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01-03-2012, 12:39 PM   #1
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how to - auto bellows slide copier K & dSLR

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Here is my experience so far...
I purchased this unit for my ME Super Program many years ago - worked GREAT! with my SMC KA 50mm 1.17 prime lens and TTL flash on a TTL hotshoe extension cable. And all the scales are for either a 50mm or macro 55mm lens on a 35mm film plane.

Enter the digital world... the sensor on my K-r is roughly 3/4 the size of the 35mm film gate. If I use the scales with my trusty 50mm lens, I will (naturally) get about 150% magnifcation, or turned around, only about 75% of the slide I am trying to copy. I am waiting for my P-TTL flash to arrive later this week, so I have no idea how that will work.

With a lot of play, I have got the 50mm lens to about 90% coverage of the slide. The bellows on the front of the lens to the slide is nearly fully extended, and the bellows between the lens and the camera body is fully compressed.

I've also tried my KA 28mm lens, but sadly the fully compressed lens to body bellows is too long. And if I ignore the shortcomings of using a zoom lens, the K-r kit's DAL 18-55 lens is too long, and the lens to slide copier bellows is too short - plus there is no way to manually adjust the lens aperature.

Has anybody out there achieved a full 1:1 copy with their Pentax dSLR? And if so, what did you do?

Jim Johnson

01-03-2012, 01:39 PM   #2
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You may want to try decoupling the slide attachment from the bellow and use a "copy stand" approach. That way you'll have much more control and options and you can go beyond 1x for cropping if needed. You may have to come up with some home-made hood (or use a large format bellow to shield the open space between the slide holder and the lens to minimize ambient light. Or use it in a darken room.
01-04-2012, 01:44 PM   #3
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I have posted this before but here is how I solved the problem of copying slided/negatives.

Pentax Bellows K and Slide Copier - a set on Flickr

Greg
01-04-2012, 02:08 PM   #4
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Thanks Greg- This confirmed a LOT of what I was thinking I needed to do.

Rather than fabricate the tube set, I ordered a pair of these:
52mm Extension Tube / Spacer / 28mm Deep
52mm Extension Tube / Spacer / 28mm Deep | eBay

The slide holder is made for a lens with a 52mm filter ring, and I have a 49mm to 52mm step ring for my KA 50mm/f1.17 prime lens. As I can get sharp (and flat) focus for approximately 90% of the frame. I am hoping 1 tube will be enough, and 2 plenty. I can fine tune with the bellows. I used to use a TTL flash placed off camera in front of the slide holder's glass diffusion plate and had very even light without a hot spot. I am hoping I can do the same with the Vivitar P-TTL flash I have on order. That solves a whole lot of issues regarding consistent exposure.

It will be 2-3 weeks before I get all this assembled and tested, and I will update this thread with the results. Thanks again for giving me hope that I am on the right path!

Jim Johnson

01-22-2012, 02:20 PM   #5
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Slide copying with the Pentax K-r

Success! And here is what I did - thanks to Greg Moll for pointing the path!

Tools needed:

· Auto Bellows K with slide copier
· Promaster KA 28-70 zoom lens
· Two 52mm threaded, 28mm extension tubes
· Sigma EF610 DG Super Flash and stand
· Single sheet of 2-ply white toilet paper
· Light source to enable focus (color temperaturenot critical)

Settings:

· Lens at 70mm, infinity focus, manual f/22
· Camera at ISO 400, AV auto exposure, flash on,Custom Menu setting 22 – Using Aperture Ring set to ‘Permitted’.
· Flash as “Normal Slave Flash Mode” with flashdefuser in place and set for F/22, single layer of tissue over flash.

Assemble as shown in photos.

· The slide holder/bellows is attached to thefront of the rack.
· The slide holder is set past the scale at theend of its travel.
· The camera/lens bellows are at minimumextension.
· Both extension tubes are mounted on the lens.
· The camera/lens are nearly to the opposite endof the rack from the slide holder.
· The rack’s tripod mount is set to allow the rigto self-balance.
· The flash is placed facing the slide at a distanceof approximately 12 inches.

1. Clean your slide and insert in to the slideholder.
2. Using your light source, do a fine-focus on theinserted slide. You will need to use both adjustment knobs on the camerabellows to keep the bellows fully compressed; the camera end to move the lenstoward the slide and the lens end to move the lens away from the slide.
3. Press and lock the lens stop-down button.
4. Double-check the camera and flash settings.
5. You may need to take a few test shots moving theflash between to fine-tune exposure.

Once you have “locked-in” all of the above, assuming allyour slides are properly exposed, you should be able to simply swap out cleanslides and take the next shot.
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01-23-2012, 01:37 PM   #6
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I know I'm a little late, but I was able to get 100% coverage of slides or negatives with my K-7 using the bellows and slide copier unmodified. I had a Pentax F 35-70mm lens(@70mm) on the auto bellows, and had the slide copier bellows fully extended. I just used an incandescent bulb for the light, but even so, the output was very good, as far as I'm concerned. I use a Plustek 7600i for film now, but I do miss the slide copier setup. It could be a bit of a pain at times, but the output, in my opinion, was about as good as from the scanner. The ability to manually control everything with the DSLR/copier setup was a big plus over the scanner.
01-23-2012, 01:55 PM   #7
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Yeah, the real key is using a longer lens and getting the slide further away from the camera body to achieve a 1/0.75 reproduction ratio. I don't own the Pentax F 35-70, but I'm betting it is physically longer than my Promaster KA 28-70. the filter screw mount extension tubes enabled me to bridge the difference between the front of the lens and the full extension of the front bellows.

I prefer using a flash for lighting so that I am minimizing white balance shifts, but so long as your light source is both bright enough and defuse enough, the camera will likely come close to the original colors.

01-23-2012, 02:51 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by JimJohnson Quote
I don't own the Pentax F 35-70, but I'm betting it is physically longer than my Promaster KA 28-70.
The Pentax F 35-70 is a tiny lens, just 5cm (2") long and it is the shortest at 70mm.
01-24-2012, 06:43 AM   #9
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Interesting. this lens must also focus closer than my 28-70 zoom.
01-24-2012, 08:57 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by JimJohnson Quote
Interesting. this lens must also focus closer than my 28-70 zoom.
Jim, the F 35-70 although not technically a macro lens, has a "macro" setting at the 70mm end that allows to get really close. It is a very nice lens, very small, very fast AF and very sharp.
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