I am using a Fuji XF 50mm F2.4 Macro lens on my Fuji XT-1, and using manual focus along with focus assist allows me to get the camera easily set at the correct height for repeatable shots of multiple film frames in sequence. This copy stand allows me to digitize film from 35mm up through medium format, and probably 4×5 as well, although I haven’t tried that yet. Minolta Copy Stand II with Fuji XT-1, XF 60mm f2.4, and Kaiser Slimlite Plano LED Panel This led me to switch to the Minolta Copy Stand II, a discontinued traditional copy stand that I acquired on eBay. Additionally, the BEONN just starts to run out of enough vertical adjustment for the large film formats. However, I found it difficult to come up with the correct enlarging lens and macro tube combination for medium format scans, especially for 6×7 and 6×9. I was initially excited about the Leitz BEONN, which is actually quite good for 35mm scans, using a EL Nikkor enlarging lens with the BEOON’s macro tubes. I have been recently trying the digital camera scanning method due to the relative speed of digitizing, not an insignificant issue if you have several rolls of 35mm, at 36 frames per roll, to digitize. Leitz BEOON Copy Stand, shown with Leica M8 camera The quickest option is to use the digital camera with a macro lens setup in a copy stand on an LED light panel this actually yields quite good image quality and is very fast – the biggest delay is the time it takes to load the film into a holder. The V700 is next in speed, and has generally good scan quality for large format and 120 film, but is marginal in image quality, in my opinion, for 35mm. If I want my best scan, I use the Opticfilm 120, but that takes several minutes to scan per frame. The scan quality in general has been inversely proportional to the scanning speed of the specific method to obtain better scan quality generally requires a method that employs a longer scan time per image.

I have an Epson V700 flatbed scanner, a Plustek Opticfilm 120 scanner, and have also tried scanning using a Fuji XT-1 APS-C (16 MP) digital mirrorless camera with both a Leitz BEOON copy stand, and more recently, using a Minolta Copy Stand II. As my earlier posts have noted, I have been exploring various options to digitize my film negatives and slides.

Vuescan negative lab pro