Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-04-18)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 18 April 2020 49

FILM COPIER TEST Testbench

I

f,likeme,youshotextensivelyonfilm

beforedigitalcameraseverappeared,

thenyou’llhavea collectionof valued

slidesandnegativesthatyou’dliketo be

ableto archivein digitalform.Withdedicated

filmscannersbecomingincreasinglydifficultto

find,particularlythosethatcanhandle

medium-formatfilm,it’stemptingto lookfor

alternativewaysof doingthis.Onerelatively

low-techoptionis simplyto photographyour

slidesandnegativesona lightboxusinga

macrolens.

Thisapproachturnsouttohavesomereal

advantages.Forexample,scannerscan

strugglewithreproducingshadowdetailfrom

slidefilmsthathaveverydeepblacks,perhaps

mostnotoriouslyFujichromeVelvia,whichwas

longa firmfavouriteof seriouslandscape

photographers.AnyreasonablymodernDSLR

ormirrorlesscamerawilllikelyproducemore

naturalresults.Youcanalsodealbetterwith

film’stendencytocurve,byusinga small

aperturetoextenddepthof field.

I’vebeenusingthismethodforone-off

‘scanning’ for a while, placing the fi lm in carrier

masksfroma long-obsoleteflatbedscanner,

andthenphotographingit ona film-era

lightbox.Thissomewhatad-hoc

approachworksfineforreproducinga

coupleof framesfroma rollof film,

butit’snotgreatforcopyinga batchof

images.SowhenKaiserreleasedits

purpose-designedFilmCopyVario, I

wasimmediatelyintrigued.

Whatisit?

Asitsnamesuggests,theFilmCopy

Variois a devicethat’sdesignedtohold

filmof variousformatsforcopying

usinga camera.It’sbasedonthe

filmcarriersusedbyKaiser’s

System-Venlargers,andsitson

topof a lightbox,acceptingholders

for35mmand 120 films.A hinged

lidholdsthefilmfirmlyin place,

whilefourslidingmasksin thebase

sectioncanbeusedforcropping.

Positiona cameraaboveit using

a tripodorcopystand, and

you’re good to go.

At a glance

£280

●Holderandlightboxkitforcopyingfilm

●Workswithformatsupto6x9cm

●Insertsincludedfor35mmfilm

●Medium-formatmasksavailable

separately

● http://www.fotospeed.com

AndyWestlaketriesoutahigh-quality

fi lm holder for digitising your archive

Kaiser FilmCopy

Va r i o K i t

Thebasickitwiththe35mmslide

holder installed, and negative masks

TheFilmCopyVario

in use,witha slide

in the 6x7cm mask