How To Convert Film Slides To Digital Pictures - Easy DIY setup for any camera

[@HouseOfHacks]

Have you converted physical images to digital using this or another method? How did it work for you? For more details about using different cameras and lenses and how they impact the resulting converted image, check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n36yZmN3oaysqNk

[@harryzain]

For some odd reason my dad decided to process his film to slides in the 80's as I was a kid. Thousands of them just in boxes which I wish I could share with my kids. Thanks for this great hack I can do at home. Something to do while being quarantined lol.

[@HouseOfHacks]

Very cool!

[@steveunwin830]

I think the main reason could have been cost, that was certainly why I used slide film. This avoided the step of creating paper prints and was a significant saving at the time. It's hard now with memory cards holding tens of thousands of images, to believe that there was a very real and significant coat every time you pressed the shutter button on a film camera.

[@papermason]

Wow, you just gave me the best information, I'm in a race with time for some of the very old slides from the 1950s -- many have faded beyond recognition, I wonder how many precious memories I've discarded. I'll build one of these out of form core I think. All I can say is Wow!!! Thank you for this video!!!

[@barbarahall532]

I am planning a 40th Class Reunion and EVERYTHING is on slides...150 slides...UGH! KZbin to the rescue, I have all of the things you have here, I can do this. Your video saved me so much money. Thanks!

[@HouseOfHacks]

Happy to help. The making of the box didn't take too long and once setup, making images of the slides went pretty quickly. I'd guess 150 slides is probably easily under an hour. Have fun!

[@boughttheticket]

Thanks- some good knowledge like using a 100mm setting. One thing different I have done is on my slide holder. I made it with only 2 sides, so I could push one slide thru with the next. Twice as fast as one at a time.

[@HouseOfHacks]

Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[@HarleyPebley]

I've tried a number of different light sources and setups. This one has given me the best results.

[@HouseOfHacks]

Cool! What other light sources and setups have you tried?

[@HarleyPebley]

I've used the technique shown in the linked video above. That one worked well too, but required some specialty equipment with a flash and remote trigger. I also tried putting the slide on a laptop screen. That one didn't have enough light to give a good exposure and the RGB pixels could be seen. Additionally, I tried putting the light behind the slide so it's pointing at the lens. That method gave me hot spots and uneven exposure, even with some diffusion.

[@HouseOfHacks]

Thanks for the update!

[@saltlifegull4091]

What a beautiful voice he has. Excellently prepared video. Subscriber from NW FL.

[@bfg9000d1]

Ok I attempted this project. For starters it takes a little while to lay all that tape down. Number 2 I went through 2 medium rolls of white duck tape. Number 3 There is a moderate problem with this setup. Depending on the slide you can actually see the tape lines in the slide. This might be fine for non important slides. But for slides that are highly important this is a problem. Thank fully it can be easily fix. Get some white poster board and place it on the opposite side of the box. Now you will have a no lines when looking through the slide. Number 4 if you can afford it get two more bulbs outside of the 100 watts that are brighter. On really dark slides it really helps to get light to punch through the slide. I hope that helps any folks attempting to do this project. Also get the max strength duck tape it really helps.

[@Eartha-zl7xc]

I've been looking for a way to scan my parents 100s of 127 superslide slides. No affordable scanner can scan them. Can't wait to try this. Thanks for sharing. Maybe there is hope.

[@MikeCola]

Nice video Harley...easy to make. My kids are coming home from college for the holidays...it will be a fun project for us. Thanks - Mike

[@HouseOfHacks]

Oh, that's cool! Have fun with the kids!

[@Francois_Dupont]

very interesting way of doing this. i thought at first you were going to project on a all and take a picture, but your way is way more clever. Thank You!

[@HouseOfHacks]

Thanks!

[@yveshetu8026]

Exactly what I was looking for and very well done. Thank you for sharing.

[@HouseOfHacks]

Great to hear! Thanks for letting me know it helped you and for the sub. Hope to see you around. Peace.

[@vibratac]

Genius!!!! Thank you!

[@train4905]

Superb

[@johnpeterka8355]

Interesting! Thank you for your video! I converted an old Kodak Carousel to project 35mm slide images to our Nikon Z7 and 105mm f2.8 lens with ND filter. I had the camera on a tripod and used a shutter release cable. I placed the Kodak Carouse on a Kupo table. I shot in manual and used an aperture of f8 and ISO 100. Although I used focus peaking, the results were not as sharp as I had hoped they would be. Any ideas or suggestions would be welcomed.

