Thank you Peter, the day I viewed your video I ordered the JJC FDA LED1 - I had been struggling to convert my slides mainly by not having a consistent light source. It arrived last Friday and have spent the last few days digitizing dozens of slides, using my Nikon Z6 as I don't have a macro lens for my OM-1. The results are fantastic. I now have dozens of 1980's photos taken with my SP35 and OM40 cameras - that I will now share to Flickr. Thank you so much for sharing your video - love your channel.
Thanks a lot for your informative video about this device. I bought it and also a cheap 30 cm flash rail to make a similar digitising set as you have in your video. I use Olympus 60 mm macro lens in my set. Because my rail has not a sliding feature I attached my M5ii camera to the rail with the help of a Arca Swiss type quick release clamp. With the help of it I can adjust the distance to the film quite accurately. I solved the vertical alignment difference with a few washers under the slide copier. So far I have only digitised 2 negative rolls using hires mode. I am very happy with the results. Kiitos Peter!
Thanks very much for this. I have used a Nikon ES-1 together with slide/neg holder and m.zuiko 30 mm macro. I still have lots of negatives to do and this looks easier to use.
In this case, third-party solutions appear to be better and more affordable than the OEM option. After researching the Nikon ES-2, I found this video informative in explaining the features, and also to see it being used, which was extremely helpful. Thank you for the detailed video.
Very nice video, Kiitos paljon ! Only con I see is you need a very dark environment to avoid external light illuminating front of slide. I use Nikon ES2 to attach to my 60mm Nikon macro directly to it, and point it to source of light, Lume Cube 2.0 Daylight-Balanced Portable LED Light
I just bought the full kit yesterday, before this video was posted. I was kinda surprised about nobody in CZcams talking about it because it looks great in the marketing videos they have, but specially it has got hundreds of great reviews in aliexpress. However I was kinda concerned that it would not be functional, but your video reassure me...
Great video :-) Actually just bought one cause my old scanner refuses to be recognized by any os or screams update while the company that had build it has disappeared :-) And yeah.. I have a good macro lens and this works nice and fast :-)
Very interesting tool! Cheap but powerful alternative to a 35mm film scanner. For macro with normal lenses I found out that achromatic close-up lenses gave me better results than extension tubes.
@@ForsgardPeter Of course! However, I once wanted to know if it’s really worth carrying an extra lens and did a comparison. Using a good lens with a good, achromatic close-up lens, can be visually as good. And in my comparison, I had the 50mm macro, which is even better than the 60mm.
Ive seen another version, more expensive with tubes to attach on the front of lenses, maybe thats a better way for me! I mean, i dont need to but anything else, just the whole kit.
Great overview Peter, decided to pick this up , almost the same price as a led Light table and since it is Prime Day it was on sale for 24Euro. worth a try at this price
Good video. Even if it s a little more expensive the item with the extension tube is better for me because it avoids movement between the film and the camera. The light is not mandatory with the « dépoli » you direct the assembly to any source of light and it works. The entire kit (with extension tubes ) is twice less expensive than Nikon model (this one is a copy more versatile with adapters to Sony, Nikon and Canon and more) so worth for money. When you have cameras who can have customized profile you can even digitalisé directly color negatives.
To get accurate colors, you need a high quality even light. Not "just any light". I would never use this without extension tubes, there is always chance of unwanted reflections or misalignment.
Brilliant The only alternative to the Nikon ES-2 slide digitizer. Only better because it has a built in LED light. But the Nikon ES-2 attachment screws on to the macro lens being used instead of putting body and copier on a rail separately. This might hold the whole device in better alignment? Don't know. The best thing about this approach though is just that You don't have to worry about getting the film plain and sensor plain parallel because he mechanism does it for you. Also it doesn't matter if you move while taking the picture because the film plain and the sensor lain both move in unison with each other and that means they don't move at all in relation to each other. The Nikon version is way more expensive. But its still soooooo cheap compared with buying film holders and copy stands and light sources. So much easier to set up and use.
I fact the JJC has a complimentary accesory that attach the holder and lamp to the lens. I got the full kit and it's really helpful, I dont have to struggle with alignments.
