November 27, 2022
Digitalizing film using your DSLR or mirrorless camera. You don’t need a dedicated scanner to digitise film because a mirrorless or DSLR camera will do the job and more, when done right. Tim Coleman walks you through the best ways to photograph film with your DSLR or mirrorless camera.
Peace of mind and backup You can get a fresh start with editing, online sharing, and digital printing. Digitalizing film is an important practice for analogue photographers today. Unfortunately, digital has become the primarystay of photography by 2022. This means that there are fewer tools available for analog photographers to preserve film.
Nikon has ceased producing its excellent dedicated film scanners, alternatives from the likes of Plustek don’t come cheap either, while those that do like the nifty Kodak Mini Digital Film and Slide Scanners can lack the resolution for high quality scans.
Have no fear. A mirrorless or DSLR camera, with the right setup and techniques can do the same job as a scanner. This will ensure that you have the best digital copies of your film stock. Even a smartphone can do it. In this article we’ll walk you through how to get your film ‘scans’ done with a camera.
How to photograph film
Photographing film requires you to have a camera, lens, light, and masks.
Light source
You’ll need to place a clear and bright light source – ideally daylight-balanced – behind the film to obtain the best quality picture of it using a camera. A light box is by far the most cost-effective and simple option. Kaiser Fototechnik is a specialist in light boxes, which come in a variety of sizes and prices. One of the smallest and most affordable light boxes from Kaiser Fototechnik is sufficient for this purpose. Lomography offers a custom-built film mask that includes a built-in lightbox bed.
Lomography DigitaLIZA lightbox. Tim Coleman.
If you don’t own a light box but happen to have a portable studio light with continuous output – even many studio flashes do – then that’ll work instead. Flash works just as well for this task as continuous light. You’ll need to go about suspending a firm and flat diffused surface between light and camera on which to place the film. A white sheet of perspex will prevent unwanted reflections and hotspots. This setup may be more faff than it’s worth, but if you like a DIY challenge then this option could be for you!
Masks
After you have your surface and light source set, you will need an aperture that allows you to lay the film flat. Also, mask it to prevent light spillage and flare. The aforementioned Lomography’s DigitaLIZA kit is a simple solution for 35mm and 120 film.
If you’re on a real shoestring, why not make your own mask? Mount board is a secure material to cut out a mask for any film size; 35mm, 120 and 5×4 large format. It’s more fiddly than a purpose-built mask to secure the film (we’ll get onto that), but again a good option for DIY enthusiasts and all film-size masks can be cut within the same large format aperture!
You can also use the Nikon PB-6 bellows for film rolls and a slide copy machine like the Nikon ES-2 from SRB Photographic to attach to your camera lens to take slides. The slide copier and bellow options need to be seen clearly with a strong light source.
Choice of lens and camera
Resolution is the main consideration for both lens and camera. The more pixels, the larger the ‘scan’ and enlargement prospects you have. Full-frame mirrorless cameras or DSLR cameras will have more pixels than smaller crop sensor formats such as APS-C and Micro Four Thirds. However, sensor size is not important because your film should be illuminated with strong lights to eliminate noise.
Photography film and camera setup Tim Coleman.
To make the most of your camera and its resolution, you’ll want a lens that can focus close enough in order to fill the entire frame with the film. For full frame you’ll likely need a macro lens, while a standard lens might well focus close enough with a crop sensor camera like Micro Four Thirds. A prime lens with a standard focal length of 50mm to 105mm will maximize sharpness, minimise distortion, and allow for a manageable working distance. You can also use a smartphone to achieve the same effect, but the primary view angle is too wide and may create barrel distortion.
How to digitally photograph and digitize film
Set up your camera, work station and prepare the film.
Set up a camera and a workstation
Modern cameras have image stabilization, but you need to mount your camera to a support for film photography, such as a tripod. This will allow you to work quickly and accurately on the many rolls of film.
To avoid distortion caused by shooting at an angle, it is important to place the camera directly on the film. A bubble-level will do, though a neat trick is to use a mirror on the same surface as the film and ensure the lens is centre-frame in your shot – this accounts for the level of both surface and camera simultaneously. A tripod supports your camera, so it must have a horizontal column that extends from the legs.
