35mm and 120 (mostly) scanning with canon 5D mkIII

I'm looking for advice to set up a camera scanning setup with my DSLR, either with my 5D MkIII or with my Rebel T4i, although the latter, with it's lack of relevant resolution in the year 2024 seem a bit silly, so I'd prefer to operate with the 5D MkIII.

I'd like to use the available lenses I have, which are a EF85mm, assorted 50mms, and a cheap sigma 70-300 macro from like 20 years ago. I'm mostly looking for light box recommendations, and for clarification on whether or not an extender tube will allow me to use my EF85mm as a good scanning lens. I've attempted to use a tablet I have as a lighting solution but all I ended up with was the pixels being in focus and ruining any attempts to scan. I'd imagine that the use of a diffuser and a proper negative holder might fix this? I should have access to a 3d printer, if printing a negative carrier is something I can do?

Edit: I've previously used my university's scanning setup, but currently don't have access to it. Also i wouldn't mind using a full frame sensor instead of an APS-C as used on my uni's scanner, i find it wanting in resolution. also it's some fujifilm mirrorless camera that seems to do weird things to color and such and I have no clue how to use it properly. More reasons to have a way to use my canon instead.

Hello, I set mine up only a few months back so most of this is fresh in my head and current to the times.

Light source - try the CS-Lite. It does not have pixels like a tablet so you don't have to worry about seeing pixels in your image. Ideally though, you want some space between the light source and your film. The CS-Lite has good spectral characteristics and its own diffuser. It is not expensive.

Light masks - you can make your own out of a craft knife and craft plastic like this, especially important for color negative due to flaring. You can also use black thick paper/card.

Lens - I have an EF 100mm f/2 that I've used for macro work and I've heard the 85mm f/1.8 is very similar optically. As for how it performs at 1:1 and 1:2 magnification, I'm not sure but I would expect at least above average results, though not quite as perfect as a dedicated macro. I use a Pentax smc 50mm f/2.8 macro, but that doesn't help you. I do prefer 50mm because it reduces the size of the setup. But many prefer 100mm too. You may need more than one set of extender tubes on your 85mm to get to 1:1, if memory serves me the set of 3 off-brand extenders usually achieve something between 60-70mm of extension all together.

Carrier/Film flatness - extremely important for sharp results. For 35mm, plastic slide mounts from Matin work pretty well if you don't mind cutting single frames. You do lose a little near the borders of the frame. For 6x4.5 or 6x6, you can also find these. Some enlarger negative carriers may work, but it's hit or miss. I recommend buying two pieces of 6x9 anti-newton glass from Knight Optical. People do 3d print carriers.

Camera - Use the 5D. I use a Pentax K-1 with pixel shift. You want mirror lock up and remote release and self timer on and you need sturdy support.

Support - While you can use a tripod, I use a rig built with mostly SmallRig parts that I can show you if interested. It's compact enough to put into a plastic box when not using it.

Other - A power connection for your camera so you're not running on batteries is nice. Some people also connect their camera and view the images on a laptop during scanning. I don't. Having a darker room helps, but I find strategic placement of lens hoods around the scanning surface to be almost as good.

You want mirror lock up and remote release and self timer on and you need sturdy support.

Click to expand...

Was planning on tethering, skips the step of importing from a sd card, forgot about mirror lock up, good idea.

Alternatively to using the 85mm with extension tubes, I have two series E 50mm nikon lenses I got for cheap (one for $5, one was given to me later by a friend), theres a lot of play in the focal helicals, could I adjust one of those to have a closer focal length at the expense of it's infinity focus? I'm used to using a nikkor 50mm on an adaptor on my 5D and 1N already so. To Be honest I was planning to skip light masks mostly and just turn my room lights off and do my scanning at night.

Unless you can find a test of someone using that lens online with extension tubes, you'll be on your own to evaluate its performance. My lens selection was on the shoulders of another photographer who had done testing at 1:1. The lens needs to have a flat field of focus. Dedicated macro lenses are optimized for that. So are enlarger lenses. Try shooting a bunch of flat textured surfaces with all your lenses at 1:1 at various apertures and see what gives you the best result.

Regarding light masks, you will get crazy off-color flaring with color negative, if you do not ensure that the only light coming from your light source is going through the film, and not around the edges of it. This will show up as blue gradients around the edges of your images. Black and white and slide are a little more forgiving in that regard, but it affects them too. Masking your light source is more important than working in a dark room. If you want the easy version of masks, use some kind of residue-free black tape and thin black plastic from photo paper bags or black garbage bags as a start.

In addition, the light mask can double as a negative holder which is necessary to keep it flat. You can certainly 3D-print one. I also use non-glare glass (from a framing shop) to hold the negative. Just like ANR glass at a fraction of the cost.

For diffusing you can use a sheet of white plastic or layers of thick white paper. But it should be neutral in colour and textureless (although small patterns will likely be out of focus).

I don't think you can mess with the 50mm lens easily. If you manage to extend the focus range there is a chance the helicoid will just fall off its rails.

I use the Viltrox V116T light panel and the pixl-latr diffuser/holder. Plus lots of DIY additions.

The decisions you make will really all boil down to: How good do you want your camera scans to be? The camera you have is fine (I use a Canon 5D II), but a good macro lens will serve you well. Any light source that's the size you need with a CRI >98 and as close to daylight temperature is best. Personally, I wouldn't mess around with any DIY film holder, rather I'd take a look at the Essential Film Holder here: https://clifforth.co.uk/. This is a very reasonably priced holder that will keep your film flat. You can use a tripod for the support, but it's not an enjoyable experience IMO. I'd recommend finding some old enlarger parts that can be fashioned into a camera support, find a used repro stand, or build one yourself out of aluminum (search the net to find out how.)

I am in the process of digitizing literally thousands of negatives, both color and B&W. I am using my Nikon D600 and two macro lenses, a 60mm f2.8 Micro Nikkor and a 105mm f2.8 micro. I can't emphasize enough that you get a dedicated macro lens, you will be much happier for it. I have an old copy stand for the camera and I use a Kaiser light panel which has a very even light and a high CRI. I use the negative carriers from my Epson 4990 scanner which work very well and keep the film flat enough my my needs. I have been scanning 35mm, 6x7, 6x9, 645, and 4X5 negatives and converting them with a Lightroom plugin called Negative Lab Pro.

I can't emphasis enough that you get a good program to convert your scans.

You can get a lot more information on converting negatives here: https://www.negativelabpro.com/ along with some general info on equipment that others use.