Kyle is an exceptional no-nonsense thoughtful presenter. He never wastes our time. He never hypes. He always presents evidence in a compelling and timely manner. Kyle thank you for this and for all of your videos. They are appreciated.
as someone who hates scanning their own 35mm film, this seems like a really great way to go about it efficiently. My V600 is kind of a nightmare for 35mm.
Yes,.they.really are useless for anything more than a 10x8 print.from 35mm, and that's assuming you can get a.dust free scan!! I don't know how Epson can get away with making their inflated resolution specs. Just because they can? Don't they know they'll be found out?
@@chrisfetto9400you won't get a perfectly clean scan no matter what system you use. Professional scanners just use infrared images to mask out the dust, with everything that does not offer that you won't get around having to quickly clone out dust. If you do black and white infrared won't work anyways. A film to digital workflow will always involve more digital work than just going digital.
try a dedicated film scanner. A used, mint, Minolta Scan Dual IV will set you back $300 (less than the price for one of these overpriced hipster holders) and will give you incredible scans. A DSLR setup will be faster but its output will be of poorer quality (due to the interpolating Bayer/X-trans sensor and demosaicising).
@@chrisfetto9400 What are you carrying on about? My Epson photo scanner scans as good as the specs claim. The one I had before it had higher rez, but was much slower. I've scanned hundreds of negatives and slides...and have always gotten excellent results from Epson scanners. I suspect you just don't know what you're doing.
@@giuseppeg.8461 *laughs in manual correction in photoshop*...Oh what's that? Yes, I used super resolution and now have a 160mp equivalent image...What's that?! Yes I used super res. went down to 1:1 and combined 100 images together, stitched 4 images together and now have every ounce of detail possible out of my medium format images. Yeah, thought so, keep your outdated scanner, and when it dies? Say bye bye.
I got the easy35 on the pre-sale. It's now fitted to a Fujifilm X-E4 with an old Micro Nikkor 55/2.8 plus extension ring. I camscan before cutting (process my own C41). I don't use Lightroom but Grain2Pixel works like a charm, is free and does batches. Allows quite a lot of post conversion actions and even creates a virtual contact print. TIP: Leave a blank frame at the start and use it for white balance.
That's ridiculous Pricey!! You DON'T Need to buy everything folks. Just build one yourself. Lately I build DIY box scan for 35mm and 120mm films. It's only cost me $2.00 for Black Cardboard and works perfectly. As for light I already have small LED, as for stand I use my tripod. Much smarter and I safe tons of Money.😊
It's not cheap but the pricing is actually very competitive to its competition. For example, the Epson v850 is $1300 right now, and the cheapest model in the Plustek OpticFilm lineup is $350, while this whole easy35 setup is around $350. You can DIY on your own all you wanted, but for 99% of people, we want something that is guaranteed to work, easy to use and hassle free.
Thanks@@TheOstorlab, that's kind. I've lots I'm grateful to him for, not least photography, but also music, gardening, a general approach of thoroughness etc. I was able to express this to him in recent years and also at the very end, which I'm very aware is a privilege that not all families get. Looking forward to going through his negs and slides, many of which I've not seen for decades! I offered to do this while he was alive, but he wasn't interested - I now of course wish I'd insisted and done this sooner of course! We always think there's more time...
I'm really sorry to hear about your Father, Andrew. Hope you're doing alright. We'll have to catch up soon. If you ever want to borrow the easy35 to scan those with, I'll post it over to you.
Very useful video you shared here, pal! I have been seeking a not complicated way to scan my 135 mm and also my 120 mm film for quite a long now. I have had photography since 1978, you you can imagine how the mass of film stips I have in my archives. Thank you so much!!!!! 😃
am I the only one who thinks easy120 would be a great idea? Great job Kyle as usual, thanks a lot for the effort you put in these videos, appreciated it
Yes!! After Plustek (slow af) and Epson (no sharpness) and also plenty other holders (which needed constant leveling) this solution made my year 2023 and made me scan all of my 135 stuff in just a matter of hours. Can’t recommend it enough!
