Practical Photography - UK (2020-01)

72 PracticalPhotograPhy

Whilecleaningoutmy attic

I foundhundredsof my

dad’sfilmslidesfromhis

photographydays.What’sthebest

way of digitisingthemwithoutit

costingan armanda leg?

Je remyBaker,Barnsley

Kirksays:therearemoreoptions

thaneverthesedaysforconvertingold

tr ansparencyor negativefilmto digital,

ata rangeof costs.theeasiestwayto do it

isto usea professionalscanningservice.

they usuallychargeperimagescanned

• anywherefrom1p to 50pperslide,
  dependingon desiredresolution.if it ’s
  fo r onebatchandyou’reunlikelyto need
  toscanmorein thefuture,thiswillwork
  out cheaperthanbuyinga filmscanner.
  Which leads us onto the next option


• purchasing a film scanner. if you have
  a large amount of slides to scan, orintend
  on scanning more in the future, this
  can be a cost-effective solution. these
  scanners have been designed specifically
  to scan slide film. the slides fit intoa
  cradle that prevents light leaks as the

scannershines

li ghtthroughthe

sl ideto recordthe

images.youcanpickup reasonable

modelsformodestbudgets.

lastl y, you can use a flatbed scanner

withfilmslide adapter. the most versatile

optionhere,as they aren’t limited to just

filmslides,there are specialised models

thatcomewith a slide film cradle built in

forbetterquality scans.

Know Your Stuff

Are single-point

autofocus and autofocus

single the same thing?

It sounds like they should be, but

why would it have two names?

Tina Cook, Truro

Adam says: While they may sound

very similar, they are in fact very

different things. Let me explain...

Single-point autofocus uses one

focus point to choose the focusing

distance, achieved by placing that

pointon thesubjectyouwant

in fo cusandhalf-pressingthe

shutterbutton.It’sthe alternative

tomatrixfocusing,whereall AF

pointsareactiveandthecamera

ev aluateswhichoneto useto set

thefocus.

Autofocussingle,on theother

hand,tellsthecamerato set

thefocus distancewhenyou

half-presstheshutterbutton,

andlocksit untiltheshutter

buttonis released.Thealternative

se ttingis autofocuscontinuous

(orSer vo),wherethefocusis

continuouslyreadjustingwhile

theshutterbuttonis half-pressed.

Confused about

focusing modes

How do I scan

my old slides?

Ifbuyinga scannerisn’tyour

th ing,youcanalwaysuse

yo urDSLRanda home-made

ji g, as PP reader Roy Fidler

has done. Not happy with the

results from an old scanner

he had since consigned to

the loft, he set about making

this contraption (left). The

idea is simple enough – a

piece of white plastic from an

icecreamtub,sandedto a

mattfinishandilluminated

witha whiteLEDlight,was

used to light each slide, while

he mounted his camera and

100mm macro lens to an

opaque black pipe attached

to a wooden mount. Each

slide is then placed in the

mount and photographed

while lit by t he LED.

Make your own DIY scanner

Westend61

Marques

roy

Fidler

Epson Perfection

V370 £130

A solid budget model, it’s a flatbed

scanner with a built-in film slide cradle

to fit 35mm and medium-format film.

epson.co.uk

tip

handle

with care

Whiteglovesanda lenscloth

willhelpensureyoudon’t

getfingerprintson your

slides,ruiningthem

andthescans.

Opaque Black Pipe

LED light source

Slide Mount