DIY Cardboard Smartphone Film Scanner (v2)

[@shaunbrowne3963]

The bendy straw LED light defused is a brilliant application of 2 bits of scrap material, the straws, and the non-working flash light. A brilliant solution! In fact, the whole project is in the genius category, IMHO!

[@GaitaPonto]

the foot part was unexpected.

[@TechBuilder]

It's an asian thing 😂

[@GaitaPonto]

@@TechBuilder seems a bit dangerous! :)

[@jwneeee]

lol its normal for asian ppl

[@vulcor51]

Safety first!

[@yogyal292]

😂😂😂😂

[@artwork5333]

"Let's use an apple product to good use" Damn🔥🔥🔥

[@generalwrex]

Instantly sub'd and like due to that comment in the video

[@dampflokdrei]

Great idea and great video. Other alternatives are much more expensive. But the bare foot beside the saw was a bit shocking.

[@TeddysTube]

Great little project! Here's a tip that can significantly increase the amount of light behind the slide: Simply place a piece of tinfoil behind the tubes to reflect all the light back, that went out of the tubes in the wrong direction and would otherwise just have been absorbed into the black bottom. Make sure it also covers the sides so that light can't escape that way either. You'll be amazed how much light you can actually get out of the leds that way. Anyways thanks for sharing. Great idea!

[@TechBuilder]

Great idea!

[@knight.net_]

This definitely needs a kickstarter campaign.

[@Giorgio_p]

You're absolutely right.

[@islandsnow]

This is awesome. But I can’t do all that. You should consider building and selling these. I’d buy one

[@Dulcilady]

Brilliant! My father was a proponent of the hot glue gun and this McIver light box reminded me of him. I have a light source so will try to make the enclosure. Thank you!

[@rubenperez2914]

Amazing! When he starts to cut the light diffuser, he whips out the clamp that looks like a foot!

[@aswingsharif6729]

For such seriously prepared, good tutorial video, I wish you to have millions of subscribers!

[@TALLLCHIEF]

I CONCUR; THIS IS AN EXCELLANTLY PREPARED AND PRESENTED TUTORIAL. KUDOS TO YOU , TECHBUILDER. A GREAT JOB

[@liroso]

Nice job! I might have glued (or use double stick tape) a piece of reflective paper (any foil/Mylar lined jar liner might do) on the inside facing the LED light tubes side of the base foam-board to take advantage of as much of the light as possible.

[@ishitabhartia8251]

If you don’t have a diffuser, buy one!! That’s really helpful thanks!

[@bruce-le-smith]

This is fantastic! I'd recommend not putting your thumb in the middle of the negative, the oils in your skin can leave a mark.

[@matneu27]

In the worst case mildew will grow there and destroy the layers

[@liroso]

Cotton gloves are the way to go & they're super cheap on eBay.

[@creativekristan8386]

Usa: we use bench bise to cut something Philippines:we use foot to cut something

[@danko6582]

This is a good effort. I especially like your jigged foamcore construction techniques. I've built a few phone scanners. You can get a good result, especially with a good even lighting source and the Kodak app, but even the best phones (as of September 2019) struggle to get resolution at macro distances compared to a scanner or a proper camera. You will get results good enough for social media, but you won't make archival quality images or decent big prints.

[@FrankP83]

i use the Canon Bellows attached to my a7iii, what lightning source you suggest to use as backlight?Thanks

[@parishna4882]

scan them at high resolution with a scanner and use a colour printer to print them on a4 transparencies. :) then ... develop a really huge mobile phone... i dunno.. oO

[@dstone1701]

@@parishna4882 Keep the goal in mind - if all you want to do is load up some old negs onto your cell phone to share, why make it any more complex? If you want more resolution/color control, then a proper scanner is the way to go. But there's no need to make it any more complex than it has to be.