Hi, have the plustek 8100 but looking to change systems especially since I’m noticing scan lines appearing on my conversions. Curious have you ever experienced that with the plustek?
I use the Nikon ES-2 Film Digitiser system for digitizing my 35mm negs. It does not have its own light source but it's very easy to use. You don't need to parallel the film plain to the sensor plain as you say and you don't even need to keep the whole steady while taking the image. It doesn't do medium format.
that system isn't exactly cheap either... for 30 or 40 dollars more (depending on prices of each system) you could just get this one that does have a light source built in.
I've been using my easy35 with a Panasonic S5 in the high res mode. Approx 90mp with an electronic shutter on a 2sec timer. Really happy with the results. Got the slide adapter on order.
@@Humungojerry not for every image. Snaps I'll just use the 24mp. Important images or ones I want cropping then the higher the better. For my professionally studio work I use a Sony A7RIII and always appreciate the resolution. It's good to know if I want a large print out that's possible with personal work too.
@@Humungojerry I don't mind real grain showing, would rather that than pixelation from a smaller file. I have the S5 for video so an added bonus it does the sensor shift high res.
it's all one connected system, you don't really need the 2 second timer. Sure, you don't want to bang it around, but if the whole setup is on a solid surface and you are gently hitting your shutter release, no camera shake is introduced.
I love the slide duplicator method, 3D printed my own mechnically geared advancing one for 25GBP with parts off amazon and used a off shelf high CRI light so sub 50USD total cost, and with 61MP sensors pixel shift and exposure stacking with somnthing like a Sony A7RV today its as sane as scanning gets for people without drum scanners as you can rent camaras and optics as needed, but even my 42mp A7RIII fails to resolve modern Ektar 100 or ADOX CMS 20 II, getting that true 1:1 or 2:1 archival scan is the real hard part, next to getting a scanner frame that cuts non of the exposed frame area off position wise is somthing people forget.
I use the Nikon ES-2 which does almost exactly the same excepts that you need to bring your own light. Works fantastic! And unlike many people think, you don't need to use it with a Nikon lens or Nikon camera. Any macro lens with 62mm diameter or less can be used if you fit some extension tubes and perhaps step-down rings
Thank you. I just saw that and was wondering. I have a canon with a 50mm lens and wondering if I could make it work with that. Or the basic crappy lens that the camera comes with.
I've been doing slide/negative copying since the mid 1970s. I can't disagree with anything you said, but the getting the right camera/lens thing is critical and needs to be addressed in detail. I've found it is the most important aspect of copying. Many lenses won't work with extension tubes, which is where many people will go first. You need a high quality lens with a flat field of focus, or at best the edges will be soft or totally out of focus. The lens also needs to be able to focus such that the film fills the digital image, otherwise pixels are wasted by "frame", or film area is lost. With slides or B&W negatives, the clear portions of the film are a straight path from lens to light source. If the light is not perfectly consistent in brightness and color balance, that's a real problem, especially when the light source is close to the film with stopped down apertures. My best copies have been with a light source as far from the film as possible (up to 2 meters with a studio light), with an aperture as open as possible for minimum depth of field so the focus plane is only at the film.
It's easy to get overwhelmed in the black hole that is the internet when researching products and tools. I appreciate your simple, no-nonsense insight and opinions. Thank you.
I have it since june 2023. It has made (135mm) film scanning finally accessible to me. Using an old 5D II with live view and adapted Nikkor 55 micro lens.
I've already got one of these for the community darkroom I'll be opening in a few weeks ... this makes me beyond excited, but also can serve as a handy instructional aid. Thank you!
God, I hope this is it. I have purchased a Minolta dedicated 35mm scanner, an Epson flatbed and then better scanning negative holders, pixl ltr film holder, over the years with just a few scans to show for it. I just ordered the easy35 with the slide holder. Let’s see if I can finally revisit the old memories
Awesome! I always send people to your channel when they want to get into film scanning, and I love that you compare all the options out there! As an owner of the Plustek 8200i (and very selective of what frames I scan), I can appreciate this little setup! I could totally see putting my old Samsung NX3000 to use with this setup (as it's just collecting dust) if I wanted to quickly chew thru a bunch of film!
