The Film Scanning Project and Some Random Stuff
We'll get the random stuff out of the way.
At the end of April I decided it was time to pack it in. I was working
in a warehouse and as old injuries from crashing cars and motorcycles
were becoming increasingly painful, I made the decision to walk away
while I could still do the job.
I might go back to work at some point, but I'm comfortable enough to be
able to be very picky and am quite happy to be retired.
The only other things of note that have happened over the past while,
we lost our much loved Rottweiler to cancer back in January and a few
weeks later adopted a Mastiff cross. We aren't quite sure what she is
crossed with, but whatever it was, she isn't Mastiff sized, which is
nice. I may have posted that already, I'm not sure.
Anyway, meet Luna:
Now to the more on topic content:
Before I joined the PDML in 1997 I was a pretty avid and relatively
talented photographer. I had done a few gallery shows, won a few
contests, taught a few seminars, and was recognized locally as one of
the photographic peers in the community.
Times have, of course, changed, and now I am just another hack with a
digital camera.
I have come to accept this fact.
But, I have a huge pool of negatives, many are pretty good images, some
even won awards, and I wanted to digitize them and give them a second
chance at life since I gave up the darkroom about the same time I joined
this group and shifted my attention to what I recognized as the future
of photography.
So, I built myself a film scanning station based around the Fuji X-T5.
You can see what it looks like here:
Colin Brendemuehl was kind enough to acquire some Beseler 45 masks for
me, and everything is sized around those film carriers, so I can copy
anything that a Beseler 45 series enlarger would hold. I have masks for
35mm, 6x7cm and 4"x5"
Using the pixel shift mode on the X-T5 I am able to scrape ~124mp files
from my old 4x5 negs. Admittedly overkill, but I went that way because
my other option was closer to 32mp.
So far the results are pretty good:
Enjoy
bill
Am 01.08.25 um 16:39 schrieb Bill:
So, I built myself a film scanning station based around the Fuji X-T5.
You can see what it looks like here:
Sounds interesting. But what is the light source and I see no such thing
as a negative carrier.
Ralf
--
Ralf R. Radermacher - Köln/Cologne, Germany
Blog : http://the-real-fotoralf.blogspot.com
Audio : http://aporee.org/maps/projects/fotoralf
Fotos : https://www.fotocommunity.de/user_photos/770012
Hi Ralf, so I built a box and painted the inside white:
The hole at the bottom of the box is for the light source, in this case
a high CRI wafer light from a local lighting specialty supplier. The two
cleats attached to the sides are for the diffuser material. I had a
bunch of semi translucent sign plastic sitting around. Four layers of it
was sufficient, but I decided to separate them into two layers of two
for no reason other than I thought it was a good idea.
This is the box with the light source. It's a 6" 90CRI 1400 lumen wafer
light normally used as a home ceiling light. It's one of those
switchable among many hues, I set it to 5000k.
And this has the diffusers installed. I cut the sheets to fit, taped
them together and then held them in with thin slats and pin nails.
This is an overview of the box waiting for the top to be installed.
The top with a 4x5 neg carrier.
The finished product sitting on the floor of my messy workshop
The camera support was pirated from an old copy stand that I bought when
I was a teenager, so I've had it around for some 50 years. I purpose
bought it and put it away after that, so it's nice to have finally found
a use for it again.
I mounted the camera support on a cleat that I cut oversized slots into.
The cleat is held to the table with 3/8 inch carriage bolts, the slots
allow lateral movement and they are wide enough to allow
forward/backward motion to allow the entire camera platform to be moved
to allow the camera to be centered on the film. Once in place, wingnuts
are tightened down to keep it from shifting.
The black round thing in the picture is a Beseler 4x5 inch negative carrier.
For my medium and large format negs I am using the Fuji pixel shift
feature. It works somewhat like the Pentax emulation, but because of the
X-Trans sensor it takes 20 exposures per finished frame rather than 4.
The 20 frames are not combined in camera, unlike Pentax. Combining is
done in the computer using Fuji supplied software.
In operation, I have the camera tethered to the computer. I put a neg
into the carrier and push the button on the Fuji software so that I am
not near the camera. If there is even the slightest movement the
combiner job will fail. I tried using a wired release, but was getting a
high failure rate. Using the software to start the exposure is working
better.
