Making a Slide/Film Copier for the Nikon Z8 Camera with Nikkor Z MC 105 mm Macro Lens

I designed and built a 3D-printed slide and film strip copier because I could find nothing on the market that was sufficiently versatile or designed specifically for my needs. There is a whole industry out there building film copiers for those photographers who persist in using film and then making a digital copy. Many are very expensive and a number have design flaws. Most simpler attachments on the market on designed: to fit a specific macro lens, of around 50 mm focal length; to be suitable only for 24 x 36 mm transparency or film frames; to fit only thin slide mounts like card or the relatively recent glass mounts.

I have no need at present for a 50 or 55 mm macro lens but I do have the Nikkor Z MC 105 mm f/2.8 VR S for its longer working distance. Fitted to my Nikon Z8 it seemed ideal to build a slide copier around. I decided on a horizontal design à la optical bench found in physics labs. That way it is easy to have the camera and the slide parallel compared with a vertical copy stand in which the camera has to be adjusted in all directions.

Before going further I should explain that in 2001 I bought the then new Nikon Coolscan IVED scanner. I scanned all our own slides and negatives and over the years continued to scan inherited slides as well as some for friends and relations. However, I had to use an Epson flat-bed scanner for ‘superslides’—40 x 40 mm transparencies from 127 roll film in mounts of the same external dimensions as a normal 24 x 36 mm slide from a 35 mm film camera. We also have lots of half-frame 18 x 24 mm slides and negatives. In the scanner these produced files half the size of the full-frame slides, and this lack of resolution was evident. Scanning thousands of slides took weeks since the process is slow, very slow, as the scanner works its way across the frame. In theoe early days of crossover from film to digital sensor, these scanners and their successors had a higher resolution than the digital cameras that were appearing. However, as camera sensors improved markedly and rapidly home scanners became obsolete. Nikon ceased scanner production in 2008/09. Because the Nikon scanners were so robust they remain in use and having copied all my material I did not bother to shift from scanning to copying. However, sometimes I need a high-resolution copy so decided to bite the bullet of building a convenient-to-use copier.

Features

• The copier is simply a tube that slides over the lens with a plate at the end to hold slides or film strips. The tube itself slides along a separate base, to which the camera is attached, in order to move the slide nearer to or further away from the lens. When pulled forward it is at or very close to the closest focus distance of the lens and thus reproduces 24 x 36mm slides at a reproduction ration of 1:1. When the tube is moved further away it reaches a point when the field of view covers a 40 x 40mm ‘Superslide’. I have stops at each end of the slideway for these options. In other words, the copier will work on any size of image mounted in a standard 50 x 50 mm (2 x 2 inch) mount.
• The Z8 provides images of 8256 × 5504 pixels for full-frame 24 x 36 mm slides, a resolution capable of extracting more information from high-quality camera film than the majority of scanners. Half-frame (APSC in current parlance) slides produced images of approximately 5504  x 4100 pixels.
• The tube protects eliminates ambient light reflecting from the surface of the slide into the lens.
• There are interchangeable plates for the front of the tube. One is for slides in standard mounts; the other for a film strip holder.
• The mount for slides fits all thicknesses of mount, from cardboard and plastic to the thick sandwiches of cover glasses, foil mask and transparency we used in the 1950s and 60s. A magnetic frame hold the slide in position. Although the standard size for the mount is 50 x 50 mm there has been variation over the years. Some of the fold-over cardboard mounts may be slightly larger than this. I settled on a holder slightly larger than the nominal size to cope with such deviant slides.
• The plate for film strips has a slot to house a commercial six-frame strip holder (JJC Strip Film Holder, 6 PCS 35mm Negatives Slots Carrier…on Amazon).
• Although specialised light sources are available for copying transparencies I decided to use what I had. I 3D printed a simple reflecting reflecting light box from white material to provide even illumination.
• I decided not to make provision for changing the camera battery since the Z8 can be powered via USB-C during long sessions.
• The masks in or part of a cardboard mount vary in size. For example, I took a 24 x 36 slide at random and the mask is 34 x 22 mm. Another is 35 x 24. A Kodachrome slide from a 1950s Kodak Colorsnap camera that used 828 size film (35 mm stock without the sprocket holes) is 34 x 23 mm. A Kodak Instamatic slide measured 22 x 22. Similarly Superslide mount masks also vary. This means that in most copies the mount surrounding the transparency also forms part of the photograph and the resulting image does not fill the frame of the camera exactly, necessitating cropping during processing. Having an to crop away the surround does mean that features at the edge of the slide are retained.
• For Superslides and Instamatic slides I change the camera format to square. For Half-frame Slides I change the camera to DX mode thus obtaining a full-frame copy but at lower resolution.
• So that the metering system of the Z8 ignores any of the inevitable black edges I use centre-weighted metering.