What camera settings should I use to photograph film?
We’ll keep camera settings to the basics; use the highest possible picture quality and raw format in case exposure is off in any way. Exposure can be tricky as you want the film’s base to appear white. This could lead to over-exposing. To maximise editing flexibility, it’s wise to shoot a flat colour profile and restrain sharpness in-camera.
Setting white balance, camera settings and film photography. Tim Coleman.
White balance is the most difficult to set up because it is affected by both the light source and the colour of the film base. In such situations, auto white balance is likely to be unreliable. To kill those two birds with one stone – create and save a manual white balance reading of a blank exposure of the chosen film against the light source. If you’ve shot in raw, further white balance adjustments are much easier in your chosen editing software where you can use the white balance picker tool from any blank area of the film to set white balance instead.
Secure the film
To prevent light spillage, we have already mentioned making a mask to secure the film. Pre-made film holders are the best option, and they should be cheap. For medium format, you can cut a 5x4in aperture from black mount board. Next, cut a 6x7cm aperture. Finally, cut a 36x24mm aperture. This will cover all major film sizes.
For each cut-out, secure a ridge to the underside on the mount board. The film roll will slide easily between frames by using masking tape. If your film roll is curvy, magnetic or pressure plates can be used to flatten it.
Preparing for film
Smudges, fingerprints, dust and fingerprints can be a problem when film is being scanned. So, before you press the camera shutter, make sure your working environment is as clean and dust free as possible and that you avoid handling film with bare hands – look for lint-free cotton gloves.
Film preparation. Tim Coleman.
Next, take a closer look at the film with a magnifying glass or loupe. It is difficult to see blemishes clearly with your naked eye. Use a blower to remove any dust. You can skip the tedious process of cloning and healing film by following these steps.
File management
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of frames you could be taking photos of. Before you start snapping away, consider these:
Selective
You should be careful about choosing which frames you will photograph as you go through each roll. Why digitize a frame if you won’t be able to edit, print, or share it? This is the pre-edit. It’s a library management process and picture rating process similar to Adobe Camera Raw.
When digitizing film, choose carefully what you want to scan. Tim Coleman.
Naming files
You should consider the name of the digital photos in your film. Although date and subject are the obvious options, you might also want to keyword the files with information such as the camera used.
You should remember that the metadata in your digitized film files – date, location camera, lens, exposure settings – will only relate to the time you took a photograph of the film and not the original image. You need to be able to recall the date and location of film images.
The way your library grows will be determined by the file names you choose at the beginning of this archiving process. Consider how easy it would be to navigate these photos once you have hundreds of folders in your library.
Editing
When film negatives are photographed, they remain negatives and must be inverted with editing software. Adobe Camera Raw / Photoshop offers an easy shortcut, CTRL+I or CMD+I. Any software with Tone Curves can also accomplish this task by inverting the Point curve. Slides can be positive already and don’t require the same treatment.
Scanner film editing and file naming. Tim Coleman.
Try as you may, the reality is that it’s infuriatingly hard to remove all blemishes from film (and you aren’t enjoying the Digital ICE feature in dedicated scanners that does this job for you). You will find the healing and clone tool invaluable as you go through your archived files. While the healing tool is best for dealing with small blemishes in photos, the clone tool is better at recovering more detailed details. Other edits are up to artistic preferences. Happy ‘scanning’!
7 Tips for digitizing film with your camera
- A lightbox with a film mask, or a light box and a film mask, is the best way to digitize film with your DSLR/mirrorless camera.
- To minimize distortion and maximize resolution, position the camera with a close-focusing lens.
- Save and create an in-camera custom light balance reading from the film base and light source.
- To protect film from dust and dirt, use gloves.
- Don’t photograph every frame – consider the photographing film process as a pre-edit
- You need to be disciplined about filing naming and keywording, especially when you are managing large amounts of film.
- Film negatives need to be inverted, and the shortcut in Adobe software remains Cmd+I, or instead in Curves reverse the ‘Point Curve’
Similar reading:
Scanner and film photography tips
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