Fantastic! Personally I don't shoot film (yet), but recently found a bunch of old negatives from the 60's in the family stash and was looking for a solution to get them scanned by myself. This will be the way to go!
I have an easy35 since maybe october and have now started to scan my old negatives - and that was when it showed that some choices I've made weren't as good as I thought. My Lightroom license is only for the cloud version (1 TB), and that means I can't use Negative Lab Pro until I upgrade to the "bigger" license including classic + 1 TB, but the current one is still valid for about 9 months. So I will have to wait a bit if I don't wont to waste any money. sigh But then again I am waiting for Valoi to make slide scanning available for the easy35 - looking forward to see all those old slides again.
In terms of preserving details camera scanning looks very good. However, the colors from dedicated scanners usually look better. The car's colors in the example look better on the Nikon scan in my opinion.
everything is better in his Nikoscans, it's just that Nikon doesn't make those scanners anymore and it's not paying youtubers to advertise its products..
@@giuseppeg.8461 I'd luke to add another thing. Once I had a Nikon LS-50. As far as I know, its 35mm scans are not very different from LS-8000 or LS-9000 scans. However, I didn't like that scans too much. Then I aquired a Noritsu scanner and I liked its scans much more (not talking about the scanning speed)! As for the camera scanning, I don't quite understand, how can a camera with a CMOS sensor make good scans at all?
@@KyleMcDougall Yeah, worries me that digital scanning is 'dumbing down' the colors of film (especially red + green). Colors might be limited or converted weirdly into digital spectrum of colors. Wonder what happens to dynamic range as well when you digitally scan via a camera
I have one of these. For me it’s not working - I get a ton of haloing - I think that’s the word - reverse vignetting. No matter what brightness I set it to. Maybe it’s the macro lens I have - a micro Nikkor 60mm. I get the same problem with my Nikon D3x and the Z7ii.
It's okaaaay. However, if your negative isn't sufficiently dense (anything other than a bright, daytime shot) you're likely going to see orange vignetting in the corners of your scans, and that's because the Valoi Easy35 has defective/uneven backlighting on it's panels. They tried to fix this issue and send out new models, but unfortunately the issue persists. (I've been through 2 units myself). You can take off the panel and then put something like a Viltrox in it's place which seems to remedy the issue... but it's an expensive modification as the Valoi Easy35 isn't actually cheap and obviously betrays the entire idea of the product. Despite all this, Valoi continues to market the product even tho they are well aware of the issue. Very disappointing.
Hi! I think I remember your case - of course very unfortunate. We genuinely couldn't figure out why your setup was never able to produce the expected results, and you're of course eligible for a return and refund. We have thousands of happy customers so it's always puzzling when someone has problems, but with a handful of setup combinations or negative types, there have been problems which we of course offer to replace or refund. - Arild
Hey Kyle! Thanks for another great video. I like the Veloi, but in my opinion is too expensive. A year ago I found in Amazon a similar option for a fraction of the Veloi price "JJC Photo Slide and Film Digitizer Converter with 10-Levels Brightness LED Backlight for 35mm Slide and Negatives Copying Scanning to Digital for Select Canon Nikon Sony Macro Lenses" Maybe is not as good as the Veloi, but for me works fine at reasonable price. I hope this info helps somebody. Regards
Thanks for the demonstration. I've been leaning toward this system to scan my grandfather's collection of film. He was mainly a show horse photographer, but I think he did some weddings as well. We have a huge collection of negatives to sort through!
I started scanning my own film quite recently and I build this contraption of books and an ipad for my Nikon 55mm 2.8 macro setup. I was just thinking of what actual setup to buy when I saw your video and instantly ordered one with the code since i mainly use 35mm. Would be a real treat if they made one for medium format.
