I have a lot of old black and white negatives from my travels in Thailand in 1988. I tried using a relatively cheap scanner but the quality was so low I just cannot do that. Photographing them using a Lumix LX3 with the wide-angle lens plugged in worked well though it created barreling of the image and I have now sold that camera in order to pay for my newer one (second-hand but in great condition); a Fujifilm X-E1.
The X-E1 cannot focus that close and left me looking around for an alternative way to copy the negatives to digital. Then I came across a great article by Jürgen Becker at http://www.throughthefmount.com/articles_tips_digitise.html which gave me hope again. Jürgen’s article shows how to use a Nikkor 55mm / f3.5 Micro lens together with some extension tubes to digitise negatives but mounted on a full frame Nikon camera, the D700 whereas my digital camera is APS-C – a 1.53 crop factor.
I wondered if the crop factor would make any difference so emailed Jürgen to see if he knew. His answer was both helpful and complete and I publish it here, unedited, in case others find it useful. Now I have the fun of looking for this equipment cheaply on eBay.
Many thanks to Jürgen.
My email to Jürgen:
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Hi Jürgen,
I have been reading your article “How to digitise your slides and negatives” as I have some old negatives from Thailand, 1987 that I want to digitise.
May I ask a question?
I have a Fujifilm X-E1 with a 1.53 crop sensor. Much of your
explanation I do not understand as my knowledge of optics is minimal.
I cannot afford a scanner so want to use my camera to photograph the
negatives. So my question is; would the 55mm Nikon lens still work on
a 1.53 crop sensor?
Would I still need an extension tube and if so, would it need to be
the same depth?
It may be that you cannot answer or don’t have the time, if that is
the case don’t worry 🙂
Best regards,
Matt
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Jürgen’s email to me:
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Hi Matt,
yes, the 55mm Micro-Nikkor (manual focus) can be used for photographing slides on a 1.5 crop sensor, but for getting the proper magnification, you will need an F-Mount extension tube with a length of no less than 13 mm between the camera and the lens. Examples are the Nikon PK-12 or PK-13 automatic tubes:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Nikon+%28PK-12%2C+PK-13%29&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_ftrt=901&_sop=12&_osacat=0&_odkw=+Nikon+%28pk-12%2C+PK-13%29&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_ftrv=1
Then you will need a slide copy adapter like the Nikon ES-1 or ES-2. The ES-1 is less expensive, but you need to put your negatives into a slide mount for using it.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Nikon+%28ES-1%2C+ES-2%29&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=12&_osacat=0&_odkw=Nikon+ES-1&LH_TitleDesc=0
In conjunction with a crop sensor you will need a 52mm extension tube between the 55mm lens and the slide copy adapter. For the ES-1 the length must be at least 20mm and for the ES-2 32mm.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=52mm+extension+tube&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=12&_osacat=0&_odkw=Nikon+%28ES-1%2C+ES-2%29&LH_TitleDesc=0
A cheap alternative to the above-mentioned tubes is the Nikon K ring set that consists of five different tubes (K1..K5).
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=nikon+K+ring+set&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=12&_osacat=0&_odkw=52mm+extension+tube&LH_TitleDesc=0
You can use the K1+K2+K3 between the camera and the lens and the K4+K5 between the lens and the slide copy adapter. That works fine in conjunction with the ES-1. With the ES-2 this setup takes a slight crop from your negative. But an additional 5mm tube to the K4+K5 helps.
hth!
Best regards
Jürgen
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matal.images 
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