Thank you so very much sir, for this excellent and very good review, most helpful for me before purchasing this equipment for making my many analog transparencies to make them digital! So nice to give new life to your older photos! Wishing you all the best and God bless you and your family as well! Best regards from Sweden! 👍👍👍💯❤❤❤
Hi Peter, I got one of these a few weeks ago. The unit is a bit cheap and nasty, but one get what one pays for, it works very well, and I haven't seen anything similar. The dimming cable worked the very first time I used it, but then failed and I'm now using a straight USB cable - not a problem. I've been taking my images in RAW (but not hi res) hands free, typically with excellent results using the Negative Lab Pro plugin for Lightroom. I thought hard about all the various ways of aligning my camera with the film strip, all of them were too fiddly, hence the handheld (EM1 Mkii with 60mm macro). After seeing your video I've oredered a macro slide which looks to be a much better workflow - thanks for the tip. All the best, David
You don't need to buy something special just to digitize your old photos, you can do the same with a negative viewer and a tripod. If your camera has the high resolution mode you can generate files of excellent scans of 40 or 60 megapixels.
Sûre but it’s just easier and quicker. When you have one roll it’s ok. When you have dozens of rolls it s not the same game. The best is to have 2 film holders and another people who load the film, clean it , pass it to the « photographer » and put it back thé used film in its storage. It s half price the Nikon one and more versatile for Nikon Canon Sony and others.
Agreed. Use simple methods (tripod, etc.) or apps like Google’s PhotoScan to digitize a few photos. But this device is best for speed and consistency with many photos.
I'm currently using an adapter FD 50mm macro lens, and I'm thinking about upgrading to a native lens. For scanning negatives, is there any reason to pick up the 60mm over the 30mm?
Both lenses have their advantages. 60mm f.28 is slight better when it comes to image quality. On the other hand 30mm is nice and small and easier to use. It also has slightly bigger magnification. If you have the budget, get the 60mm F2.8 macro.
great video but the way you mounted your rig makes for a misaligned shutter/focal plane thus introducing the probability of misfocus when using a macro lens. Also, the sweet spot for quality in most lenses is around f8 and not f5.6 (and definitely not f4)
Peter! How do you set up 'back button focusing' on OM1 ? I have just taken receipt of one that was ordered back in the beginning of March! Cheers Davie!
This is really interesting and useful, thank you. I have never really got on with film scanners as they often have annoying and complicated software, and of course are very slow at reasonable resolutions. Is there a 120 version of this?
@@ForsgardPeter the solution I have been considering is the 120 version of a Lomography gadget called a DigitaLIZA which is basically a film holder which you can place over an LED light panel, basically a bigger version of the light source in your gadget.
I have a question. Do you scan them in RAW or JPEG? Cause I know Olympus has its own RAW format and I've been forced to use the OM program to open it and not sure how am I gonna invert negatives from there.
In standard tools, where you have exposure compensation, white balance etc. Colour tone curve if it's called that in english version... The vertical values, just switch 0 to 255 and 255 to 0.
Hello, I'm not professional in photography but just need to process some old negative films found stored at my house, do I need any chemical or those types of material? I just have 5 films taken out from the camera and stored long time ago....
@@ForsgardPeter searched a lot in my country "Lebanon" none still in the business, anyway, is ordering the jjc tool that's configured to be fixed on a camera need any other photolab skills? I mean I'll need also to wash and etc the negative? or it can be used out of the box Thank you for your time 😅
Are the films developed? If not then that has to be done first. After you ahve the negatives them those can be scanned or photographed like I did in this video. Make sure you have a compatible lens on your camera.
Looks great. Although I'm a bit confused. The video showed more slide illuminated on each side of the lighted window frame. We're you photographing 100% of the negative size?
Hi peter, do you think that scanning a film with a DSLR or any digital camera takes away some of the characteristics and the vibes of the film ? I'm new to film photography, thank you.
Hi Peter, Thank you for the video. What is the length of the rail that you are using on this? Which pieces do you need to add on to the rail, if it is a bare rail?
Yeah, it would be a good product if those geniuses had made a film holder with windows with SQUARE BORDERS... you know, like negatives are... instead they're ROUNDED on their edges (you can see it clearly on 0:18 ), soooo... guess what? You'll have to crop!
*Hi From australia Peter. 2 questions: do you use emultion side towards the lens or the othe way around.? Second I am trying to use it also with colour film but the resuklts are extremely pale. Any suggestions. Thanks*
Great video and cool gadget. I was just wondering why you suggest using the high-res mode. To my knowledge, 35mm negatives capture about 6 megapixels resolution, so I was wondering what the benefit would be of capturing 80 mp images instead of 20mp? Disadvantages are slower capture time and very large files.