Results

I have tried the copier on a variety of slides, using Raw images processed in Adobe Lightroom Classic. Denoising takes care of the grain in some of the old colour films like Agfacolor CT18.

In short I am extremely impressed by the results of copying vs scanning. The output, as is to be expected, is simply superior. And getting copies once the camera is attached is very fast indeed, governed purely by how quick you are in changing the slide in the holder.

Specific to Camera and Lens

I should stress that my copier is specific to the Nikon Z8 Camera with Nikkor Z MC 105 mm Macro Lens. The design could be quickly modified for any other macro lens on the same camera. For modifying the design for other cameras the key measurement is the distance from the camera’s base to the optical axis. That can be determined by holding a graduated square in front of the clamped down camera. For the Z8 I found that distance to be 45.5 mm. For the lens, the diameter and the minimum focus distance are the key dimensions needed.

3D Printing and Building

For anybody wishing to build or have built this slide/film copier for their own use I will be making the 3D printing stl files available together with a list of other parts and further instructions. When that source is online I will include it here.

Sliding the tube over the camera lens and into its slot
on the base

Different sizes/formats in 50 x 50 mm (2 x 2 inch) slides

Standard 24 x 36 slide in magnetic holder

Magnetic bar being attached to hold slide

40 x 40 mm Superslide from Baby Rolleiflex 127 film

Film Strip Holder

Photographic Adventures with a 3D Printer. Part 6: Groundpod

I found and printed this excellent design by 'fluefisker' for a ground pod on the MakerWorld website HERE. I realised that its bottom is flat rather than the dished, inverted Frisbee shape favoured by manufacturers and which allows easier sliding along the ground. I thus designed (Fusion 360) and printed a suitably shaped bottom part and attached it using contact adhesive.

At a diameter of 256 mm this groundpod is at the maximum size for my Bambu Lab A1 3D printer. The two parts could of course be printed smaller. I printed them on a textured plate in order to provide a slightly rough surface for the adhesive.

Photographic Adventures with a 3D Printer. Part 5: Adapting the Peak Design Capture Clip with Pro Pad to a Sam Browne-type belt design—while not losing your trousers

The three 3d-printed plates to fit Peak Design's Capture Clip with ProPad
One of the top plates is used , depending on the width of the belt
The bottom plate is optional

 

This article needs an introductory word on differences between English English and American English on items of gentlemen’s clothing. Trousers in UK are items of outerwear. In the USA they are ‘pants’. Pants in UK by contrast are items of underwear. In UK ‘shorts’ may be pouter or underwear, usually these days usually the former.

The Peak Design Capture Clip with Pro Pad attachment is designed to fasten to your trouser belt such that the camera hangs in space from the quick-release plate bolted to the tripod bush. Peak Design show this arrangement working in their promotional material. However, when I tried this with a moderately heavy camera and long lens I was left in fear and dread of the weight pulling down both belt and trousers to my ankles. While not overly concerned about such a wardrobe malfunction I did worry that the first thing to hit the ground would be the front of the lens. Both my grandfathers would have pointed out that a good pair of braces would have provided all the security needed; they were both ‘belt and braces’ men. However, braces went out of fashion in the 1950s but I do notice while people watching that they are far more commonly worn in the USA than in UK, so Peak Design’s arrangement may give less course for concern in the country of their design. Using a second belt around the waist for the Capture Clip/Pro Pad would eliminate the trouser problem altogether.

I then realised that if some of the weight of the camera could be borne by a shoulder strap then trousers and camera would not only be safe but also more comfortable to carry. Those who know their military history will realise we are now in Sam Browne territory.

