Any one made a DIY light box for scanning negs ?

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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Hello all,

I intend to make a light box ( possibly battery powered) for doing digital scans of my images using my digital camera. Has anyone done this them selves ? I was going to build a shallow box then buy some white acrylic sheet then fill with a few bulb type lights so I can easily alter brightness. Am I going in the right direction ? Is it easier to use a manual lens to get focus right ? Would this need to be a macro lens to cope with the close proximity of the neg ?

Thanks all
 
I'v seen people using these as lightboxes https://www.diy.com/departments/col...-white-led-light-panel-l-300mm/1716056_BQ.prd not tried this myself as I have an old Jessops lightbox.

As for lens, I have a Nikon and use an old sigma 50mm macro manual for scans, I usually zoom in to focus and set to about f8

Image below was scanned this way, 6x9 from a Coronet box camera on fomapan, second image Olympus OM10 on Kodak 2238
 

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BADGER.BRAD said:
Hello all,

I intend to make a light box ( possibly battery powered) for doing digital scans of my images using my digital camera. Has anyone done this them selves ? I was going to build a shallow box then buy some white acrylic sheet then fill with a few bulb type lights so I can easily alter brightness. Am I going in the right direction ? Is it easier to use a manual lens to get focus right ? Would this need to be a macro lens to cope with the close proximity of the neg ?

Thanks all
Click to expand...

There's a lot of YT videos on this very subject: I was watching this one today and have just bought this lightbox to try out 'scanning' negatives with my DSLR - the reviews say that no pixels show through, that the light is uniform. I'll wait and see if that's true.

For the Macro lens, as I don't have one, I'm going to try this adapter out.
 
I ended up buying an LED pad that is mainly used for people who do tracing (apparently that's a thing!)

The problem with bodging it is that you can end up with poor results that puts you off doing film.

Fine Example: My 2010 Scanner...


Neg Scanner by Ian, on Flickr
 
Harlequin565 said:
I ended up buying an LED pad that is mainly used for people who do tracing (apparently that's a thing!)

The problem with bodging it is that you can end up with poor results that puts you off doing film.

Fine Example: My 2010 Scanner...


Neg Scanner by Ian, on Flickr
Click to expand...
I already have an LED light pad and like a lot of them, it shows a pattern of dots through the paper/negative so useless for photography. So check before buying if you plan on going that route.
 
I bought a used, small X-ray panel viewer from ebay. The light distribution is very smooth. Don't know about colour balance, which is possible to correct with the digital camera settings. The box worked well with magic lantern slides. Previously I had a home-made box with a translucent perspex top and an ordinary tungsten lightbulb. It did good service for possibly 40 years although only really well with one of those daylight tungsten bulbs. I chucked it after I got the X-ray viewer. But I only use my Epson for scanning film now.
 
Thanks everyone, I run Linux on my PC and have for about 15 years or so, there seems to be a problem with scanners and I have heard all sorts of things from working perfectly to half working to not at all so as you can appreciate I don't want to go to the expense only to find it doesn't do the job, On the other hand I have a Sony A6000 which I don't enjoy using ( hence it has had hardly any use , If I can get some decent scans from this at least I didn't completely waste my money on buying it. I have some extension tubes and manual m42 lenses
which I will have to have a play with.
 
A bit heath Robinson but a quick trial holding the Holga negs to the window ( still in it's protective sleeves) with white(ish) sky and my mobile phone ( Sony will not focus that close) proves the point but can you spot my big error ? Something I hadn't thought of at all !

From AG photographic I had to increase contrast to get the look I wanted but this is how it came from their scan.

000033060004.jpg

From my mobile lawn is a bit naff as the roof of the house over the back was in the way.

scan.jpg
 
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Yes, very easy to get the neg the wrong way round, isn't it, Brad!
 
You don't need a box. I've used a piece of glass between two dining chairs with a sheet of white paper on the floor, point a flash gun at the paper, put the negs on the glass and shoot from above with a big aperture
 
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