Dang, just recorded almost the same last week, but you did it so much better😅 think that's going into the bin. Been really enjoying this system. Like you said, not having to have a dedicated space for it has been a lifesaver.Great job on the video!
Looks like a great solution. Too bad my wife decided to throw away all of her negatives decades ago, not seeing the point of saving them if she had prints. All my film negatives are in a binder.
I'd be interested to know if their system can be adapted to use enlarger lenses (assuming threads exist on both ends) instead of SLR lenses. Unlike macro lenses, enlarger lenses are designed for photographing flat surfaces.
It’s multi jet fusioned with reinforced nylon, not a cheap manufacturing process and produces some of the strongest engineered plastics. Most lens and camera enclosures are made with similar materials now a days… Someone also took the time and designed something that works well, in a pretty niche market. If you think you can design and 3D print something like this for less, go ahead, people have done it and made money
Anybody can finagle a bunch of words around to make something sound bad. What you said is a VAST oversimplification of this product. What’s a viable alternative in your opinion then? Seeing as how you didn’t respond to the other person, you have nothing of actual value to say.
@@rockon609JJC make a similar set up with a film holder that slides through rather than a feed mechanism. It’s about 1/3 of the price. It also comes with a slide holder at no extra cost.
A viable alternative is a small tripod and key light for like £40. To make the product in the video worth it (instead of lab scans) you would need to scan 40 rolls of film, which as a non-commercial photographer is a lot
Kyle, thank you so much for this video -- so helpful and much needed. Quick question: so much of the appeal of this type of 35mm negative scanning relies on a question I rarely hear tabled on current videos, especially as someone who mostly shoots Black and White (tr-x 400 or Ilford) -- can you scan sharply and closely enough to see film grain on the negative?
It seems a lot of people are complaining about vignetting. Valoi even made a video "showing" how to remove the vignetting, so, obviously it is a real problem. There are also concerns about a 3D printed plastic box to be this pricey, but then, you know the film scanning market is a rip off when a Hasselblad scanner costs as much as a new car.
Interesting video you did here. My main bone of contention with the VALOI easy35, it offers no 35mm slide holder. I have 35mm slides that haven't see the light of day in years. How can I scan them with a holder. Not so easy after all.
I highly recomment the Flads Test Slides, which where available on Valoi Website too, for perfect focussing setup, bevor running your Sildes through the camera
With the Valoi. In 5-10 years time can you still get an exchange battery? Because I believe it is a rechargeable battery, and with all rechargeable they will eventually die, especially if it lays uncharged over time?!
I've had rolls in which the negatives were unexplicably uncentered, slightly more toward one of the sprocket holes. I don't think this setup would be able to deal with this.
Hello! I'm very happy to have found this video! I've been wanting to get back into shooting with film cameras for a while, but I live in a small town, and we don't have the option to scan film on demand. I still need to find an affordable way to develop negatives. Do you have any videos on the developing process as well? Regarding the scanning process, do you recommend using an old camera and vintage lenses because they are cheaper? If I have a modern camera like the Sony A7M3 and a macro lens like the Sigma 105mm, would I be able to scan film on my own? Thanks a lot for your hard work! 🥰
Nikon makes an excellent film/slide scanner. It scans the dust separately from the slide image and then has software to remove the dust from the image. If you have any imperfections in the slide / film there is no beating it. Never mail or ship your single copy originals to a scanning company. Delivery companies simply throw packages in the trash if something goes wrong with the delivery label. The insurance money isn't worth it.
Hello what do you think about scanning 35mm and 120 film with a similar adapter on the Nikon Z8 or D850 ? Or even with a Sigma Quattro Foveon at 100 iso of course
Hey Kyle, great video! I'm actually using almost the same setup as you (same lens, GFX 50S) but I find myself having to use a few more extension tubes to get the negative in focus with the Pentax 120mm Macro. I noticed you have a different kind of adapter for the lens/body than me, does it maybe have to do something with that? Cheers!