[@parishna4882]

@@dstone1701 Wait, what??? But I've almost finished building a really really big mobile phone now.... Oo

[@m3snusteve]

Thank you for the video tutorial very well presented you explained everything so clearly. I really enjoyed watching , well done and thank you have a good weekend bye...😃

[@pasteltiara]

This is a much better idea using bendy straws, spare leds and foam materials. Very much like it.

[@barryjack3025]

That was a great video… I will probably make one soon. I have boxes of negatives that need printing! Thanks… all the best man.

[@keeyanho]

Great DIY project; here's another thumbs up in words!

[@stevecozens1795]

Elegant, simple. cheap and functional. Nice work!

[@LonganLee]

Wow, this young inventor has grown. Puberty period.

[@MattKasdorf]

I'll have to adapt this idea to work with my personal View-Master reels, thanks!

[@hectorraulmacedosanchez1418]

Excellent video 😄👍 I greet you from Peru😄.Arigatogozaimasu

[@chanbobyt]

The box is a great idea. However, cheap LEDs have very low CRI (colour rendering Index). I think using an old phone with the screen on full brightness would be simpler and gives better white light.

[@cabantingpaulmichaelangelo1817]

I love the bendy straw lights sir, it's more of the incandescent bulbs like you said. Thanks for sharing

[@TechBuilder]

Welcome! Thanks too!

[@stulora3172]

I build sth. similar, using the cheapest flat LED ceiling light I could find in the hardware store and crafting a "stand" for my DSLR from a yoghurt cup (one of the larger ones. But: the "lightstraw" idea is gold! I would have never thought of this!! Thanks man. You earned a sub with these straws. I save that idea for the next time I need a small diffuse light source. You could even add adjustable blue and yellow LEDs to (sort of) adjust light temperature.

[@shanegeach]

Awesome project, just what I've been looking for! Can't find the pdf link for the project though 🤔

[@atombatumbakaljr.4174]

Like it...you explained it so clearly. It's fun though.

[@TechBuilder]

Thank you!

[@peterpan8147]

so satisfying to watch! cute nerdy guy, too! :-) :-) :-)

[@Liampanto]

I'm probably Gona try build something similar to use with my actual mirrorless camera and then convert it in lightroom. This is pretty cool project

[@bryanoz]

Has there been an update to this great build? I see you can buy little light panels now, a way to avoid all the desolder and soldering, just wondering 😊

[@juliusking3411]

Awesome! Please make a tutorial about 18650 battery pack 👏

[@bergZig]

Very informative and detailed tutorial. Big thumb to you! 👍👍

[@edwinscox]

You are so creative and innovative and practical! Thank you for this. I will adapt your ideas for use with my mirror less camera.

[@szennngarden]

“its like a lightsaber” OMG I LOVE U 💜

[@sripal.jain4]

Really wonderful 👍

[@vitix5906]

A very informative tutorial... youve inspired me to build one out of 1/4 inch MDF and tweak your rendition to accommodate my specifications I will now sub just because you've intrigued me Thx!

[@obzockyphotography7682]

Great video ...can you please advise what negative storage box do you have?

[@rodrigomelo6731]

Eu já imaginava como fazer, e você com o seu vídeo so reforçou a minha idéia. Obrigado! Fortaleza, Ceará, Brasil

[@LuigiVicidomini]

I see your foot to stop in place the plastic and I press "Like" immediatly 😁

[@TechBuilder]

Feet > Vice :)))

[@MCsCreations]

😮 Fantastic idea, dude! Really well done!!!

[@hoopdie]

I am floored by this!! definitely going to try this

[@kerecsen2000]

Very innovative solution!

[@sanrasuzumaki942]

3:12 Nice Clamp, whatever works I guess, huh? good video btw!

[@rjohnbernales]

🤣 I love the idea,but the foot safety part felt like this was gonna turn into another kind of video. Thanks for the info. I’m gonna build one for 120 film.

[@joridgers4248]

Excellent instructions!

