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Close up lens for copying slides to digital

oconn1945
Apprentice

I would like to use a Canon 500D or 250D Close up lens with my EFS 18 - 55 II or EFS 55 - 250 II on a Rebel T3 to copy slides to digital.  Has anyone tried one of those combinations with success?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

I was paying too much attention to your question abou the 250D and 500D that I missed the original subject -- you want to scan slides.

 

a)  A close-up filter isn't appropriate.  Only a true "1:1" scale macro lens can do this (e.g. the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM)

 

but...

 

b)  Don't buy a lens for a scanning job... use a film scanner... a real film scanner.

 

You might also...

 

c)  Consider just sending this out to a scanning service rather than doing it yourself.  They're likely to have better equipment and more experience.

 

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da

View solution in original post

4 REPLIES 4

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

The 500D is a high dollar accessory lens.  For just a bit more you can get the CanoScan 9000F Mark II slide and negative scanner.  It will do a much much better job.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

TCampbell
Elite
Elite

I've used the 250D close-up adapter with my Canon G1 X camara.  It's a very high quality close-up diopter because it's actually a 2-element filter (you'll notice it's "thicker" than most filters).  Most close-up diopters are like reading glasses... just one glass lens element.    But if you've ever held a magnifying glass over newsprint, you've noticed the print below the "center" of the glass is easy to read, but it becomes distorted near the edges AND you also notice that even though newsprint is black ink on white paper, you definitely see red and blue color fringing on the printed text near the edges.  That's because the edge of the glass is working like a prism -- spliting "white" light into a rainbow.

 

The 250D and 500D are both two glass lens elements in a configuration called an achromatic doublet.  See:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achromatic_lens

 

If you look at the page, you'll see they have a few diagrams showing what happens to "white" light passed through a single lens element vs. an achromatic doublet.  The doublet can largely focus everything at a common distance behind the lens which the single lens doesn't do very well (again, mostly a problem near the edges.)

 

You'll find all close-up diopters do a great job at close focusing near the center of the frame, but single element lenses start to degrade a bit as you get near the edges and corners.  The Canon is sharper all the way through to the corners.

 

So far as I'm aware, Canon is the ONLY company that makes close-up diopters using doublets.  Once upon a time I knew of another company, but they're gone now.

 

The 250D is intended for shorter focal lengths (30-135mm focal lengths) and the 500D is optimized for longer focal length lenses (70-300mm focal lengths) which means there's an overlap from 70-135mm where either can be used.  To make it easy, I'd probably stick with the 250D for 100mm and shorter, and the 500D for 100mm and longer.

 

The close-up diopters are a available in a couple of different filter diameters.  Make sure you get the right one for your lens filter diameter.  I *think* the EF-S 18-55 and 55-250 use 58mm diameter sizes, but if you look at the inside of the front dust-cap the diameter is printed on the inside of the cap.

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da

Thank you for the response.  I am concerned about the focus distance regarding the small size of the film in the cardboard slide holder.  IE, can I fill my sensor 22mm x 14.7mm with the lighted film, and at what distance would the lens have to be to the film surface?  I haven't measured my slides yet, but an online reference says a Kodak slide in a 2 x 2 inch mount is 24mm x 36mm.

 

I have found charts with the magnification of the two close up lenses vs various lenses, but not the focus distance.

I was paying too much attention to your question abou the 250D and 500D that I missed the original subject -- you want to scan slides.

 

a)  A close-up filter isn't appropriate.  Only a true "1:1" scale macro lens can do this (e.g. the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM)

 

but...

 

b)  Don't buy a lens for a scanning job... use a film scanner... a real film scanner.

 

You might also...

 

c)  Consider just sending this out to a scanning service rather than doing it yourself.  They're likely to have better equipment and more experience.

 

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da
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