General Sir Samuel Browne VC had his left arm severed at the shoulder by a sword in an action during the Indian Mutiny in 1858. It was his bravery that day resulted in the award of the Victoria Cross. Lacking his left arm he had difficulty in returning his sword to its scabbard. In order to stabilise the sword belt he had attached to the belt a strap that passed diagonally over the right shoulder. Other officers in the Indian Army realised that the Sam Browne Belt was useful even to possessors of two arms and its use eventually spread into the British Army and then to forces, civil as well as military, around the world. The Sam Browne must have conveyed some sense of power and seniority as well as utility since it still plays that role in fact and fiction. Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC detective series Death in Paradise is incomplete without his Sam Browne.

Sam Browne Belt
Creative Commons CCO 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Those who know their camera accessories will realise that a ready-made Sam Browne camera belt is made by Cotton Carriers in the form of their Slingbelt. That though seems to lack a quick-release plate suitable for rapid attachment to a tripod or monopod.

The system I have devised using simple 3D-printed parts allows a Peak Design Camera Strap (Slide or Slide-Lite) to play the part of the diagonal over-the-shoulder strap of the Sam Browne.

Capture Clip and Pro Pad converted to Same Browne
arrangement. The camera strap in the upper part of the
photograph passes over the opposite shoulder 

Optional plate added - enables faster location of the
entrance to the Capture Clip

A simple plate inserted during assembly of the Capture Clip/Pro Pad has two holes to which can be attached Peak Design Anchor Connectors. That alone may be sufficient for some users but if another plate is also added, a ‘landing pad’ for the quick-release plate above the slide-in entry on the clip, the process of inserting the camera into the clip is quicker and easier. The photographs show how the system works and extends the use of the Capture Clip.

Stages of Assembly

How to Build Your Own

You can download stl files from Google Drive HERE

I used a Bambu Labs A1 3D-printer with the following settings: Smooth Plate; Bambu PLA Matte Filament; 0.4 Hot End; Preset 0.2 mm Strength plus the 25% sparse infill with gyroid pattern.

Photographic Adventures with a 3D Printer. Part 4: Adapting the Peak Design Capture Clip to Attach a Camera Strap

I like the design of Peak Design’s Capture Clip and in a few situations, on a rucksack strap for example, it is useful as it stands. However, it seems not to have been developed as a wider system, as has been done by China-based companies. The ProPad attachment is an exception although it now seems to be available in some countries but not others. I can find it on Peak Design’s UK website but not on the US version, and UK retailers appear to have stock. I will return to the ProPad in a future article.

With the Capture Clip there is no means of attachment of a camera strap such that the camera can either be used without encumbrance in the hand, attached to a tri/mono-pod or parked on the clip when not in use. Variations of the clips from other manufacturers have such provision. Therefore, I tried a number of methods to attach Peak Design Anchor Connectors to the clip. I eventually designed and built a 3D-printed plate which fits between the two halves of the Capture Clip bearing holes to which Anchor Connectors and, therefore, Peak Design straps (Slide and Slide-Lite) (which I use routinely).

I also noticed that it was easier to use the clip if the attachment had an area raised to be level with the entrance for the camera plate, especially with a freely-hanging clip on a strap. In other words, one dimension out of three is thus taken out while finding the point at which the camera plate slides into the clip. I also made sure that access to release the clip was not impeded. The attachment is also of a thickness such that the bolts do not protrude from the back of the clip.

Here is a short video:

How to Build Your Own

You can download stl files from Google Drive HERE. I used a Bambu Labs A1 3D-printer with the following settings: Smooth Plate; Bambu PLA Matte Filament; 0.4 Hot End; Preset 0.2 mm Strength plus the 25% sparse infill with gyroid pattern.

Photographic Adventures with a 3D Printer. Part 3: Window and Table Quadrapod for time-lapse and other videos

There are times when a tripod is utterly useless. One of them is when trying to make wide-angle time-lapse videos from an open window. You simply cannot get close enough since the lens of the camera has to be virtually outside the room. Over the years I have built all sorts of devices to hold cameras, from the size of GoPros to full-frame cameras and camcorders. Having rejected several commercial designs as being unsuitable since they were not tall enough to span a window frame and having lashed up several using other materials I designed and built one soon after buying a 3D-printer last year.