[@danko6582]

Regarding the lighting source, I bought a domestic LED panel light with a really well diffused light. I wouldn't want to use mains voltage in any project unless you're qualified, but I learned a lot about how it was diffused. Instead of shining straight through the diffuser, the LEDs shine into the edge of a clear panel. There is a reflective sheet behind the clear panel, then a white diffuser as you used, followed by a sheet of frosted clear plastic to spread the light. This last layer isn't needed for your kind of project.

[@TechBuilder]

The reflector sounds like a good idea!

[@kristinebalwit8034]

Astig ka talaga! ❤️

[@jtuttle11]

I think I might just have to give this a try. It'd be Great to have those old slides taken at LeMans converted to photos I can share.

[@stevefahnestalk8500]

The best way to cut plexiglass is to scribe it with a sharp object, then snap it. Makes a cleaner edge than a hacksaw.

[@rafaelgomez1284]

Clever and useful. The key of inventive,

[@christianbegue5427]

Génial! Je vais essayer tout de suite! Bravo! Félicitations!

[@Crosstownjournal]

Very good! I like it.

[@ErikGoosen]

I made a similar one using an old photo paper box (black inside) and I use an iPad as a light source. For an even better result: place your negative or dia under a piece of glass.

[@elontusk4732]

didn't expect that foot part LMAO 😂😂

[@apanakbari8180]

Amazing idea. Love it bro

[@DanBowkley]

Straight from the "why the heck didn't I think of this" file...I've got a stack of 6x4.5 negs (and some positive films as well) sitting around that I'd really like to digitize but really can't justify the expense. I can so justify the expense of some foam board and translucent Plexi though!!

[@fromHeaven2LA]

I just got a roll of film back I didn't get scanned cause getting so many rolls developed was getting taxing so this is perfect!

[@hanxD52]

This is so good! ✨ One question though - - overtime, will the plastic bendy straw melt coz of heat from the led light? I want to know your thoughts on that. Thanks!

[@PieFlavouredPii]

LEDs have little to no heat waste so it should be all good :)

[@hanxD52]

@@PieFlavouredPii Noted. Thank you, Sam! :D

[@dd884e5d8a]

Lovely! Are those your parents visiting New York city? Thanks for your video

[@Caliboiii]

Nice one bro!! 💯 I like how you recycled some materials! 😁

[@TechBuilder]

Thanks Cal!!!

[@kikicordova7561]

Awesome! Thanks it’s worked for me. Also what kind of phone are you using?

[@FernandoPerez-tc5ry]

You might want to think on designing the whole thing around the camera position, that way you could bring your phone and expect it not to wobble. Also, you can review the camera's focus distance. That's the minimum distance that the camera needs to be to take a focused shot, and that should save you the focus measurement. Overall great video and I might go ahead and do it on my end. Thanks for sharing!

[@MrJcasilva]

show de bola! greetings from Brazil!

[@fredMplanenut]

A great video and well explained, thank you.

[@bangronald3987]

what smartphone do you use

[@90FF1]

Would it be safer to use your left foot. Clever project. Thanks for posting

[@rebeccaleah7706]

This is so cool! I'm definitely going to try to make this! I have so much black foam core sitting around my house. Need to find me some plexy glass and LEDs tho

[@WillKoz]

great video, thumbs up!

[@oleggritsev]

What about remove scratches from negatives and use infrared scratch correction? also it hve very bad dynamic light range and not work for hi quality sources. I use drum laser scanner. or restoration negatives in ultrasonic bath, and after scan negatives in liquid use some adapter for Nikon Scanner.

[@manuelpalaciossantil]

excelnete, favor la hoja con la que realizas el measuring macro distance, donde la consigo, gracias

[@ty2u]

Good video. A good how-to. Gonna make one to copy slides.

[@markuren442]

Great idea for recycling old junk. Keep up the good work.👍🏻

[@hughthenasia3153]

Superb video - thank you!

[@unplayedrecords]

How cool is that! Really fun to watch! Are you selling this? 😉😁

[@valveman12]

TechBuilder, you have some great ideas!