@@ForsgardPeter I'd still be interested to see the difference between 20mp and 80mp for scanned 35mm negatives. I can imagine that the grain structure will look a lot sharper, but I really wonder if additional image detail would emerge. Maybe with Kodachrome 25 ISO and a sharp Leica/Zeiss lens, the original film could provide extra detail beyond 6mp.
I’ve tried it before with my m1 II. I didn’t notice that much of a difference that it was worth going hires. But I will try again with this gadget and the om-1.
After seeing this a few days ago, I ordered the JJC from Amazon, and it arrived today. I now need to work out the macro rail aspect. Before I spend another $25 or so on a macro rail, my first concern, trying it with both the Olympus 60mm macro and the Olympus 4/3 50mm f2 on my E-M1 mk2 is there seems to be a problem with vertical alignment - that the camera aims lower than the illuminator holds the slide or negative when they are both sitting flat on a table. How do you adjust for that? I likely will try to make a custom rail that does it, rather than buying an aluminum one. Nevertheless the illuminator looks like it will do a great job, once I get the rest figured out!
Hello! I have this set up and I'm getting a strong white vignette when inverting the negative (not because of the lens, given the negative is in a no vignette area of the photo). This white vignette is more notorious when I increase the exposure in the post production, why can this be happening? Because an uneven light of the jjc lamp? Or maybe because the light is very close to the negative? Hope you can help me. I'm using a 7artisans 60 mm mark II at F5. 6.
It hard to say without seeing the image. Why you needs to increase the exposure. Try to make the exposure as bright as possible when photographing and then lower it in post.
@@ForsgardPeter I did overexpose a colorplus 200 rating it at iso 100. When I shot the negative I set the exposure compensation at +1 EV. So, should I just simply use 0 exposure compensation so no need to increase in post production?
Ah, once again people spending money and time chasing formats! Before embarking on a project to convert your slides/negatives (and buying more stuff) think about whether it's worth your time: What will you do with the finished product? If you don't have specific plans, don't do it. A few years back I bought a Canon scanner with slide/negative abilities. I figured I'd scan my 200+ rolls that I'd shot predigital. I got partway through and realized it was a bit of a waste. I hadn't seen many of the images for decades, which was a blessing and a curse. I ended up scanning just a few of my favorite shots from each roll, thinking I could clean them up digitally later on. That's not happened yet and probably never will. Life's too short to spend time and money to revist the past and clean up old images. My time is too valuable. But, you think, your heirs would want to see the old pictures you took. Really? You expect them to pop in a disk to see the thousands of pictures you took? Oh, they say they will - just as I told my sister. They won't.
This is something to think about. I have digitized old slides/negatives and prints. I have made photobooks. I have added stories to those photos. Those are especially nice when some has passed away. That book can be copied and send to all relatives how wants it. One photo album with prints is nice, but there is usually only one. Photobooks is one use. The other one could be preserving the slides and negatives.
@@ForsgardPeter I agree, Peter. Having an end result/product in mind always results in a better product and less time wasted. The idea of scanning everything you shot over the years simply because the tools are now available is a waste of time. It would be like me walking around pounding nails because I saw a video that encouraged me to buy a hammer.
I should add that a friend of mine copied many of his old photos and had them published into several books. The result was brilliant, and I’m quite sure his heirs will delight in looking at them well into the future. No my friend, life is not too short to engage in such a project, and certainly not a waste of his time.
Hi Peter! My family is also from Finland. I just need to know for a rig for my mirrorless Olympus IV micro 4/3 to let me scan 120 size film prints or negatives as well as 35mm. Can you give me any ideas or links to such a product? Thank you! Great show!
Not available in the UK via your link I am afraid, but inputting JJC FDA directly into Search on the UK site shows 8 left and it is on a Prime Day offer for £25.20!
Thank you Peter, the day I viewed your video I ordered the JJC FDA LED1 - I had been struggling to convert my slides mainly by not having a consistent light source. It arrived last Friday and have spent the last few days digitizing dozens of slides, using my Nikon Z6 as I don't have a macro lens for my OM-1. The results are fantastic. I now have dozens of 1980's photos taken with my SP35 and OM40 cameras - that I will now share to Flickr. Thank you so much for sharing your video - love your channel.
Thank you.
