Digitize Film - Zero Camera Shake

[@CMCairo]

Best info on film scanning without all the hype BS. Thank you. Absolutely great setup.

[@aarontharris]

@@CMCairo thank you

[@RedStarRogue]

This is a VERY solid setup, I dare say, overkill even lol. My scanning setup is a little less refined, although I do use an old copy stand as well.

[@Ivandotjpeg]

This is exactly how I do it. I’m using a hasselblad H4X/Macro lens and a phase one IQ280 80mpx back. I use mirror up mode and use capture one tethered on an older MacBook Pro. I’m using FireWire, as this powers the back. You do get camera shake with the shutter vibration if you’re not careful. BTW, negative supply’s premium 120 feeder is terrible and I’ve complained to high heaven. It’s built like a tank but it also functions like one. Hard to feed film through it. They really are not that great. I’m with you 100% except, I prefer to not give them anymore money until they fix their issues.

[@aarontharris]

100% agree about Negative Supply. While I was able to modify mine to reach a point that I am happy with it's performance, I should not have to modify anything at this premium price point. It is kind of silly that we now consider 3D printing to be a premium product. I'm all for 3D prints for home jobs and prototyping or even low-cost products, but I paid way too much for this Negative Supply gear to be content with 3D printed tools. **sigh** that's one of my buttons I guess ;)

[@leonnaffin]

Thank you. This is exactly the information I need. I have the z7 as well and the same 50mm. I thought I would need a macro lens. But the macro ring makes so much sense for scanning.

[@aarontharris]

I'm glad I could help. The 50mm F1.8 works well, just remember to stop down to at least F8 for copy-work. For macro-work 50mm generally does not yield enough working distance (same is true for a real 50mm macro lens). To reach 1:1 you're almost touching the subject. The 50mm can work for 1:2 or 1:3 magnification (which is how I'm using it in the video). If you want to do a lot of macro, I recommend the 200mm F4. It is without a doubt the best, but unfortunately it does not autofocus on Z-bodies. If you want autofocus, the 105mm F2.8 F-Mount lens is just as good as the new Z-Mount but much cheaper.

[@arvidjohansson3120]

I would be interested to see how you convert using Capture 1.

[@aarontharris]

I'm not a youtuber, but I will try to find some time to put that together.

[@aarontharris]

Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIfbioZmapp8m7M

[@jw48335]

This is nice, but I would consider this older-generation equipment at this point. I use a Blackscale Labs holder for 120 and a Valoi Easy35 for 135. The copy stand mess - it gives me nightmares. With the two options I mention, it utterly eliminates camera shake, because the camera is either connected to the holder or literally resting on the holder. I find the dust brush on the Easy35 does well enough, but for the 120 I use a Kinetronics Staticvac. I don't mind the holder on Blackscale as I cut my film for storage anyway, and I have enough holders to load a full roll of 120 at once.

[@aarontharris]

I reference the blackscale labs in the video -- not by name, but I mentioned the "rings and you set the camera on top" -- I had forgotten the name. I think its a good idea and similar in principle to what I'm doing in that the camera's weight is supported by the table and the film planes are aligned. The one thing I would miss about the blackscale labs is the film advance and having to use the film holder trays. I remember those from flatbed scanning and they were big reasons why I switched to SLR scanning. As for the copy-stand -- there are smaller versions of this stand, its just what I already owned. But this is a permanent set up for me and I like to be able to raise and lower the camera for to swap out 120 for 35. Which is just a matter of changing the film carrier.

[@fbraakman]

Using LR to tether, it also has an auto focus button and a shutter button so you don't need to touch the camera to focus or trip the shutter. I suspect that C1 has the same function.

[@aarontharris]

Yes, you're right, it does have both AF and a Shutter button. The wireless shutter is mostly for convenience being able to fire in one hand while advancing with the other is pretty handy. My setup sits on the same desk as my mouse -- not that the mouse transmits any noticeable vibration, though, I noticed I tend to rest my wrist on the desk which does sometimes transmit some slight vibration if I'm not paying attention and forget to lift my wrist before firing. So (for me) the wireless trigger also helps solve my lazy wrists :)

[@olio_benzina]

Very nice and ridged film scanning setup. Surprised you're not using a macro lens, your standard 50mm must be very good. I use a Micro Nikkor 55mm f2.8.

[@aarontharris]

Thank you! It's the Nikon Z 50mm F1.8, it's pretty good wide open but not good enough for copy-work until stopped down to F8. I would prefer to use my macro lens, but I have the Nikkor 200mm F4 Micro which unfortunately does not autofocus on a Z-body camera. I actually did tests and found that when I nailed the manual-focus, the 200mm was better, but in reality I was misfocused too often, so I decided to accept the 50mm. Maybe one day I'll get a G or Z macro lens :)

[@GiesbertNijhuis]

Thanks for sharing, building something myself. Did I missed the camera info? Is if full frame and the megapixels, what is good for 35 and 120?

[@aarontharris]

I'm using a Nikon Z7 in my setup. I suspect 120 may benefit from higher MP if you're stopped down and using a tripod, but for my purposes 45MP is more than enough. For 35mm film I believe 45MP is too much. Even when I'm stopped down and on a tripod I rarely make use of the 45MP sensor with 35mm.

