Photoclubalpha

I've been using a bellows1 with my cameras for a long time. I bought it used a and it cqame with a slide adaptor. has anyone ever tried the slide adaptor with APS-C?

I thought I would try this for the first time last night instead of scanning some slides and of course with the crop camera and a 50mm lens i'm having trouble getting the whole slide in the frame. too much magnification, so I wonder what the best lens is to use on it with the slide adaptor to make this work? I mean do I only have to get a wide enough lens to accomodate the crop factor or is there something else I need to know.

Since I can ony shoot the very mottle of a slide thisw ay I was able to focus and get pin sharp pics fromt he slide I tried but I do need the full frame. this would go a LOT faster than scanning and I think the results will be better.

Some reading: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Mino ... age/136421
and the following messages "Bellows mods"
I actually use a Minolta 50mm f2.8 Macro and the Nikon ES-1 52mm Slide Copy Adapter (http://www.adorama.com/NKES1.html) that works better if you need "only" 1:1

In case you hadn't spotted this already

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =13&t=4556

Javelin wrote:I've been using a Bellows 1 with my cameras for a long time. I bought it used a and it came with a slide adaptor. Has anyone ever tried the slide adaptor with APS-C? [...] with the crop camera and a 50 mm lens I'm having trouble getting the whole slide in the frame. Too much magnification, so I wonder what the best lens is to use on it with the slide adaptor to make this work.

To copy 35-mm-format slides with an APS-C-format camera, you need a magnification of 1:1.5 only (as opposed to 1:1 with a 35-mm-format camera). Moreover, to attach the Minolta Bellows 1—which is for SR mount—to an Alpha-mount camera you need an adapter which brings along a few millimeters of additional extension which further increases your magnification.

As a result, even at the bellows' minimum extension you'll get too much magnification with the 50 mm lens. So what you need is a longer lens. The old Novoflex Macro-Noflexar 60 mm 1:4 bellows lens head, for example, suits slide copying very well, and there's a reason why it's 60 mm, not 50 mm ... but is intended for 35-mm-cameras so on your APS-C-format camera it most likely will be too short still. I think the ideal lens for your application would be in the 85 mm to 105 mm range, preferably (but not necessarily) a macro lens.

But then—if you have a macro lens (no matter which focal length) then you don't need the Bellows 1 no more. Instead, simply use the slide-copy attachment directly with the macro lens, without the bellows between lens and camera body.

I am using a NEX-5 attached to a Minolta AF 50/3.5 via an A-E adapter and a 12mm extension tube. This is mounted on a Minolta AutoBellows I focusing rail to which is attached the Minolta slide-copier. The bellows on the slide copier are extended so that the ring mount which attaches to the lens is about 9.5cm from the plane of the slide. The lens is set at about mag 1:3. This combination allows me to fill the APS-C sensor with the slide image.

this is perfect. I just set it up the way I knew to with a film camera and abvously it didn't work. I'll try this when I revisit this project. Do you use a flash as the light source or is it quick enough with just ambient light?

Javelin wrote: Do you use a flash as the light source or is it quick enough with just ambient light?

No, just point it at the window for daylight. The slide-copier has a diffuser screen on it. Haven't noticed any casts arising from this. Exposure times obviously vary according to light intensity but I use the Sony Remote Commander to trigger the exposure on the NEX.

I tried this with my a700 and the camera sits too high to get the nice straight line you have. with the slide adapter turned over on it's mounting it's too low but at least I can make an adapter. I just don't have the dimensions for the different lens centre to bottom plate of the 2 cameras. looks like they used the same dimensions from the old Minolta for the Nex

Aren't you able to move the slide holder up or down?

Nope it will only go in 2 posible positions on the rail. one is too high and the other too low. If I can ever remember to bring home my vernier i'll measure it and make a spacer for the tall side. I looked breifly fr the dims online but theres nothing reliable posted anywhere I can find.