Thanks a lot for your informative video about this device. I bought it and also a cheap 30 cm flash rail to make a similar digitising set as you have in your video. I use Olympus 60 mm macro lens in my set. Because my rail has not a sliding feature I attached my M5ii camera to the rail with the help of a Arca Swiss type quick release clamp. With the help of it I can adjust the distance to the film quite accurately. I solved the vertical alignment difference with a few washers under the slide copier. So far I have only digitised 2 negative rolls using hires mode. I am very happy with the results. Kiitos Peter!
Thanks very much for this. I have used a Nikon ES-1 together with slide/neg holder and m.zuiko 30 mm macro. I still have lots of negatives to do and this looks easier to use.
Thanks! I was actually looking for such device. This video came at the right time.
I bought one and have been putting it off as I am lazy, now I will do it, Kodachrome 25 here I come!
Wish I had seen this first. I ended up ordering the JJC adapter you have after doing my own research. I'm looking for a rail now.
In this case, third-party solutions appear to be better and more affordable than the OEM option. After researching the Nikon ES-2, I found this video informative in explaining the features, and also to see it being used, which was extremely helpful. Thank you for the detailed video.
Thanks. Glad it was helpful.
Was looking at this unit earlier & wanted to see how good it was so thank you _ I have Olympus & Panasonic micro 4/3rds gear so perfect
Very nice video, Kiitos paljon ! Only con I see is you need a very dark environment to avoid external light illuminating front of slide. I use Nikon ES2 to attach to my 60mm Nikon macro directly to it, and point it to source of light, Lume Cube 2.0 Daylight-Balanced Portable LED Light
I just bought the full kit yesterday, before this video was posted. I was kinda surprised about nobody in CZcams talking about it because it looks great in the marketing videos they have, but specially it has got hundreds of great reviews in aliexpress. However I was kinda concerned that it would not be functional, but your video reassure me...
Thanks for sharing and hope you find it useful and good.
Great video :-) Actually just bought one cause my old scanner refuses to be recognized by any os or screams update while the company that had build it has disappeared :-) And yeah.. I have a good macro lens and this works nice and fast :-)
Very interesting tool! Cheap but powerful alternative to a 35mm film scanner. For macro with normal lenses I found out that achromatic close-up lenses gave me better results than extension tubes.
Macro lenses are of course better. They are made for close-ups.
@@ForsgardPeter Of course! However, I once wanted to know if it’s really worth carrying an extra lens and did a comparison. Using a good lens with a good, achromatic close-up lens, can be visually as good. And in my comparison, I had the 50mm macro, which is even better than the 60mm.
Great!!!
I think i'm gonna try this, for sure.
Ive seen another version, more expensive with tubes to attach on the front of lenses, maybe thats a better way for me! I mean, i dont need to but anything else, just the whole kit.
Great overview Peter, decided to pick this up , almost the same price as a led Light table and since it is Prime Day it was on sale for 24Euro. worth a try at this price
👌👍👍🙏
👋🙋
Thanks , Peter
Good video. Even if it s a little more expensive the item with the extension tube is better for me because it avoids movement between the film and the camera. The light is not mandatory with the « dépoli » you direct the assembly to any source of light and it works. The entire kit (with extension tubes ) is twice less expensive than Nikon model (this one is a copy more versatile with adapters to Sony, Nikon and Canon and more) so worth for money. When you have cameras who can have customized profile you can even digitalisé directly color negatives.
Thanks. There are many ways of copying slides and negatives. I found this device quite good and handy.
To get accurate colors, you need a high quality even light. Not "just any light". I would never use this without extension tubes, there is always chance of unwanted reflections or misalignment.
Thanks! 👍🏻
Brilliant The only alternative to the Nikon ES-2 slide digitizer. Only better because it has a built in LED light. But the Nikon ES-2 attachment screws on to the macro lens being used instead of putting body and copier on a rail separately. This might hold the whole device in better alignment? Don't know. The best thing about this approach though is just that You don't have to worry about getting the film plain and sensor plain parallel because he mechanism does it for you. Also it doesn't matter if you move while taking the picture because the film plain and the sensor lain both move in unison with each other and that means they don't move at all in relation to each other. The Nikon version is way more expensive. But its still soooooo cheap compared with buying film holders and copy stands and light sources. So much easier to set up and use.
This device is not perfect and of course setting it up needs to be perfect. The slide/negative needs to be parallel.
I fact the JJC has a complimentary accesory that attach the holder and lamp to the lens. I got the full kit and it's really helpful, I dont have to struggle with alignments.
