55mm f2.8 AIS with extension tube, will it work?

[Zang]

If your Micro Nikkor is CPU chipped you might need this little modification to retain contact between camera and lens 
https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=4544.0

Hi Erik, the rings I got, though they look pretty cheap, they do have electrical contacts

[Zang]

The rings I got have screw drive autofocus relay but it is so cheaply made that the screw makes unmounting the lens so difficult. I just took the ring apart and removed the relay.

At f11, the image is razor sharp even with the additional ring.

[Hugh_3170]

Hi Zang.  What Make and model is your ring light in this setup please?  TIA.

[Zang]

Hi Zang.  What Make and model is your ring light in this setup please?  TIA.

Hi Hugh, this is Neewer RF550.

[Zang]

It is very inexpensive and I even bought it cheaper from a widow who bought this for her husband but he passed away right after. I did not know the story before but she told me when we had a quick chat through my car window on the street where she handed me the light. It was brand new with all the content. Quite a heart breaking story and all I could say was I will make good use of it. And I do

[Hugh_3170]

Hi Zang, thanks for the information and the story behind the light.

Nice the way you have set up the camera and equipment.  I have a similar rig with a wooden base for my bellows.

It is very inexpensive and I even bought it cheaper from a widow who bought this for her husband but he passed away right after. I did not know the story before but she told me when we had a quick chat through my car window on the street where she handed me the light. It was brand new with all the content. Quite a heart breaking story and all I could say was I will make good use of it. And I do

[Zang]

Hi Zang, thanks for the information and the story behind the light.

Nice the way you have set up the camera and equipment.  I have a similar rig with a wooden base for my bellows.

You are very welcome Hugh. I tried different way of lighting and using a ring light on a white background gives me the most even illuminating. Another challenge was to make the negative holder and I also tried different things before I got an used metal holder that came from an enlarger.

[Matthew Currie]

I can't now remember where I've mentioned this, so apologies if it's redundant, but one of the ring flashes that shows up from time to time is the old Lester Dine "auto macro light" which includes a ring light, usually defaulting to 52 mm. filter thread.  The controls are somewhat limited because it was intended for use with a specific lens (the Dine 105 I think, which I think was a Yuzo lens).  But if you peel off the overlay on the back, it reveals the controls for a Yuzo YU 20 flash, with several added features for general auto use that were masked off, making it a bit more flexible.  These show up pretty cheaply at times,  and work well.  Since the various TTL options won't likely work now anyway, they're all the same for manual and auto use.

[Zang]

Matt, I think what you mentioned about is a true flash when mine is a LED light which has both flash and continuous modes. For negative work, I prefer the continuous lighting.

[David H. Hartman]

Thanks Birna. I want to get 1:1 on APS-C so M2/PK-3 would be too long. I do feel a tube compromise the CRC but I hope the issue is not noticeable. I'll try it out and report back.

Yes and no: you need 27.5mm of extension to achieve a 1:1 image ratio with a 55/2.8 Micro Nikkor regardless of the camera format. However 1:1 will pick out a central portion of a 24x36mm negative when cropped to APS-C  so you need less extension to copy the full area of the negative. I found I could not use my PB-4 bellows 35mm slide and negative copy setup because the minimum extension was too long. The PB-4 bellows and copy accessories were designed for the 24x36mm format. This was not a surprise but I tried it anyway. 

Dave

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Another way of lighting a slide or negative is to fire two small speedlights against the white side of a gray card or just pure white matte board, one on each side at approximately a 45 degree angle. Speedlights that can be controlled in the camera menu with 1/10 stop increments would be quite useful. Another approach is to use a diffusion color dichroic head for an enlarger and a copy stand. The dichroic head allows for control of the "filter pack" for copying color negatives.

[Zang]

Yes and no: you need 27.5mm of extension to achieve a 1:1 image ratio with a 55/2.8 Micro Nikkor regardless of the camera format. However 1:1 will pick out a central portion of a 24x36mm negative when cropped to APS-C  so you need less extension to copy the full area of the negative. I found I could not use my PB-4 bellows 35mm slide and negative copy setup because the minimum extension was too long. The PB-4 bellows and copy accessories were designed for the 24x36mm format. This was not a surprise but I tried it anyway. 

Dave

---

Another way of lighting a slide or negative is to fire two small speedlights against the white side of a gray card or just pure white matte board, one on each side at approximately a 45 degree angle. Speedlights that can be controlled in the camera menu with 1/10 stop increments would be quite useful. Another approach is to use a diffusion color dichroic head for an enlarger and a copy stand. The dichroic head allows for control of the "filter pack" for copying color negatives.

Hi Dave,

You are right, I keep forgetting about the truth about 1:1 What I meant was I need 35mm negative area to cover my APS-C sensor, exactly like you mentioned

Regarding the flash, I saw setups using two small flashes and I like that approach. The issue was I could not find those flashes. I tried one flash with different home made diffusors/reflectors but I did not like the results. I wish the LED was a bit more powerful, but with its max power and ISO 250, the results are excellent.

[MEPER]

It is a shame not to use the native ISO settings for the camera to achieve the best possible results?
I think most just use their TTL-flash via a TTL-cable from camera hot-shoe (like Nikon SC-17 cable)?

[Matthew Currie]

Matt, I think what you mentioned about is a true flash when mine is a LED light which has both flash and continuous modes. For negative work, I prefer the continuous lighting.

Irealize this and would prefer that if I used the thing enough to pay for it, but thought it might be useful to know about the old Dine flash because they seem to show up pretty cheaply at times, and people might not realize that some features were disabled just by masking them off.

[Zang]

It is a shame not to use the native ISO settings for the camera to achieve the best possible results?
I think most just use their TTL-flash via a TTL-cable from camera hot-shoe (like Nikon SC-17 cable)?

You are mostly right. The reason I used ISO 250 is with mechanical shutter I do not trust the low speeds to much. I am now using Sony Nex 6, but I do have a flash meter so it would not be a problem using a flash. However, with one flash, having an even background lighting is pretty challenging.

[Zang]

Irealize this and would prefer that if I used the thing enough to pay for it, but thought it might be useful to know about the old Dine flash because they seem to show up pretty cheaply at times, and people might not realize that some features were disabled just by masking them off.

Yeah, I head about Dine branch the first time from you. I do not think it is available in Canada or I have not been here long enough. What you are telling about the features is really cool. Almost like those undocumented functions in programming languages that I used to love If I can get my hand on one of those flashes, I will remember to look for that for sure - Thank you