[@ToddAutry]

Interesting video. Never thought about how to do this. Which is one of the things I like about your channel!

[@HouseOfHacks]

Thanks Todd. Yeah, there are a number of different ways to do this but this has worked he best for me.

[@EpicKate]

Hi Harley! I was excited to check this out knowing that you've been working with Jeff. I can really see how you did story and heart into this- that intro was really well done.

[@HouseOfHacks]

Thanks Katie! Working on how to work TTUTT into my videos more. I think I finally have a bit of a better handle on it, but we'll see over time. :-)

[@PamDuthie]

Thats a great project Harley

[@HouseOfHacks]

Thanks Pam!

[@mohamedwagih3388]

we enjoyed your idea its very interesting & so easy & get good results best wishes

[@HouseOfHacks]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@GeorgeChristofi]

Great video Harley. nice setup and easy to make

[@HouseOfHacks]

Thanks George! Yes, it is easy and I was really pleased with the results.

[@CommercialForest]

I still have a small trove of physical images that need to go digital. May give this a try. Thanks 😊

[@HouseOfHacks]

Cool! I’ve tried a number of different methods and this one by far gives the best results. I have a trove that needs conversion too. 🙂

[@emilydrake9379]

This is great! I purchased a converter and the amount of over saturation and digital artifacting it leaves is atrocious. I should have done this in the first place!

[@HouseOfHacks]

Glad you liked it. Thanks!

[@ashmartians123]

I figured how to do this on my own. Lol. I was bored. You can tape it to the window. That’s how I did it. Only needed tape.

[@CanadianDrifter777]

Thank you!

[@HouseOfHacks]

You're welcome!

[@pissedatyoko]

There are phone apps that makes your screen a backlight that works too. then use your dslr or what ever

[@JS-zk2xb]

Thanks Harley! Is that T-Shirt your resume? :)

[@HouseOfHacks]

Haha, just an idea I was playing around with for some merchandise.

[@ghiaman65]

Cardboard and duct tape - are you related to Red Green? Great video!

[@HouseOfHacks]

Haha, love that show! Thanks!

[@Vacationland123]

Hey, Thanks for your wonderful video. You mentioned For film, "I’ll use cardboard folded to the correct size to make a sleeve and line it with fabric to minimize scratches". I have Print File 35mm Archival Storage Pages for Negatives, (25 Pack). Should I take one strip out from the sheet for taking a picture as a frame? Is it possible for you to create a short videoclip? Thanks for your help.

[@HouseOfHacks]

I assume you mean something like this? amzn.to/2DGrqbY And you mean cut one strip off to mount to the box. Yes, that would probably work too, but you'd still want an opaque frame around it so you don't get flare around the outside edges of the frame. A buddy of mine found these on Amazon and found they work well for him: amzn.to/2DKnt5T

[@johnawrzosek6127]

Your process sounds great, but what if you have 1000's of slides.

[@hughthenasia3153]

Great video - thank you. The only lens I have is a Canon 100-400mm :4.5-5.6 Will this give a great result or must I go to the expense of a macro lens?

[@HouseOfHacks]

You're welcome! That lens should give OK results. The thing is, between the aspect ratio and the closest you can focus, you may have some area on the sides or top you'll need to crop in post. This means you won't be using all the pixels of your camera in the conversion and won't get the best possible result. An example of how different lenses work is in the video I made a number of years ago. Here's a link (going to the appropriate time code for the lens comparison): kzbin.info/www/bejne/n36yZmN3oaysqNk I'd suggest try it out with the lens you have and see if it's acceptable. If you're not happy with it, renting a macro lens might be an alternative. I'd try locally first if you have some good camera stores. There are a number of online rental sites with good reputations. Here's an article listing some of them: digital-photography-school.com/where-to-rent-a-lens-online/ Hope that helps and have fun!

[@hughthenasia3153]

@@HouseOfHacks Much obliged. :-) I'm in South Africa so online rentals are strictly out. (Our postal chaps tend to 'borrow' anything that is - or looks - of value. :-D ) I see the closest I can focus is about 8', so I will try to rent a lens locally. Stay safe!

