Scanning 35mm film and slides. Which way to go nowadays ?

[fabiobernardino]

I have a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV. It gives me a 12 MP resolution file.
http://www.konicaminoltasupport.com/...hp?id=3190&L=0

I tried to scan my 35mm negatives and slides some years ago and it takes a lot of time for a 1 person job. The most time consuming part was to clean the media to be scanned. So this project was halted.

Now I found a guy who cleans the slides and I found drivers for windows x64 systems (Win7 and Win8). But now I also have a Canon 6D and Sigma 150/2.8 macro lens.

So I'm thinking I would get a better RAW file from my DSLR combo (20.2 MP) ? Am I right ? Any drawbacks ?
I plan to build a support system for the camera and film tray (from the scanner) so I just have to slide for the next frame and press the cable release.
I would light the frame with a computer monitor (I can have a custom white balance and match it in camera). Which should I use ? 5000K, 5500K, 6500K ? Or should I match the color temperature of the film being scanned ?

It also would be also faster to scan each frame.

Any comment is welcomed.
Thank you.

[John Chardine]

Hi Fabio- I remember slide copiers from the film days. It was a device that mounted on the front of your lens and had a slide holder at the other. Some of them had bellows to stop stray light from reflecting off the front of the slide (this is important). I think your digital camera solution should work. Slides are never perfectly flat so make sure you have enough depth of field to cover this. My Nikon slide scanner creates images that are 5352px x 3564px so your camera should come in close to this. If you shoot raw, the white balance of your light source does not matter.

[fabiobernardino]

Thank you. I will shoot at f5.6, f8 or f10 (where lens sharpness is maximum) so that should not be a problem.
Now with so much technology available I will discover my camera+lens maximum sharpness using Reikan Focal software.
According to photozone.de it should be:
aps-c - f/5.6 - http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff...osapsc?start=2
full frame - f/8 - http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff...8oseos?start=1

To position and flatten the slides and 35mm film strips I will use the scanner's film and slide holder, which I will manually slide for the next frame.

I am considering using a speedlight with a small softbox instead of the monitor to have a more portable scanning system.

If I am missing something or anyone has better alternatives let me know.

I have about 30 days until my slides and film is cleaned.

Thank you.