Sony’s lens option is $1000 and the other option I see used is Laowa’s 90mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO Lens for Sony E. That goes for ~$500. I’m leaning towards the Laowa.
What other options are there available in M mount or E mount? Just wondering…
Uofoducks15 wrote:
It’s just a slightly more expensive option given I don’t have a macro lens, but of course then you have a macro lens to use long term for your photography.
Surfnsun wrote:
That’s the thing I’m looking at too.
Sony’s lens option is $1000 and the other option I see used is Laowa’s 90mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO Lens for Sony E. That goes for ~$500. I’m leaning towards the Laowa.
What other options are there available in M mount or E mount? Just wondering…
Both Sigma and Tamron make excellent Macro lenses for the E-Mount.
carstenw wrote:
I have been looking at the Easy120, but I am a little worried about the bad reviews some Valoi products get. Can you talk a bit about why this is a good system, and what limitations it might have?
I haven't looked at any Valoi reviews lately, but I can see how the v1 would get some less than stellar ones, just because the 3D printing doesn't necessarily yield the most dimensionally-stable Lightbox/film feed. I have a dedicated scanning lens (Sony FE 90mm f2.8 G Macro OSS) that I leave in manual focus mode hooked up to the Valoi helical focus unit, two of the Valoi spacer tubes, and (now) the v2 Lightbox (minor note: v1 needed a finicky adapter to connect the Lightbox and the spacer tubes; v2 has 62mm threads and simply screws directly onto the spacer tubes). It's a compact setup that takes up very little space so I don't disassemble it after scanning: I just put it away as one piece..
When it's time to scan all I have to do is grab the pre-assembled lens/helical/tube/Valoi assembly, swap the camera's lens, set ISO, etc. feed in the start of the roll of negatives, tweak focus, and it's time to scan. It's only a few minutes work to set up, and I can scan a full roll in maybe five minutes.
Compared to setting up my old Canon flatbed (which now sits in a box in the garage because I don't have room for it in my office), fiddling with negative holders, and fighting with Silverfast there's no comparison: using the Valoi is so much faster and so much less annoying. We moved five years ago and I haven't actually looked at the Canon flatbed since packing it up at our old place. I do think I'll quickly get the v2 film duster: working with the v1 I felt like it really helped reduce dust on the film (in combination with a blower just before feeding).
I've never used Valoi's Easy120 unit myself, and I can see how film flatness might be a bigger problem with the larger negative, but I also wasn't happy with the overall scanning process and resulting quality of my previous 120 film scans to the point where I stopped using my 120 cameras (Yashica 124G and 635, Voigtlander Perkeo I, Bessa I, Moskva 5) because I wasn't willing any more to try to scan them myself or pay a film lab for scans. So I'm leaning towards buying an Easy120 at some point and giving 120 film/cameras another go.
Shorter version: for me the Valoi Easy35 is compact, convenient, quick to use, and the quality has been good enough; at some point I hope to give the Valoi Easy120 a try.
Uofoducks15 wrote:
Curious to anyone who has experience with both. How would the Valoi v2 or negative supply set ups with an SLS-2 compare to just getting something like the plustek 9000?
I only have m lenses for my SLS-2 so I’d need to purchase the setup and a macro lens to use it for scanning versus the plustek which would scan the film on its own.
Currently I have no medium or large format film cameras so only need to worry about scanning 35mm film from my MP
For just 35mm alone the valoi is much more compact and simpler, I use a negative supply setup but mostly for medium format. I also use the 105mm sigma macro for my stand setup. However I would say if you are only using the valoi setup a shorter focal length would be better. It would be much shorter and less tubes needed. I would suggest buying the valoi helicoid it makes getting precise framing much easier.
henk.sijgers wrote:
I haven't looked at any Valoi reviews lately, but I can see how the v1 would get some less than stellar ones, just because the 3D printing doesn't necessarily yield the most dimensionally-stable Lightbox/film feed. I have a dedicated scanning lens (Sony FE 90mm f2.8 G Macro OSS) that I leave in manual focus mode hooked up to the Valoi helical focus unit, two of the Valoi spacer tubes, and (now) the v2 Lightbox (minor note: v1 needed a finicky adapter to connect the Lightbox and the spacer tubes; v2 has 62mm threads and simply screws directly onto the spacer tubes). It's a compact setup that takes up very little space so I don't disassemble it after scanning: I just put it away as one piece..