@@martinohesse 👍
Thank you so very much sir, for this excellent and very good review, most helpful for me before purchasing this equipment for making my many analog transparencies to make them digital! So nice to give new life to your older photos! Wishing you all the best and God bless you and your family as well! Best regards from Sweden! 👍👍👍💯❤❤❤
Hi Peter,
I got one of these a few weeks ago. The unit is a bit cheap and nasty, but one get what one pays for, it works very well, and I haven't seen anything similar. The dimming cable worked the very first time I used it, but then failed and I'm now using a straight USB cable - not a problem. I've been taking my images in RAW (but not hi res) hands free, typically with excellent results using the Negative Lab Pro plugin for Lightroom. I thought hard about all the various ways of aligning my camera with the film strip, all of them were too fiddly, hence the handheld (EM1 Mkii with 60mm macro). After seeing your video I've oredered a macro slide which looks to be a much better workflow - thanks for the tip.
All the best,
David
I have some old 120mm negatives can I use this for them or it’s just build for 35mm?
Thank you for your video. What was the rail system you used?
It was some generic NATO-rail that I had.
You don't need to buy something special just to digitize your old photos, you can do the same with a negative viewer and a tripod.
If your camera has the high resolution mode you can generate files of excellent scans of 40 or 60 megapixels.
Yes that is right.
Sûre but it’s just easier and quicker. When you have one roll it’s ok. When you have dozens of rolls it s not the same game. The best is to have 2 film holders and another people who load the film, clean it , pass it to the « photographer » and put it back thé used film in its storage. It s half price the Nikon one and more versatile for Nikon Canon Sony and others.
Agreed. Use simple methods (tripod, etc.) or apps like Google’s PhotoScan to digitize a few photos. But this device is best for speed and consistency with many photos.
Takk!
Tack!
Ima get one immediately. Thanks as always Peter.
I'm currently using an adapter FD 50mm macro lens, and I'm thinking about upgrading to a native lens. For scanning negatives, is there any reason to pick up the 60mm over the 30mm?
Both lenses have their advantages. 60mm f.28 is slight better when it comes to image quality. On the other hand 30mm is nice and small and easier to use. It also has slightly bigger magnification. If you have the budget, get the 60mm F2.8 macro.
great video but the way you mounted your rig makes for a misaligned shutter/focal plane thus introducing the probability of misfocus when using a macro lens. Also, the sweet spot for quality in most lenses is around f8 and not f5.6 (and definitely not f4)
Yes there is a possibility misalign the equippement. MFT and F( can cause diffraction so I rather use f4 to f5.6 that f8.
I hadn't thought about that possibility, thanks for bringing it up@@ForsgardPeter
Peter! How do you set up 'back button focusing' on OM1 ? I have just taken receipt of one that was ordered back in the beginning of March! Cheers Davie!
There's no setting up needed. The af button on the back is your back button af.
@@brianlaunchbury4491 Cheers!
This is really interesting and useful, thank you. I have never really got on with film scanners as they often have annoying and complicated software, and of course are very slow at reasonable resolutions.
Is there a 120 version of this?
I have not seen a 120 film version of this. I wish there was. I have quite a few 120mm slides and negatives.
@@ForsgardPeter the solution I have been considering is the 120 version of a Lomography gadget called a DigitaLIZA which is basically a film holder which you can place over an LED light panel, basically a bigger version of the light source in your gadget.
@@ForsgardPeter I made my own setup with the lite box and aimed the camera with macro down on the 120 negative, works good enough.
Thanks Chris, that Digitaliza from Lomography looks great! I need to take a closer look and see if that is something for me.
Wonder how this JJC compares to the Nikon ES-2 which price went out of control...
Hard to say since I have tested the Nikon version. Most likely the Nikon version is good. The construction of the device is not very complicated.
I have a question. Do you scan them in RAW or JPEG? Cause I know Olympus has its own RAW format and I've been forced to use the OM program to open it and not sure how am I gonna invert negatives from there.
I use raw. Unfotunately not sure how to convert the negative to a positive in OM Workspace.
@@ForsgardPeter So that means I have to edit it in raw manually then. That's a slow process to do it :|
In standard tools, where you have exposure compensation, white balance etc. Colour tone curve if it's called that in english version... The vertical values, just switch 0 to 255 and 255 to 0.