So, the software imports the files to a directory, combines them and
outputs the finished 140mp file to another directory which is set as a
watched directory in Lightroom.
I expect for 35mm film I won't bother with the super resolution feature
but will, instead use the pixel shift in what Fuji calls accurate colour
mode where it outputs a 40mp file.
When the combined file appears, Lightroom grabs it and moves and imports
it to where I want it stored and adds it to the catalogue.
It's really slick and I can copy 3 4x5 negs per minute, or thereabouts.
bill
On 8/1/2025 10:58 AM, Ralf R Radermacher wrote:
Am 01.08.25 um 16:39 schrieb Bill:
So, I built myself a film scanning station based around the Fuji
X-T5. You can see what it looks like here:
Sounds interesting. But what is the light source and I see no such
thing as a negative carrier.
Ralf
Bill, thanks for the extensive description of your setup! And thanks to Ralf for his question!
When I read your first post and did a quick look at the image of your setup, my first question was “what light source?” I hadn’t expected something quite so elaborate, but totally understand the concept.
I have tried doing some 35mm film and slide scanning via camera-on-a-copy-stand, macro lens, using a light-box for light source. Never satisfactory, the lighting just too uneven across the frame.
Stan
On Aug 1, 2025, at 3:30 PM, Bill anotherdrunkensot@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Ralf, so I built a box and painted the inside white:
The hole at the bottom of the box is for the light source, in this case a high CRI wafer light from a local lighting specialty supplier. The two cleats attached to the sides are for the diffuser material. I had a bunch of semi translucent sign plastic sitting around. Four layers of it was sufficient, but I decided to separate them into two layers of two for no reason other than I thought it was a good idea.
This is the box with the light source. It's a 6" 90CRI 1400 lumen wafer light normally used as a home ceiling light. It's one of those switchable among many hues, I set it to 5000k.
And this has the diffusers installed. I cut the sheets to fit, taped them together and then held them in with thin slats and pin nails.
This is an overview of the box waiting for the top to be installed.
The top with a 4x5 neg carrier.
The finished product sitting on the floor of my messy workshop
The camera support was pirated from an old copy stand that I bought when I was a teenager, so I've had it around for some 50 years. I purpose bought it and put it away after that, so it's nice to have finally found a use for it again.
I mounted the camera support on a cleat that I cut oversized slots into. The cleat is held to the table with 3/8 inch carriage bolts, the slots allow lateral movement and they are wide enough to allow forward/backward motion to allow the entire camera platform to be moved to allow the camera to be centered on the film. Once in place, wingnuts are tightened down to keep it from shifting.
The black round thing in the picture is a Beseler 4x5 inch negative carrier.
For my medium and large format negs I am using the Fuji pixel shift feature. It works somewhat like the Pentax emulation, but because of the X-Trans sensor it takes 20 exposures per finished frame rather than 4.
The 20 frames are not combined in camera, unlike Pentax. Combining is done in the computer using Fuji supplied software.
In operation, I have the camera tethered to the computer. I put a neg into the carrier and push the button on the Fuji software so that I am not near the camera. If there is even the slightest movement the combiner job will fail. I tried using a wired release, but was getting a high failure rate. Using the software to start the exposure is working better.
So, the software imports the files to a directory, combines them and outputs the finished 140mp file to another directory which is set as a watched directory in Lightroom.
I expect for 35mm film I won't bother with the super resolution feature but will, instead use the pixel shift in what Fuji calls accurate colour mode where it outputs a 40mp file.
When the combined file appears, Lightroom grabs it and moves and imports it to where I want it stored and adds it to the catalogue.
It's really slick and I can copy 3 4x5 negs per minute, or thereabouts.
bill
On 8/1/2025 10:58 AM, Ralf R Radermacher wrote:
Am 01.08.25 um 16:39 schrieb Bill:
So, I built myself a film scanning station based around the Fuji X-T5. You can see what it looks like here:
Sounds interesting. But what is the light source and I see no such thing as a negative carrier.
