IIRC, there is at least one forum member who has used bellows with slide copier successfully for this task. I guess I should set up my bellows and see what I can do. Before I do that, here are my ruminations:
- With 35mm film, the intent is 1:1 reproduction ratio (1x magnification)
- On APS-C the intent is 1:1.5 ratio (0.67x)
- With a long enough rail and no issues with minimum extension (bellows + standards) or working distance (subject to lens filter ring), both magnifications are possible with any number of lenses.
- Unfortunately, both rail length for the copier attachment and minimum extension for the bellows are both limiting dimensions.
- Eye-balling the photo supplied by glee46, it appears that the standards are thin and the working distance is not bad
I set up my Bellows K with the ST 55/1.8 and came up with the following for a 36mm horizontal FOV:
- ~235mm, subject to focal plane (probably not pertinent)
- ~157mm, subject to front standard mount flange (probably also not pertinent)
- ~34mm, maximum* bellows extension (must be within adjustment range of bellows)
- ~116mm working distance (subject to front of filter ring...must be within adjustment range of slide copier attachment)
Not having the actual setup in front of me, it is hard to speculate how well it would work, but I suspect that both 50mm and 55mm lenses will work. A shorter focal length (e.g. 35mm) would allow for shorter working distance, but might not allow sufficient bellows extension. Going longer (e.g. 85mm) may result in working distance longer than the slide copier's bellows. If 50mm, I would suggest the ST 50/2.8 Macro. Flatness of field counts when doing duplication. FWIW, 50mm works with the Bellows K, but just barely.
Steve
* I set the lens focus to infinity in order overcome the minimum available extension for the Bellows K.