When it's time to scan all I have to do is grab the pre-assembled lens/helical/tube/Valoi assembly, swap the camera's lens, set ISO, etc. feed in the start of the roll of negatives, tweak focus, and it's time to scan. It's only a few minutes work to set up, and I can scan a full roll in maybe five minutes.
Compared to setting up my old Canon flatbed (which now sits in a box in the garage because I don't have room for it in my office), fiddling with negative holders, and fighting with Silverfast there's no comparison: using the Valoi is so much faster and so much less annoying. We moved five years ago and I haven't actually looked at the Canon flatbed since packing it up at our old place. I do think I'll quickly get the v2 film duster: working with the v1 I felt like it really helped reduce dust on the film (in combination with a blower just before feeding).
I've never used Valoi's Easy120 unit myself, and I can see how film flatness might be a bigger problem with the larger negative, but I also wasn't happy with the overall scanning process and resulting quality of my previous 120 film scans to the point where I stopped using my 120 cameras (Yashica 124G and 635, Voigtlander Perkeo I, Bessa I, Moskva 5) because I wasn't willing any more to try to scan them myself or pay a film lab for scans. So I'm leaning towards buying an Easy120 at some point and giving 120 film/cameras another go.
Shorter version: for me the Valoi Easy35 is compact, convenient, quick to use, and the quality has been good enough; at some point I hope to give the Valoi Easy120 a try.
Right, that is about where I am at. I had an Epson V750 but I found that dust was such a huge problem that I didn't even get the lack of film flatness, and it just stood there. I also hated the software, it is from the 80s or something, and was just quirky as hell.
The Easy120 looks good, if you get the higher end kit with the lightbox and the film advance kit.
misteracng wrote:
For just 35mm alone the valoi is much more compact and simpler, I use a negative supply setup but mostly for medium format. I also use the 105mm sigma macro for my stand setup. However I would say if you are only using the valoi setup a shorter focal length would be better. It would be much shorter and less tubes needed. I would suggest buying the valoi helicoid it makes getting precise framing much easier.
Appreciate the info, between this and reading the valoi site I opted for a used Sigma 70mm macro from MAP camera for about ~350. Shipped
Between that and the easy35 it will be about the same price as a plustek and hopefully will make for a quicker and easier setup.
Pictured below has been my 35mm & 6cm square scanning rig with Nikon Z7ii & Tamron Z 90mm Macro. It is useful for me to have this copy stand setup because I have many 6cm mounted slides that are warped so I have a heavy steel machined plate with square cutout that holds them down flat.
The alignment I have worked on endlessly and though likely not perfect, so far shooting at f11 it's been fine.
If I were to get the Easy35 setup, can it just "hang" off the macro lens and I continue to use Nikon tether to take my pictures and direct them to folders?
I see pictures of the camera sitting on a surface and not on a stand. I want to make sure I can use it from a stand. It wouldn't seem to matter, but maybe there is a structural/attachment issue that doesn't allow it. I imagine the Easy35 has a better light source than I'm using too.
old_hikingman wrote:
Pictured below has been my 35mm & 6cm square scanning rig with Nikon Z7ii & Tamron Z 90mm Macro. It is useful for me to have this copy stand setup because I have many 6cm mounted slides that are warped so I have a heavy steel machined plate with square cutout that holds them down flat.
The alignment I have worked on endlessly and though likely not perfect, so far shooting at f11 it's been fine.
If I were to get the Easy35 setup, can it just "hang" off the macro lens and I continue to use Nikon tether to take my pictures and direct them to folders?
I see pictures of the camera sitting on a surface and not on a stand. I want to make sure I can use it from a stand. It wouldn't seem to matter, but maybe there is a structural/attachment issue that doesn't allow it. I imagine the Easy35 has a better light source than I'm using too.