[@HouseOfHacks]

@@hughthenasia3153 Yeah, that makes it tough. The thing to look for is, how large can you get the image of just the slide/negative in the camera. The bigger you can make it the better. It's not the focusing distance in absolute numbers so much as how that impacts the size of what you're reproducing. (Hope that makes sense.) 8' may not be bad at 400 mm. I'd try some quick experiments. Good luck!

[@hughthenasia3153]

@@HouseOfHacks Makes perfect sense - thank you. :-)

[@jacquesmostert4115]

Hallo, Thank you very much for a fantastic idea! I have around 4000 slides and this appeals to me like in 100%! Can you please please give me the inside measurements of the box. I am going to make one the moment I get the sizes from you. Please help me Jacques Cape Town South Africa

[@HouseOfHacks]

I'm glad you found it useful. The dimensions aren't exact. I made mine as wide as the light source and twice as deep and tall. This gives the light a chance to bounce around and provide a soft, even light without hot spots. Hope that helps.

[@pradeepbansod3334]

Great video! I want to try out this method, but before building the box I wanted to check if I can focus on the slide and can’t seem to make it work. I am trying to scan 35mm color slides, standard size. I am using a Nikon DSLR with a Nikon DX 18-200mm lens. The problem is that even at the highest zoom I have to move in too close to get only the actual picture in the frame, and the lens won’t focus closer than 0.5 meters. I don’t have a macro lens, the other lenses I have are a Nikkor 50mm 1.8 lens with a minimum focus of 0.45 meters; and a Nikon DX 18-135 mm, again minimum focus 0.45 meters and none seems to work. I have also tried an iPhone 6S and a Nikon (non-DSLR) zoom digital camera and the same problem - unable to focus if the slide fills the frame. Am I doing something obviously (stupidly!) wrong? Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

[@HouseOfHacks]

No, you're not doing anything wrong. You're just running into the limitations of the lenses. The only way to fill the frame with the original image is with a true macro lens that can to 1:1 (assuming you have a full frame sensor). The best you can do is get as close as you can with the minimum focus distance of the lens and zoom it as much as you can. You will need to do some crop in post. In my video I did a number of years ago, I go into more detail about... ... the impact of lens and body selection: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n36yZmN3oaysqNk ... and post processing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n36yZmN3oaysqNk If you really want to fill the frame of your digital, you might consider renting a macro lens. Try either a local camera shop, many times they have lens rental programs, or a service like www.borrowlenses.com/. Hope that helps.

[@pradeepbansod3334]

@@HouseOfHacks Thanks!. I was afraid you were going to say that! I have over 1000 slides to process, so a lot of cropping and post processing, unfortunately.

[@HouseOfHacks]

@@pradeepbansod3334 Depending on what software you use for post-processing, you may be able to automate some or all of it. I know in Adobe's Bridge you can edit one image and then apply those edits (including crops) to other images. You just need to make sure the device holding the slides/negatives and the camera don't move relative to each other. Using a remote release on the camera can help with this.

[@pradeepbansod3334]

@@HouseOfHacks Thanks. I was planning to use Adobe Photoshop, I assume it has similar features

[@pradeepbansod3334]

Hi, me again with a couple of follow-up questions. I don't have a daylight balanced LED bulb, if I use normal incandescent will colors be off, can it be corrected by adjusting white balance? Also, I have heard of lens extension tubes that supposedly allow macro like close-up focusing with a non-macro lens (and are much cheaper), what are your thoughts on if they work well? Thanks.

[@BBWinner48]

so do u think this setup would work for 8mm film?

[@HouseOfHacks]

Generally 8mm is used in video. This would work for stills although the resolution would be pretty low unless you have a really good lens with high magnification. If you want to convert it to video, the standard way is similar except you project the moving image onto a screen and then do a video capture of that. Hope that helps.

[@Gr8Believer]

You didn't mention what slide-side faces the camera

[@HouseOfHacks]

It doesn't really matter. I take it so everything is reads correctly. If it's taken from the other side, it's easy to flip in post processing.

[@puppiesarecute7816]

Wow...my brain hurts. Not as easy as I hoped it would be. Haha..thanks for the demo though.

[@Francois_Dupont]

not to complain negatively or anything, but the sound in this video sounds hallow. not faint, but i would say it lacks body. i dont know how to say it too much in english.

[@HouseOfHacks]

Yeah, I had a scratchy throat when I recorded this.

[@gardeningwithsoule]

This is useful but the so called "music" makes it VERY hard to listen.