Hi Kyle, I’ve just ordered it and now looking forward to starting scanning my negatives. I’ve been getting different results from different labs so I’d like to see if I can scan myself and get good results. I still need to learn how to develop film… I have a question regarding pushing/pulling films; e.g. if I pull a film from iso 400 to 200, should I ask the lab to develop it at iso 200? Is this the general rule? I’m fairly new to the 35mm film photography and trying to learn best practices. Thank you, Maciej.
Hi Kyle, thanks for the useful video. I tried a number of different methods and tools to digitize my old slides (not negatives so far), with limited success. My number 1 issue was sub-optimal shaprness of the scans due to the film not being perfectly flat hence plain of focus was not definitive. The tool you use here does not seem to address this issue and I am not sure if there is any such non-industrial scanning tool out there that does. I am aware of flat bed scanners, but those cannot match the optical quality and rendering of a moderately decent lens with APSC< sized sensor combo. How would you overcome of the film curvature problem? Any suggestions?
Hi! This sounds like a great setup! I have a GFX50s and a few fuji cameras as well. May I ask what macro lens you used with the GFX? Was it the canon FD or the linked Pentax? Can I get links to adaptors you may have needed with each? Starting to get into film again and was not too happy with the lab scans I got back unfortunately. May have to think about doing this myself 😅
I would lie if I said that scanning isn't a major reason why I'm not shooting more film, especially since I mostly shoot 4x5 and 120. Most sheet film taken at a high enough dpi takes about 5-10 mins per shot to scan. A time consuming process that is so robotic and monotonous
Any recommendations for a macro lens? I’m using the Sony mirrorless system, and can’t decide what lens to get if I decide to use this system. Any help would be appreciated.
Any idea if a 24mp Nikon Zf will be enough resolution to compete with the “hi-res” scans of film processing companies? I’m sure there is a math-y way to answer this but just wondering if this is practically enough. I have the wonderful 105 macro Z lens. Not sure how big the adapter rings go…
Hey, do you use an extension tube with this lens? I have the same set up and purchased the easy 35 for use with it, but the 1:1 only gives you a 645 frame 1:1 so the 35mm neg doesn’t take up the full frame like it seems to on the back of the camera in this video? Thanks as always!
How does this process compared in terms of quality to the Nikon cool scan series? I’ve got the 5000ED variant and this is looking really quick. Greatly appreciate the feedback
Colour will be different between the two. Which one is better will be subjective. Sharpness should be very comparable. I'm as happy with my 35mm scans from this as I was with my coolscan 9000.
I have a Fujifilm XT5. Any recommendations for lenses? Or is an old Nikon 55micro or Canon 50mm Macro (with extension tubes) just as good as anything else? Thank you 🙏
Very interested in this setup. I can get 30MP noritsu lab scan of 35mm film around $5 locally and my lab technician gets the color very well, but I always thought that I'm loosing some sharpness from 20-ish old noritsu scanner. So I was thinking of buying nikon 9000ed in near future, but this valoi+gfx setup is really tempting.
Hi Kyle. Thanks for showing this product and comparisons. How does the VALOI rank regarding keeping the negative flat? I have quite a few films that curl a lot, likely from excessive heat during drying. This might affect sharpness, so interested in how well this is handled, ideally compared to other negative holders from say Coolscan, Imacon or others.
I found film flatness to be good. But that being said, my negatives are fairly flat and nothing crazy. To me though, it seems comparable to other holders, like the Coolscan.
Thank you for the very informative video!! Would this setup be usable with a Tamron 60mm macro lens? The minimal focus distance is 23 cm of that lens. On the website of Valoi, they say the minimal focal distance has to be under 23 cm. But when I checked the macro lens of Kyle, I see that the minimal focus distance is 39,5 cm?! So I guess that it will work with my Tamron having 23cm minimal focus distance? Anyone who can help me with this?
I just don’t like how digital cameras make the scans look digital themselves, something about the tones and micro contrast just feel meh compared to the dedicated options
