computing power and such, (Not having this ind of motivated this project to begin with. )

03-21-2010, 01:00 PM	#6
SWEngineer Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Albuquerque, NM Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 308	My suggestion: Just drop the slide duplicator part. I "copied" a bunch of slides for my brother a few years ago using a cheap, small 'light table' with a cardboard cutout so light only passed through the slide. On the camera side: *istDS + M4/100 macro lens on M (K?) bellows mounted on a tripod. I thought the result was great, and way cheaper than buying a scanner (since I already had the other stuff). I guess if you have thousands of slides, a scanner is the better option. But for a few hundred, the small hassle seems well worth the $$$ saved. I'm planning to photograph my slide collection (100's, not 1000's) once I upgrade my camera. KX is tempting. Or maybe I'll hold on longer and see what replaces the K7 or fills the gap in between.