Submitted by pdesmidt on Sat, 02/25/2012 - 02:02
Posted in
Hi,
I'm a photographer based out of Fond du Lac, WI. I came to this site while doing research on a dslr copy stand style film scanner project. There is a big jump, both in quality and price, from a consumer flatbed, such as an Epson V750, and professional scanners, such as an Aztek Premier drum scanner. In addition, while some of us own pro scanners, most of them are very old and dependent on outdated computer system, and they're very expensive to service, if any is even available. Furthermore, quality film scanners, such as Nikon's Coolscan line are disappearing. As a result, some of us are trying to develop a film scanner using a dlsr on a sturdy copy stand. We then move the negative in a holder on a flat plate bellow the lens. Doing this gives us many samples of the negative, which we combine using stitching software to give us one image.
Here's a picture of my prototype:
With 6x7 negatives and my D200, it takes 25 samples to cover the negative with a 50mm lens at 1:1 magnification. With 4x5" and large negatives it takes many more samples. We'd like to develop a computerized x-y stage to move the negatives a precise amount, fire the camera, and then move on. Precision movement would help with stitching samples with little contrast. I would love any suggestions on the best way to accomplish this.
Regards,
Peter De Smidt