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Fun with MF images - ARCHIVED - FOR VIEWING ONLY

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R

Rolo

Member
dj may said:
I do not use a scanner. I use Leica S to copy the negative. I place the negative in a negative carrier from my enlarger and then place the negative carrier on a LED light panel.

Regards,
Jesse
Click to expand...
Jesse, what lens do you use for copying negs ? Do you need any attachment ? Copy stand ?

Thanks,
 
dj may

dj may

Well-known member
Rolo said:
Jesse, what lens do you use for copying negs ? Do you need any attachment ? Copy stand ?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
First, a little background. I had considered buying a Flextight X5 at one time. However, I was concerned about the maintenance, the amount of time to scan, Hasselblad's future, and I was not sure there would be an improvement over using the Leica S. My suspicion that the Leica S would be just as good was based on the image quality and detail that I was already achieving in landscape and architecture prints. For example, I did a 2 meter by 1.33 meter print of the Monte Rosa Massif and Gorner Glacier in Switzerland, for a client. The Monte Rosa hut, which takes up about 2cm of the print can be clearly seen.

I then did some quick and dirty tests with Leica S and Summarit-S 70mm lens. At the time I had S24, S30, S70 and S180 lenses. The S70 provided the closest focus, but was clearly inadequate for this purpose. The result was good enough that I purchased the APO-Macro-Summarit-S 120 lens.

I do the negative copy work with the S120 lens. I use a tripod, with ballhead and nodal rail. I level the tripod, then the camera, which is pointing down. I level the LED panel as well. The emulsion is facing the camera. I had considered a copy stand, but decided that since I would also have to ensure alignment with it, that I may as well do it with a tripod. I have not completely ruled out a copy stand.

With this setup I completed a project of copying over 1,000 negatives in a little more than a week. The grain of the film can be seen in the files. 4X5 and 6x6 negatives reproduce superbly. 35mm is not as good because the 120 lens only goes to 1:2 reproduction.

Theoretically, a drum scan should be capable of more detail, however, once the grain is visible I do not expect more detail will make a difference in image quality. I intend to confirm this with a local lab that does drum scans.

With respect to reproducing the brightness range of the negative, I have not yet had a negative whose density range was beyond the latitude of the Leica S. The limiting factor, as in the darkroom, is the paper or other output medium.

It is a long answer, however, I wanted to communicate how I arrived at this method.

Regards,
Jesse
 
dj may

dj may

Well-known member
Charles S said:
Jesse,
Am based in Zurich. I have a spare copy stand, after I tried your approach I decided to go the Epson V850 way. It's free if you want it
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Hello Charles,
Thank you. I am going to Klosters today and will send you a message later.

Regards,
Jesse
 
ejpeiker

ejpeiker

Member
Another shot from the Superstition Wilderness of south-central Arizona from late last week. We had the worst winter storm in our entire history a couple of weeks ago which has turned the desert green...

AZ_Superstition107.jpg
 
R

rsinclair

Member
Southern Cross and Milky Way over Junin de los Andes, Patagonia, Argentina, 2019
Arca R-Factum, Roden 40W, IQ4150
ISO 3200/15"/f4

Still in post-production and would appreciate any constructive feedback.

The biggest challenge is due to the DB seeing a lot more stars than I. But given I can't/won't eliminate stars, my other/aesthetic challenge is trying to find the right balance of the intensity (too bright or dark) of the foreground relative to the primary subject of the image.


P0001086 14b-gdpi.jpg
 
S

Satrycon

Well-known member
its beautiful...if there is a bit of detail in the blacks at the base of the mountain i'd add some otherwise its straight to the printer :)

rsinclair said:
Southern Cross and Milky Way over Junin de los Andes, Patagonia, Argentina, 2019
Arca R-Factum, Roden 40W, IQ4150
ISO 3200/15"/f4

Still in post-production and would appreciate any constructive feedback.

The biggest challenge is due to the DB seeing a lot more stars than I. But given I can't/won't eliminate stars, my other/aesthetic challenge is trying to find the right balance of the intensity (too bright or dark) of the foreground relative to the primary subject of the image.


View attachment 139957
Click to expand...
 
R

rsinclair

Member
Satrycon said:
its beautiful...if there is a bit of detail in the blacks at the base of the mountain i'd add some otherwise its straight to the printer :)
Click to expand...
Thank you for the comment :) and suggestion - a good one. But sadly the mountains are all 0's... It was midnight and thankfully no moon or other distracting lights (other than the town 15 mi away), so the headlamp lit foreground is the best I could come up with to provide some reference. The first proof is on the printer now.

Cheers,
Robert
 
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