Ralf
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I so want this. I have a whole heap of old negs & slides I want to scan eventually but I dread setting up the film scanner.
Dave
On Aug 2, 2025, at 7:30 AM, Bill anotherdrunkensot@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Ralf, so I built a box and painted the inside white:
The hole at the bottom of the box is for the light source, in this case a high CRI wafer light from a local lighting specialty supplier. The two cleats attached to the sides are for the diffuser material. I had a bunch of semi translucent sign plastic sitting around. Four layers of it was sufficient, but I decided to separate them into two layers of two for no reason other than I thought it was a good idea.
This is the box with the light source. It's a 6" 90CRI 1400 lumen wafer light normally used as a home ceiling light. It's one of those switchable among many hues, I set it to 5000k.
And this has the diffusers installed. I cut the sheets to fit, taped them together and then held them in with thin slats and pin nails.
This is an overview of the box waiting for the top to be installed.
The top with a 4x5 neg carrier.
The finished product sitting on the floor of my messy workshop
The camera support was pirated from an old copy stand that I bought when I was a teenager, so I've had it around for some 50 years. I purpose bought it and put it away after that, so it's nice to have finally found a use for it again.
I mounted the camera support on a cleat that I cut oversized slots into. The cleat is held to the table with 3/8 inch carriage bolts, the slots allow lateral movement and they are wide enough to allow forward/backward motion to allow the entire camera platform to be moved to allow the camera to be centered on the film. Once in place, wingnuts are tightened down to keep it from shifting.
The black round thing in the picture is a Beseler 4x5 inch negative carrier.
For my medium and large format negs I am using the Fuji pixel shift feature. It works somewhat like the Pentax emulation, but because of the X-Trans sensor it takes 20 exposures per finished frame rather than 4.
The 20 frames are not combined in camera, unlike Pentax. Combining is done in the computer using Fuji supplied software.
In operation, I have the camera tethered to the computer. I put a neg into the carrier and push the button on the Fuji software so that I am not near the camera. If there is even the slightest movement the combiner job will fail. I tried using a wired release, but was getting a high failure rate. Using the software to start the exposure is working better.
So, the software imports the files to a directory, combines them and outputs the finished 140mp file to another directory which is set as a watched directory in Lightroom.
I expect for 35mm film I won't bother with the super resolution feature but will, instead use the pixel shift in what Fuji calls accurate colour mode where it outputs a 40mp file.
When the combined file appears, Lightroom grabs it and moves and imports it to where I want it stored and adds it to the catalogue.
It's really slick and I can copy 3 4x5 negs per minute, or thereabouts.
bill
On 8/1/2025 10:58 AM, Ralf R Radermacher wrote:
Am 01.08.25 um 16:39 schrieb Bill:
So, I built myself a film scanning station based around the Fuji X-T5. You can see what it looks like here:
Sounds interesting. But what is the light source and I see no such thing as a negative carrier.
Ralf
--
%(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List
To unsubscribe send an email to pdml-leave@pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
I did my scanning of 6x6 and 35 mm negs and slides on an Epson
Perfection V500. However, my scanner stopped working recently.
Their recent model V600 is no longer available and apparently they have
no longer anything else for this job.
Therefore I bought an Epson Perfection V39II which is a neat light
scanner for photo's and documents.
I'll try to put my old film and slide holders on it and see how this
works without the V500 software.
Although I much admire Bill's efforts, my two left hands could never
make this set up.
Henk
Op 2-8-2025 om 07:12 schreef David Mann:
I so want this. I have a whole heap of old negs & slides I want to scan eventually but I dread setting up the film scanner.
Dave
Am 02.08.25 um 07:12 schrieb David Mann:
I so want this. I have a whole heap of old negs & slides I want to scan eventually but I dread setting up the film scanner.
What's so wrong with a film scanner?
I'm using a Minolta 5400 for 35 mm. Works fine and scans film strips of
6 frames automatically. For 35 mm panoramic and medium format up to 6 x
17 cm I use my 'secret weapon', a Epson F-3200 (not the Perfection
3200), the only film scanner that does 35 mm up to 4x5. All this with
Vuescan. Works fine for me.