[@ranradd]

Love it. I'm making one. Thanks.

[@jmdjavier4647]

Genius work!

[@repmidwest]

3:07 Very important. Be sure to not wear any shoes when using a saw so close to your foot.

[@barsdogukankarakoyun8798]

YEAH! FUCK TOES!

[@cfagil]

Enjoyed your video very much. Do have a look at Negative Supply's product called Negative Carrier with a retail price of around US$300. Your product is already better than theirs with a built in light source. It would be even better if you could figure out a realistic costed alternative with a covered container on both ends of the scanning area to keep the roll of negative dust free. Keep up your good work!! Your solution for feeding the negative across a light source is very much like the pencil used by the Russian Astronaut in the 60s. The Negative Supply's beautifully designed and engineered carrier is like the American's Fisher Space Pen. Both allow the users to write things on paper in zero gravity but with humongous difference in costs!!!!

[@FancescaTanuki]

What kind of foam i can use? I can use also black painted wood?(from the factory)

[@123jerro]

I'm wondering if this technique would be feasible to use in converting old 8 mm movie film into digital files which could then be restored using photoshop or whatever?

[@XLRNT]

5:19 is that your weed?

[@vari9457]

Cat Food

[@TechBuilder]

Lol

[@stulora3172]

probably soldering resin. but I had to look twice, too.

[@rich1051414]

Looks like rosin, the stuff he stabs his tip into to clean it.

[@tamer27antepli]

It looks like soldering flux

[@tealbluewhite]

3:16 that made me nervous. Great video btw

[@elmejoractordemexico]

Loved your idea.

[@Arclight2020]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing! =D

[@robertozavala5237]

I think you should add more lighted straws. At the end of the video, I can clearly see very dim dark bars between the lighted straws. Excellent project nevertheless.

[@RocketChild]

that such a cool project!

[@DonutsDoneRight]

Where’s the link for the light box?

[@Lupernful]

This is the most economical version I’ve seen. Great job. Do you make some to sell?

[@theottergames1969]

this film scanner is great. but i think it will be better to invert negatives in regular pc program like gimp or if you have money in lightroom

[@SkepticalSteve01]

Yeah, nah. Colour negative films are more complicated than you may think. That orange base tone is a correction mask produced in the image during development, and it varies in density according to the colours of the original image. Also, different manufacturer’s film have different orange tints. For accuracy you need software that’s sophisticated enough to both detect the film brand, and to apply compensating filtration according to gamma (the degree of contrast according to exposure) for each masking layer in the original film. If you don’t have the right software, getting acceptable colour can take a lot of fiddling around with Photoshop or Gimp.

[@dennypilot9856]

Isn't it important to choose high CRI light source?

[@martinvollderpro]

It is

[@steamy1225]

First , that is a great idea. 2nd you should have use some c clamps to hold the plexyglass not you bare foot . Safety first my friend. All in all great idea as i do have some old films that would like to digitize. Thanks.

[@sunumichaelantonio]

Thanks so much. It's a simple trick we can do

[@BukinAlexander]

Thanks for video!

[@canadacalling6892]

Can a person buy a premade one?

[@olehchebanenko833]

Very nice unit!

[@JeffFrmJoisey]

Now to figure out how to scale it up to scan those old 2-1/4" x 2-1/4" B&W negatives!!

[@matneu27]

Nice project 👍 but I would recommend to keep in mind that "data" on film will last for generations and could be read every time. Data on carriers like CDs, USB or disk are tend to fail with the time and OS and versions change due generations. My conclusion is to keep the negative after scanning and not throwing them away because all is scanned and needed no more space.

[@DevulapalliSeetharamaiah]

I always tell the people the original negative/print is itself an historical object so do take care of it and don't throw away.

[@TALLLCHIEF]

Where did you get the idea he intended to "throw them away"?

[@fransviitanen5167]

Can someone please link me a website where I can get all this ordered shipped to Europe? 🙏