I don't see any reason you couldn't continue to use your stand with the Valoi. I just can't imagine why you would want to. The tight machining of the Valoi ensures better alignment and more even lighting than you have been getting in a smaller, more convenient, easy to use form factor.
old_hikingman wrote:
Pictured below has been my 35mm & 6cm square scanning rig with Nikon Z7ii & Tamron Z 90mm Macro. It is useful for me to have this copy stand setup because I have many 6cm mounted slides that are warped so I have a heavy steel machined plate with square cutout that holds them down flat.
The alignment I have worked on endlessly and though likely not perfect, so far shooting at f11 it's been fine.
If I were to get the Easy35 setup, can it just "hang" off the macro lens and I continue to use Nikon tether to take my pictures and direct them to folders?
I see pictures of the camera sitting on a surface and not on a stand. I want to make sure I can use it from a stand. It wouldn't seem to matter, but maybe there is a structural/attachment issue that doesn't allow it. I imagine the Easy35 has a better light source than I'm using too.
I think you should be able to replace the stand (and the complexities of alignment, which is why I gave up on stands) with the camera and Easy35 setup placed horizontally on a table and still using Nikon tether to direct your tethered captures to folders The film holder you use with the light box then takes over responsibility for film flattening (value makes on specifically for slides). Most importantly, the film holder fits into a compatible slot in the light box unit.
Iif your goal is to leverage your steel machined plate I don't tink that it would be compatible with Easy35 abecause of the slide-in film frames with masks (e.g., slide masked holder, full frame masked holder, half frame masked holder, 110 masked holder, etc.). Basically, you end up with a single connected assembly of camera, lens, extension tubes, and the Easy35 lightbox with its film holder slot. This design makes laying the setup horizontally simple, but using a plate can't be feasibly done with an Easy35 (as far as I can tell).
Valoi does sell a "360" solution that seems more aligned to using a copy stand but I don't really know much about it.
1bwana1 wrote:
I don't see any reason you couldn't continue to use your stand with the Valoi. I just can't imagine why you would want to. The tight machining of the Valoi ensures better alignment and more even lighting than you have been getting in a smaller, more convenient, easy to use form factor.
Thank you for commenting!
I looked into the Easy 120 variants here and it's more $$ than I wish to spend right now, so leaving the camera attached to the stand as pictured is just convenient so I can continue scanning 120 my current somewhat crude way. Furthermore, I have the luxury of just keeping this camera and lens "permanently" as a copy setup. They don't need being used for other things.
I'm gonna buy the Easy35 rig and just try attaching it to the camera/lens as is and providing the space necessary below for the easy35 to work.
I was not intending for this rig to function with the big plate holding down warped slides. Another reason I still want the stand. Of course, if I find horizontal positioning preferable, camera is attached to stand via an arca-swiss quick release, so easy peasy
I sent my easy120 back immediately after purchase. It wouldn't keep film flat. Specifically the first image or the last due to the way the film holder works. I shoot 6x9 which, when cut to fit into sleeves (2 images per strip) were unscannable. The negatives also slipped out of the tracks of the holder. I've used and owned both easy35's and they work loads better than the easy120. I'll never buy one again.
Ouch, bum to hear! However, the tons of stuff I need to work with are mostly all sleeved 10 frame 6x7 strips - PLUS what I'll take with the Linhof will also be intact (not cut down).
When you say "unscanable" do you mean even very flat negs just can't remain flat enough? Stopping down lens doesn't cover this, etc.?
The negatives at the end of the strips sagged too much. No amount of aperture adjustment would fix them at least on my easy120 unit. Full roll works, but the first and last frames don't scan flat.
When I was using my Epson V750 to scan, I often cut a piece of light weight photo paper to the size of 2 6x6cm images I was scanning, and propped up the unsupported edge of last frame with it. Just stiff enough to support perfectly. I taped these pieces to ends of curley film quite often to make a strip stay flatter.
I hope it works well. I'm changing my mind and will go for the 120 system instead of the 35.