Remember that you'll only take pictures of the slides which are far inside the projector. The lamp in the projector is a lot brighter than any ambient light in a normal lit room so I wouldn't worry about the light in the room. I know someone who actually projected the slides and took pictures of the projection, but this is much better. My only concern would be any extraneous light getting between the lens and the end of the projector causing lighting issues (I wonder if putting a hollow black tube between the lens and the projector would help reduce/eliminate this) One upside of the projector approach is that you can also view your slides as they were meant to be seen! Projected slides are beautiful. If it's slower than loading and unloading a carousel then the projector approach could be better. The ES-2 is probably a decent option too but not cheap and it depends on how long it takes to load and unload each slide. Yes I totally get that buying new equipment is a bit daunting when you're not sure if it's going to work, but the projector is going to be much cheaper than a Nikon ES-2, and if you have to buy a macro lens anyway, then that is going to be your biggest cost.Īn Epson V700 / 750 / 800 / 850 is a reasonable option, but resolution and dynamic range are not that great and they are quite slow.
Probably 90 or 100mm would give you the most even illumination. Regarding focal length, many of these projectors came with 60 or 70 -to-something zooms, so I would expect that a 60mm or longer lens should give you even illumination. I have used lots of other methods for film digitization though, both negative and positive, and have also used projectors a lot, so I understand most of the issues.
No I haven't used this method myself because I don't have loads of mounted slides I want to digitize. As long as you do it in a reasonably dark room I wouldn't expect any problems from stray light. Stray light is unlikely to be a problem due to the intensity of light coming from the projector, collimated and directed straight through the film towards the lens. Have you personally tried this method, and is there a specific macro lens FL I need to use (like 60mm maybe)? I'll keep this method in mind though, but it would require purchasing some equipment (one of which would be used for projecting the slides, and then I'd never use it again). Yes it's a more tedious process, but if I could get through one box (which is 200) in a 2-3 days that should be pretty good, and that way I can also adjust the exposure, etc, as I do each one (rather than going back through and sifting through them). But I may look into the slide scanner attachment from Nikon. No I haven't thought about doing it this way but I'd have to get a macro lens first, and then a projector (the last projecter we had died and we never bothered to replace it). Once you have it set up, you should be able to set it going and load the next carousel as it works (make sure you get a spare), and therefore be digitizing as fast as you can load the slides. Either way, shoot raw for maximum dynamic range. Exposure-wise, again, you have the option of fixing the exposure manually or allowing the camera to vary to account for bright/dark slides. Whether you have the option to autofocus for each shot will depend on the camera. Setting focus manually may work the best if the projector is consistent enough with where it holds the slide and you use a smallish aperture for depth of field. You would need to experiment with focus and exposure settings to determine the best options.
The sync is going to drift slightly over time, but with a bit of trial and error, you should be able to get them close enough that they stay in sync for a full carousel's worth, which could be up to 140 slides, depending on the projector. If not, buy a cheap timelapse cable release off Amazon. If your camera has a timelapse function then you can use that. You then need to synchronize the projector timer and camera. Set up your DSLR and macro lens so that it is square up to the film and gauge distance and focus so that the slide almost fills the frame.
Set the projector in a stable position at the edge of a sturdy table. Have you thought about using a slide projector with automated timer? There are a number available which had built-in timers - particularly some of the Kodak ones.Įssentially, you would be using the projector as a light source and means of automating the slide transport.