The head has a screw under it so that its base won’t rotate on the arm.
Your method for the white balance is more elaborate than what I can do (my camera is not supported by RT).
So I did a quick test with a Kodachrome slide and my cheap light box of unknown emission spectrum (said to be close to daylight). The ICC-profile was created with Argyll from a Kodachrome-IT8-target.
At upper left is the scan with my slide scanner, upper right is the image taken with my digital camera, the light box and WB set to auto, lower left is the white balance fixed to flash and that was also used to shoot the IT8-target. Lower right is the colour managed image from the latter.
Please ignore the very bad image quality of my slide copy adapter 
Hermann-Josef
1 Like
Thoughts on using an inexpensive flash for illumination? It would have perfect CRI and no need to worry about bumping the setup during exposure.
Yes, I’ve used flash for this and for the most part it works well. You still need a continuous light for focusing, which you turn off while shooting the slide. An issue I had was that for medium and large-format film it was more difficult to get even illumination across the larger frame. Wasn’t a problem with 35mm. I stopped using the flash as it’s just easier with the LED light panel. It’s also easier to make exposure corrections with continuous light than with flash as you just leave the aperture constant and adjust the exposure time. I’m constantly making corrections to exposure while doing this and the shot of the girl in Nepal is an example of this. The original was significantly underexposed.
1 Like
Good to know, I didn’t think about that.
So my concern is that there might be some potential for twisting in the interface between a single Manfrotto clamp and the ballhead - so I’m thinking of making a bracket that has two 1/4-20 nuts in it to allow using two clamps. But it may be completely unnecessary.
The interface between the clamp and the ball head doesn’t seem to be a problem as you can tighten it up well, and it’s a 3/8" thread. I’d suggest trying it first to see if you need to add another bracket.
Something I should mention in setting up the system is to have a few standard test slides. They should be very sharp with fine details, be perfectly exposed, and have a few colours, especially skin tones and neutral grey tones. These are slides that you don’t need to make any adjustments to them and will serve as a baseline. Many scenic shots won’t work for this because they can look good even if the colour is a bit off.
These slides are your starting point that are “perfect” and don’t need any adjustments in exposure or colour to improve them. This one is an example. There is a lot of fine detail in the girl’s hair and sweater, and if the colour is even slightly off it will show in the skin tones. Not a lot for neutral whites and greys but I have other slides for that.
6 Likes
Aadm, A group of 5 of us organized our own trek with a Sherpa guide, who hired porters, bought food and did the logistics. We spent a couple months in the Khumbu area around Namche Bazaar, Everest Base Camp, with side trips to Gokyo and the remote Hinku Drangka Valley. After returning to Canada I sold some of the shots, wrote an article for a regional magazine, then queried Nat Geo. Turns out they were doing an article on Mt Everest National Park and ended up using the 2 shots shown here in the magazine, and another as a double-page in the book “Exploring Our Living Planet”. In 2012 they contacted me again to use the Kunde/Khumjung shot in the book “Around the World in 125 Years”. My daughter and I went to the launch of the book in 2013 at Taschen Books in Hollywood, along with full-time Nat Geo staff photographers Frans Lanting and Jodi Cobb.
The photos in the magazine resulted in other shots from that trip being published by Australian Himalayan Expeditions (now World Expeditions). They also had me lead a trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary.
4 Likes
This is a great story Scott. Thanks for telling us!
1 Like
fantastic portrait!
1 Like
perfect skin tone and WOW that red 
how on earth do we get colours like this in digital 
1 Like
Stefan, I used my Nikon D800 to scan it from the original 35mm Fuji Provia 100 slide. I set the white balance to the “blank” from my light panel as described earlier in this thread, but other than that it needed very little manipulation in RawTherapee other than adding in some capture sharpening. It’s a good slide to use as a test because the light skin tones would easily show a colour cast, there’s a lot of fine detail and a smooth graduation of tones from light to black, especially by her ear. That gradual change of dark tones is an excellent area to check for any posterization or banding, as well to check the amount of shadow detail compared to the original slide.
When shooting the original slide I used a large white reflector as fill light off to the right of the camera. This makes a huge difference in the quality of the light on her face and sweater and works just as well on digital as on film.
With a similar home-made setup I align the camera by lowering it to the negative holder (a 35mm negative carrier for a 4x5 enlarger) and simply adjusting it so that the front of the lens (or lens filter) sits squarely on the carrier. Then I raise the camera assembly to the correct height.
The Manfrotto Super Clamp looks like a great idea! I repurposed a convert-your-electric-drill-into-a-drill-press stand into a copy stand. I also used a Manfrotto tripod levelling head instead of a ball head, since it is much shorter and hence less prone to vibration with the camera hanging out there as it must.
1 Like
BTW, just for clarification - it looks like you’ve bolted the setup to an existing table?
As I was gathering supplies I was wondering how you avoided having the nuts cause the board to get lifted, but if you’ve bolted to a table as it appears on closer inspection, that answers that question.
Yes, I just drilled holes in the existing table top and bolted the floor flange onto it. It’s just a good, solid top from a folding table from a thrift store. I tried a piece of 3/4" plywood before that but it had some flex and didn’t lie as flat.
The bolts obviously will extend out the bottom of the base, so I just put these over the edge of the desk I’m using. It would also work to glue on some spacers.
1 Like
The levelling head sounds like a good idea. It is nice to have a quick-release plate though - does it have that? The Manfrotto head I use is really solid so it doesn’t seem to cause any vibration, but it’s also helps to use a 2-5 second timer (or electronic shutter release) and live view or mirror lockup.
I suggest that if someone already has a good ball head to try it first. If there’s any blur from vibration then consider getting a better ball head or levelling head. Vanguard ball heads are reasonable in cost and have good reviews, although I haven’t tried them myself.
The levelling heads I’ve seen never have quick releases. I use Arca-Swiss style qr plates, so I added a Chinese-made quick release. The Chinese make perfectly adequate levelling heads as well, under a variety of brand names. They’re much less expensive than the Manfrotto.
3 Likes
Same here: Andoer CL-50LS levelling head (20€) on a LB-60 levelling head (45€)(Amazon.fr prices, 30% off if you shop on AliExpress) . The levelling head alone removes the need for a tripod head in many situations, I seldom use the 3D head that came with the tripod.
Nice setup!
Another thing to consider is an enlarger without the head. These are very inexpensive these days — our local thrift store just gave two of them away, because they couldn’t even get $1 for them!
Here’s my copy stand setup, using an enlarger. One advantage of the enlarger is the sloped column, so you can move up and down without getting the stand in the photo.
I use polarizing film on the strobes (Speedotron Brownline, which can be had very cheaply), crossed with one on the camera, and can shoot through glass with no reflection.
1 Like