Scanning a Slide

Many ways to do a slide scan.  I used to use a top end Nikon Coolscan.  But I found I prefer just photographing a slide.  Above is a photograph of a slide of my parents in 1950 before I was born.  I have hundreds of digital files of slides I have photographed.

I used a Canon 1Ds Mark III  camera, but any digital camera will work.  Lens was a Canon 180 macro.  Settings: sunny WB, jpg fine, iso 200, f 5.6, 1/200th sec. manual exposure mode.  I hold the slide in one hand up to the sky on my shady porch and shoot the slide handheld with the camera.  Yes, you could build a rig to set this up, but why bother.  Everything handheld works just fine.

The hang up with using say a flatbed scanner for something as little as a slide or a small print is the scanner is made to scan the entire area of the scanner bed, usually letter size.  So if you are only occupying a small part of the scanner bed, you get a poor image.  Now it the thing you are scanning is letter size, you are good.

Wow, awesome, Steve. I used to scan mine with  a Nikon Coolscan 5000 with the batch loader for the slides. Now with high MPx cameras it is probably better and faster. I wonder how it would be to use the A7RII with the 90 macro and  a custom rig. I am too unsteady to do this handheld, will probably need a tripod and slide holder.

Pradeep

I do the same thing as Steve, but instead of hand holding, I use a 7' lightstand and a Plamp to hold the slide steady.

Thank you Steve for the write ups!