Hello, I'm not professional in photography but just need to process some old negative films found stored at my house, do I need any chemical or those types of material?
I just have 5 films taken out from the camera and stored long time ago....
The best way is to find a photolab that can develop the films.
@@ForsgardPeter searched a lot in my country "Lebanon" none still in the business, anyway, is ordering the jjc tool that's configured to be fixed on a camera need any other photolab skills? I mean I'll need also to wash and etc the negative? or it can be used out of the box
Thank you for your time 😅
Are the films developed? If not then that has to be done first. After you ahve the negatives them those can be scanned or photographed like I did in this video. Make sure you have a compatible lens on your camera.
Looks great. Although I'm a bit confused. The video showed more slide illuminated on each side of the lighted window frame. We're you photographing 100% of the negative size?
No I was not. I used high res mode so I had enough captured pixels.
Hi peter, do you think that scanning a film with a DSLR or any digital camera takes away some of the characteristics and the vibes of the film ? I'm new to film photography, thank you.
Yes it will. The best way would be making wet prints.
Hi Peter, Thank you for the video. What is the length of the rail that you are using on this? Which pieces do you need to add on to the rail, if it is a bare rail?
It is just a no brand bare rail.
Great video Peter. I would like to know how do I get a Slide Rail like yours. Thank you!
That was some parts that I found from my storage. Look for macro rails.
@ Peter, What focus point are you recommending when using Auto focus on OM-1 when digitizing 35mm film, Single point or Small point? Thank you.
I use manual focus. Magnify and peaking on. If I was using AF, I would choose single point.
Nice! Where did you buy the adapter to attach the camera to the lightbox?
That is just a rail taht I attached the copier and camera to.
@@ForsgardPeter ah ok. What can I type into AliExpress to find it? Just ‘camera rail’?
Type NATO rail. That should give you options. It is really hard to say which one is the best.
I would very much like to use this Peter but my slides going back to the 70's look mushy, its upsetting .
Unfortunately I also have old negatives and slides that has seen their best times.
Yeah, it would be a good product if those geniuses had made a film holder with windows with SQUARE BORDERS... you know, like negatives are... instead they're ROUNDED on their edges (you can see it clearly on 0:18 ), soooo... guess what? You'll have to crop!
It is not perfect, but still quite good.
How long is the slide rail?
The longer one is six frames and then there is one for slides that takes two.
*Hi From australia Peter. 2 questions: do you use emultion side towards the lens or the othe way around.? Second I am trying to use it also with colour film but the resuklts are extremely pale. Any suggestions. Thanks*
The other side, not emulsion. Maybe the exposure is not correct?
@@ForsgardPeter Thanks
Thanks Peter. Did you try to use daylight as source, shooting against cloudy sky?
Not this time. I used the built in led. Daylight is ok if the sky is cloudy.
What have you put under the camera to get to the right hight when you put it all on a rail.
It is a piece of plastic that has a hole in the middle for the tripod mount. Something I found from my gear room.
Great video and cool gadget. I was just wondering why you suggest using the high-res mode. To my knowledge, 35mm negatives capture about 6 megapixels resolution, so I was wondering what the benefit would be of capturing 80 mp images instead of 20mp? Disadvantages are slower capture time and very large files.
The image quality is better. The sensor can capture every thing with three different pixel, R, G & B.
@@ForsgardPeter I'd still be interested to see the difference between 20mp and 80mp for scanned 35mm negatives. I can imagine that the grain structure will look a lot sharper, but I really wonder if additional image detail would emerge. Maybe with Kodachrome 25 ISO and a sharp Leica/Zeiss lens, the original film could provide extra detail beyond 6mp.
I’ve tried it before with my m1 II. I didn’t notice that much of a difference that it was worth going hires. But I will try again with this gadget and the om-1.
After seeing this a few days ago, I ordered the JJC from Amazon, and it arrived today. I now need to work out the macro rail aspect. Before I spend another $25 or so on a macro rail, my first concern, trying it with both the Olympus 60mm macro and the Olympus 4/3 50mm f2 on my E-M1 mk2 is there seems to be a problem with vertical alignment - that the camera aims lower than the illuminator holds the slide or negative when they are both sitting flat on a table. How do you adjust for that?
I likely will try to make a custom rail that does it, rather than buying an aluminum one.
Nevertheless the illuminator looks like it will do a great job, once I get the rest figured out!
I had a small bolt under the slide copier to make the alignment ok.