[@GiesbertNijhuis]

@@aarontharris Thanks for these nummers. Especially when scanning 35mm I want to get just beyond all the details. I seems like for all my old negatives I can get better end results than ever before!

[@srmrlr]

I use an old slide copy stand, that I can put a camera on now. I use an LED light source, and a wireless camera release. Perhaps, I'll do a video for my set up.

[@aarontharris]

Nice, I would love to see a video.

[@AlanLamb-p4p]

Hi Arron, Appreciate you sharing your workflow. I have a similar rig for my negative scanning . Do you have the STL files for the lens ring? Own a Bambu Labs Carbon 3d printer. Thanks!

[@aarontharris]

@AlanLamb-p4p i have the exact same printer. I can share, blender files, stl, and even the bambu labs project file. Just let me know how I can contact you outside YT.

[@ronbokje6213]

My camera (Pentax K1 markII) has built in digital filters, with color negatives I put the camera in negative filter and tweaked the white and color balance to be close to what I want and save the white balance and color profile and set the camera back to RAW. to get the best results I hooked up my monitor with HDMI to my camera. now it is just shooting and reverse it to negative and you have a very nice baseline to start if you want to edit your photo's in photoshop.

[@aarontharris]

@@ronbokje6213 cool trick, does using the built-in filter result in jpeg?

[@ronbokje6213]

@@aarontharris I don’t think so, I think it would be a JPG. Most filters will be applied on JPG and not a RAW file. I never tried it.

[@miklosnemeth8566]

What do you do with the ditital images you are scanning so meticulously from film? How do you "consume" photos? Do you print your scanned digital images?

[@aarontharris]

@miklosnemeth8566 I do print. I have some on my own wall, and I also give some away as gifts. However, this setup is not about resolution, for me, it's about speed and repeatability. I don't like waiting for the vibration to die down after each frame, I like turning a knob and clicking a button :)

[@zaprowsdower3911]

Awesome set up

[@Phazos]

Doesn't the Z7 have IBIS? What would a 4 second exposure look like, with and without IBS switched off?

[@aarontharris]

I turn IBIS off. It is recommended to disable IBIS when shooting from a tripod. I have read various things such as "IBIS on a tripod will introduce vibration" or even, "IBIS on a tripod can damage the IBIS system". I'm not sure if those are true, but I do disable IBIS anyway.

[@johngabris9690]

just use a decent flat bed scanner

[@aarontharris]

I think there are pros and cons to each. I used a flatbed scanner for years and I got good results. These days though, I really like the speed of digitizing with an SLR.

[@leonhardbokowski81]

Have you tried re-scanning some of your negatives with a setup like this? Once you camera scan once, you never go back. It's night and day

[@aarontharris]

@@leonhardbokowski81 I like the way you think! Measurable results. I am constantly refining my process and improving. Some time ago I did a flatbed scan test compared to DSLR and I liked the DSLR better because I could manually focus on the image whereas the flatbed scanner was always slightly off at the edges due to slight curling. But I noticed the biggest improvement with speed when I used the film carrier because I can focus once and just advance advance advance. As for improvement in detail, the only real advantage this current setup gets me over my earlier (without resting the camera on the table vs now resting it on the table) -- I was able to drop my ISO from 400 to 64 by reducing my shutter speed. That 400 to 64 reduced a lot of noise. Most people think ISO 400 is very clean and it usually is, but with film when you're sliding the levels you're already adding a fair amount of gain -- so working from ISO 400 is just compounding the noise. Starting from ISO 64 helped a lot. I wish I had a side by side comparison to show you, but I do not have anything on-hand. Maybe that's my next video?

[@leonhardbokowski81]

@@aarontharris For me the speed is/was a huge factor as well. I usually dev and scan in large batches so I need things to go quick :) Other than that, the quality is just much better. It's easier to get dust free scans (digital ICE produces some ghosting), sharpness is better, noise is better and best of all there is so much more highlight and shadow detail! I shoot a lot of expired film and with my camera setup, you can get really nice results that would have been completely unusable with the flatbed

[@parthasur6018]

I use an EPSON V500 scanner. It is very easy to use. Excellent results.🙂

[@aarontharris]

The best workflow is the one that makes you happy :)

[@orion7741]

this is extremely over thinking and over engineering for what you are doing. good for you for creating projects for yourself and keeping yourself busy, but most of the stuff in your set up is really not at all necessary for getting good film scans. camera shake is honestly a non issue with film scanning even with the most basic setup.

[@aarontharris]

Makes sense, I am an engineer. Everyone has different priorities and experiences. I'm not telling anyone they're doing it wrong -- I'm just sharing what works well for me. If others find it useful that's great. I'm not a youtuber and I'm not doing this for "views". I found that while using a copy stand I would get some vibration at lower shutter speeds and it was causing me to lose some detail. I did not want to raise the ISO as it caused me to lose flexibility while pulling shadows out of my film negatives, especially in black and white. This setup gave me two things. #1 it is really fast to load the film and scroll through each frame. #2 it allowed me to really get the shutter speed down while maintaining ISO 65 and F8. No doubt there are other ways and probably even better ways.

[@aarontharris]

PS - If it makes any difference, I am scanning 120 Film, not 35mm. I agree for 35mm and tend to be less careful, but 120 I often try to squeeze out what I can.

[@jorbin7417]

Used to have a setup like this but I wanted shakier scans

[@maccjw]

@@jorbin7417 Lol