As I'm scanning mostly for screen display, the quality is more than
adequate. With my two left hands, all thumbs, I can only admire things
like the contraption built by Bill.
I've had a look at the stuff made by Valoi but it's awfully expensive
and I'm not sure there will be a substantial rise in quality with my K-3
as a camera.
Ralf
--
Ralf R. Radermacher - Köln/Cologne, Germany
Blog : http://the-real-fotoralf.blogspot.com
Audio : http://aporee.org/maps/projects/fotoralf
Fotos : https://www.fotocommunity.de/user_photos/770012
On 8/1/2025 3:17 PM, Stanley Halpin wrote:
Bill, thanks for the extensive description of your setup! And thanks to Ralf for his question!
When I read your first post and did a quick look at the image of your setup, my first question was “what light source?” I hadn’t expected something quite so elaborate, but totally understand the concept.
I have tried doing some 35mm film and slide scanning via camera-on-a-copy-stand, macro lens, using a light-box for light source. Never satisfactory, the lighting just too uneven across the frame.
Stan
Hi Stan, one of the things I learned working in photolabs is you can
never have too much diffusion....
The 6" light source on it's own would probably have given me coverage
for the 4x5 negs as long as it was 6" or so away from the film, but
because of the nature of pucks, there would have been a hundred or so
little dots of light, or how many individual LEDs are in the puck
visible through it's diffuser, and as the LEDs fail over time, the
lighting would have become increasingly uneven.
Hence the huge diffusion filter. Also, I wanted to keep exposure times
on the longer side in case there is flicker, though fortunately there
isn't since even with all the interruption the exposures have been
around 1/125 @ f8 @ ISO125.
Fun stuff.
bill
Did you post this young lady as a PESO a few years back? I think I
remember seeing it.
On 8/1/2025 10:39 AM, Bill wrote:
We'll get the random stuff out of the way.
At the end of April I decided it was time to pack it in. I was working
in a warehouse and as old injuries from crashing cars and motorcycles
were becoming increasingly painful, I made the decision to walk away
while I could still do the job.
I might go back to work at some point, but I'm comfortable enough to be
able to be very picky and am quite happy to be retired.
The only other things of note that have happened over the past while,
we lost our much loved Rottweiler to cancer back in January and a few
weeks later adopted a Mastiff cross. We aren't quite sure what she is
crossed with, but whatever it was, she isn't Mastiff sized, which is
nice. I may have posted that already, I'm not sure.
Anyway, meet Luna:
Now to the more on topic content:
Before I joined the PDML in 1997 I was a pretty avid and relatively
talented photographer. I had done a few gallery shows, won a few
contests, taught a few seminars, and was recognized locally as one of
the photographic peers in the community.
Times have, of course, changed, and now I am just another hack with a
digital camera.
I have come to accept this fact.
But, I have a huge pool of negatives, many are pretty good images, some
even won awards, and I wanted to digitize them and give them a second
chance at life since I gave up the darkroom about the same time I joined
this group and shifted my attention to what I recognized as the future
of photography.
So, I built myself a film scanning station based around the Fuji X-T5.
You can see what it looks like here:
Colin Brendemuehl was kind enough to acquire some Beseler 45 masks for
me, and everything is sized around those film carriers, so I can copy
anything that a Beseler 45 series enlarger would hold. I have masks for
35mm, 6x7cm and 4"x5"
Using the pixel shift mode on the X-T5 I am able to scrape ~124mp files
from my old 4x5 negs. Admittedly overkill, but I went that way because
my other option was closer to 32mp.
So far the results are pretty good:
Enjoy
bill
--
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On 1 Aug 2025, at 15:39, Bill anotherdrunkensot@gmail.com wrote:
https://flic.kr/p/2rhKA1B https://flic.kr/p/2rhKA1B
https://flic.kr/p/2rhR6bh https://flic.kr/p/2rhR6bh
https://flic.kr/p/2ri2Yz1 https://flic.kr/p/2ri2Yz1
https://flic.kr/p/2rjvDgt https://flic.kr/p/2rjvDgt
Aside from the last one looking like my ex-wife, nice gallery!!
Enjoy the retirement Bill, you’re a year ahead of me.
Cotty