Dino Saga 070819 _ Fuji S6000 + Close-Up

Dino Saga 070819 _ Fuji S6000 + Close-Up

Saga 060827 featured slide copying. My new S6000 camera has twice the pixels and a much different lens. Last year’s Sagas talked about using a binocular objective as a close-up lens. I finally got around to remounting the 50 mm binocular objective I used last year. Bought a 58/52 mm adapter ring for $8 and was set. Just glued lens to ring with plastic compatible, non hazing CA and some micro balloons. Remember, flat side out. Got out the set-up I used last year and some of the same pictures. Wanted to see the difference at full resolution and after shrinking to 800 x 600 plus sharpening. All editing (shrinking, sharpening) was done in ArcSoft’s PhotoStudio. Other editors might give different results. No significant difference at 800 wide. Slightly smoother tone changes in large areas with more pixels. Too subtle to worry about. Technique works fine.

Setup was trivial. Then to the 2” silicon wafer with resistor patterns. A great way to check lens distortion. The S6000 lens goes from 28 to 300 mm focal length (35mm equivalent) The Zoom is Manual and the Focus can be either Manual or Auto. Auto focus worked fine when the focal length of the binocular lens was used as the lens to subject distance. Tried full auto everything with incandescent light. Color was too red, depth of field was not too good. Went to Aperture priority, set to F8, set to Tungsten light and was done. Slides had a white plastic reflector behind them. Reflector was set at 45 degrees reflecting a 100 watt bulb directly above the setup.

50 to 300 mm zoom is about the limit for macro photography with the binocular objective lens. Curvature of field is starting to show at zoom 50 mm. Field is pretty flat above zoom 100. Slides fill the frame at about zoom 200. If you try to copy slides without a close-up lens, the slide has to go right up to the lens and you can only focus at 28mm. There is a lot of barrel distortion at that close distance. Working distance to the slide is about 7” with the lens I have. Plenty of room to work and good depth of field. Nothing is critical.

Looking at the finished shots showed an apparent softness of details from the S6000. That is because of the additional pixels giving a softer edge on very fine details. Look a little closer and there are more fine details. Shrinking from 2000 or 2800 pixels wide throws away a lot of pixels. 800 pixels are not very much but if sharpened, look pretty good. Even though the same number of pixels are left, fine lines are smoother and tonal changes are cleaner when starting from the higher pixel count.

I know anyone with a similar camera can get at all of the old slides. And maybe let us take a look too. Can also do B&W negatives if your editor has the capability to handle a negative. $20 for the lens and $8 for the adapter is not major finance. Labor is free and if you own a Dino, you don’t mind a little labor. Need some more guys to get out all of the old photos, slide trays carousels, etc. and do some sharing. I know I would love to see photos of new Dinos. From the 70s and 80s when Dinos were new and driven hard. And photographers shot Kodachrome and Ektachrome slides.

John
.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks for the pictures guys. I know the Nikon scanners are great but there are lots of folks who really don't get into the high end technology. Like doing my own maintenance on the Dino, I get a kick out of finding an easy way to do a job well even if it would not work for a production shop. Lets see what others can do.
John

 

Ghenne,
It is possible that the picture had some surface dust on the slide. A scanner is either though or reflective. In either case a scanner sometimes picks up dust much better than a projector or a visible inspection with the eye and a loupe. Lighting is everything! Looks like the rainbow was marvelous in the original. Maybe try again with a new scan after real close inspection of the slide. Beautiful Dino. The headlight covers work perfectly with the black.
John