My criteria were:

• Stability
• Adjustable height legs for levelling
• Suitable for virtually any camera
• Ability to connect a variety of mounts e.g ball head, video head, GoPro, phone holder
• Portable and easily assembled
• Any metal parts to be easily available and/or standard photographic sizes

I opted for four feet which provide stability over a wide area, Hence the term QUADRAPOD. Since this is one of several types I have made this is my WINDOW QUADRAPOD which can also be used as a TABLE POD.

The photograph below shows the design I came up with sitting in an open upstairs window. The key point is that it enables wide-angle views (with focal length lenses of, for example, the full-frame equivalent of 11 mm in my GoPro) since the front of the lens can be positioned virtually level with the line of the external wall. Stability and levelling can be achieved by virtue of its four adjustable feet. Two feet are attached to each leg which are in turn attached to a plate. The plate has holes of two sizes for standard tripod screws of both ¼-20 and ⅜-16. All the parts are 3D-printed in matt black PLA. The only other parts needed are stainless steel bolts and metal threaded heat inserts.

The version shown has legs of different heights since the window cills are lower than the internal window ledge. However, I have made sufficient short and long legs to enable a flexible setup, depending on the difference in level between inside and outside, and also for use as a Table Pod.

The photographs with explanatory captions show how different cameras on different sorts of attachments can be mounted.

Window Quadrapod with Nikon Z7 and 14-30 mm f/4 lens
on Neewer Lex Tilt Head

...or on a ball head

With iPhone on Peak Design mount

with GoPro Hero 10

From below

Table Mode - with two short legs

Adjustable feet with locking nut

METALWARE ITEMS

M6 30 mm Bolt (2 per leg). On Amazon UK as  M6 x 30mm

Thread 304 Stainless Steel Hex Socket Head

Cap Screw Bolt DIN912

M6 16mm Bolt (2 required), On Amazon as M6 (5 x 16 mm)

Hex Set Screw (Fully Threaded Bolt)

M6 Heat Insert (9 mm o.d; 7 mm long).

2 Required for leg attachment bolts

M6 Heat Insert (9 mm o.d.; 8 mm long).

4 Required

Standard Photographic Tripod Screw ¼-20

 Head o.d. 12 mm. Shank including thread 11 mm

Standard Photographic Tripod Head Attachment Screw. ⅜-16

Head o.d. 12 mm. Shank including thread 13 mm

Leg Bolt Assembled (requires Superglue Gel or Expoxy)
and Foot Locking Nut

A number of the attachments I use have built-in bubble levels. I could easily have incorporated one into the surface of the plate but could not decide an optimum position since different attachments cover different parts of the plate. If needed a separate bubble level can simply be placed on the plate.

For transport in a bag, the legs are simply detached and the bolts screwed back into the holes at the end of the plate.

For extra security, a cord can be tied from one of the holes in the plate to a piece of furniture in the room. Making sure the open window cannot close on to the assembly is also a wise precaution.

I also 3-D printed a box to hold the various parts and accessories on internal trays:

How to Build Your Own

You can download stl files from Google Drive HERE. I used a Bambu Labs A1 3D-printer.

A few explanatory drawings:

An Adapter to Connect a Peak Design Clip Plate to the Sony RX10iv Camera. Photographic Adventures with a 3D-Printer. Part Two

As I explained in Part One of this series, the Sony RX10iv has a serious design flaw in the strength and positioning of its tripod bush. I designed this 3D-printed plate to allow a Peak Design Clip Plate to be attached to the camera in a more suitable position while at the same time providing a greater degree of protection for the base of the camera.

As with the previous Arca-Swiss compatible tripod plate, this plate prevents movement which allows the screw to become loose and movement of the front end of the plate from the camera when the camera is tilted backwards.

When attached to the camera with the screw and either a strong elastic band or a cable tie around the lens barrel, the Peak Design Clip Plate—itself Arca-Swiss compatible—can then be mounted.

I have tried the device, using the Peak Design Clip as a ‘parking place’ when using the camera along with binoculars. I do not use the Clip for whether attached to a bag or a belt for carrying cameras on long walks but I have no reason to suppose anything would be amiss.

Other accessories could of course be substituted fot the Peak Design plate.

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For those wishing to 3d-print their own adapter the relevant file is available together with a list of the metal hardware HERE.

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