How did you attach the camera to the rail so it is the right height?
There is a small plate under the camera to make it slightly higher.
Would this solution work for 120 format negative?
Not this particular device. This one is only for 35mm negatives and slides.
Peter, thanks for this, did you build the rail yourself from items you already had ?
Yes I did the rail with stuff I had. It just a rail and two tripod screw size screws.
@@ForsgardPeter May I ask what’s the spacer you used between OM1 and rail? My om1 is aiming too low. Thank you.
Hello! I have this set up and I'm getting a strong white vignette when inverting the negative (not because of the lens, given the negative is in a no vignette area of the photo). This white vignette is more notorious when I increase the exposure in the post production, why can this be happening? Because an uneven light of the jjc lamp? Or maybe because the light is very close to the negative? Hope you can help me. I'm using a 7artisans 60 mm mark II at F5. 6.
It hard to say without seeing the image. Why you needs to increase the exposure. Try to make the exposure as bright as possible when photographing and then lower it in post.
@@ForsgardPeter I did overexpose a colorplus 200 rating it at iso 100. When I shot the negative I set the exposure compensation at +1 EV. So, should I just simply use 0 exposure compensation so no need to increase in post production?
Ah, once again people spending money and time chasing formats!
Before embarking on a project to convert your slides/negatives (and buying more stuff) think about whether it's worth your time:
What will you do with the finished product?
If you don't have specific plans, don't do it.
A few years back I bought a Canon scanner with slide/negative abilities. I figured I'd scan my 200+ rolls that I'd shot predigital.
I got partway through and realized it was a bit of a waste. I hadn't seen many of the images for decades, which was a blessing and a curse.
I ended up scanning just a few of my favorite shots from each roll, thinking I could clean them up digitally later on.
That's not happened yet and probably never will.
Life's too short to spend time and money to revist the past and clean up old images.
My time is too valuable.
But, you think, your heirs would want to see the old pictures you took.
Really? You expect them to pop in a disk to see the thousands of pictures you took? Oh, they say they will - just as I told my sister.
They won't.
This is something to think about. I have digitized old slides/negatives and prints. I have made photobooks. I have added stories to those photos. Those are especially nice when some has passed away. That book can be copied and send to all relatives how wants it. One photo album with prints is nice, but there is usually only one. Photobooks is one use.
The other one could be preserving the slides and negatives.
@@ForsgardPeter
I agree, Peter.
Having an end result/product in mind always results in a better product and less time wasted.
The idea of scanning everything you shot over the years simply because the tools are now available is a waste of time.
It would be like me walking around pounding nails because I saw a video that encouraged me to buy a hammer.
I should add that a friend of mine copied many of his old photos and had them published into several books. The result was brilliant, and I’m quite sure his heirs will delight in looking at them well into the future. No my friend, life is not too short to engage in such a project, and certainly not a waste of his time.
Hi Peter! My family is also from Finland. I just need to know for a rig for my mirrorless Olympus IV micro 4/3 to let me scan 120 size film prints or negatives as well as 35mm. Can you give me any ideas or links to such a product? Thank you! Great show!
Here is one from Lomography. I have not tested this but I might get one. shop.lomography.com/eu/digitaliza-plus-scanning-kit
@@ForsgardPeter Wow that’s great! I’m going to order one and give it a trial run. Thanks Peter! 👍😎
Hope it is as good as it seems. Please let me know your thoughts about after you have tested it.
@@ForsgardPeter I certainly will Peter!
What's the rail you were using? Thanks.
I built that rail from parts I found from my storage.
Excellent! May I ask who makes that small camera slide?
I made it from spare parts I had.
@@ForsgardPeter I ordered a similar one off Amazon today. Thanks for the quick get back.
@@thegreatvanziniphotos5976 which one? Please add a link.
Which rail slider are you using here?
I made it from parts that i found in my gear storage.
@@ForsgardPeter How long is it in inches, fully extended?
where can i find the rail?
I made it myself from parts that I found from my storage.
Tip #7 use the minimum ISO.
👍
Just clicked the link… Not Available!
Amazon USA has it ......
Sorry to hear it. I think Amazon US has it.
Not available on Amazon in the UK
Not available in the UK via your link I am afraid, but inputting JJC FDA directly into Search on the UK site shows 8 left and it is on a Prime Day offer for £25.20!
It seems that the one in Amazon UK is the more expensive one.
Too bad glazed slides don't fit in the holder 🙄