Originally posted by ryno What kind of results can expect shooting slides on a light box with a digital camera? My cousin has a few boxes of mounted 6x6 slides from a twin lens that I would like to preserve as digital. The places I checked with to scan them said all would have to be unmounted, thus very expensive. Once I was set up and had a template made for positioning the slides, the camera method would be fairly quick. This would be with a k20 and a the 35mm macro.
Thanks, Ryan
The procedure should work just fine for you. One of my last projects before retiring from technical photography was very similar to what you're proposing, involving 1200 medium format slides. It would have taken at least two months to scan the images on a Nikon LS8000. As the main need was for reference copies for research, not high-end publication, I came up with a setup that did the job in three days.
I recommend a light box with a very even, daylight colour temperature light source. As I recall I used a slim Jobo light box.
It's a good idea to raise your slide holder an inch or so above the surface of the light box in order to avoid picking up dust, scratches and any texture that the light box diffuser might have. I just cut a hole in a sheet of Styrofoam and laid it on the light box, then put the slide holder on top of that. I painted the Styrofoam and the holder matte black to eliminate unwanted reflections. The light box, Styrofoam, and film holder were all securely fastened down to ensure that the positioning of the slides was very consistent. This allowed me to change slides quite quickly without worrying about bumping things.
I used a massive Polaroid light stand to hold the camera. If you're using a tripod, make sure it's a solid one.
The results were very good. Used a Kodak full-frame DSLR and a 60mm Micro Nikkor. Good enough for a decent 8x10 print. Not as good, however, as a well-executed scan at, say, 2400ppi on a good flatbed scanner.
I think it's important for you to understand that what you're proposing doesn't come close to preserving the true quality of a really good medium format transparency. Don't throw the slides out, because if something happens to the digital files they can always be rescanned. If the transparencies are Kodachrome, they will last a long time simply kept dry, at room temperature, in the dark. Other film types require more care.
You might find the Wilhelm Imaging Research web site interesting:
Wilhelm Imaging Research