Our test: scanning photos with the Nikon ES-2 adapter

David Lee

7.6.2018

Translation: machine translated

It's possible to photograph film with a macro lens and the corresponding support and then digitise it. I've tried it and I compare it to conventional scanning.

My article about scanning old photos from negatives caught the interest of many of you. I had been using the Epson perfection V600 flatbed scanner. As it cost less than 300 francs, I had bought it spontaneously.

The problem is that it's quite bulky. It eats up space on my desk, and I never use it except to scan negatives. So I was intrigued when I heard about the Nikon ES-2, using which you can hold negatives or slides in front of a macro lens to photograph them.

Digital camera accessories

CHF154.–

Nikon ES-2 adapter set for film image digitization

Adapter

14

Photographing instead of scanning: advantages and disadvantages

The Nikon ES-2 doesn't take up any space: it disassembles and stores on a shelf. Photographing is also much quicker. In fact, a scan takes several minutes per photo, so imagine 36 exposures.

Scanning has its advantages too. Digital ICE technology doubles the already long scanning time, but it also eliminates scratches and dust from negatives. What's more, the scan comes with software that automatically optimises colour, sharpness and contrast.

There are also negative 'scanners' with a misleading name, since they are more like cameras. While they are compact and cheap, their quality apparently leaves something to be desired. The results are undoubtedly much better with an SLR.

It may seem obvious, but Nikon's adaptor will only come in handy if you own a Nikon SLR and the corresponding micro lens.

Let's unpack it: what have we here?

The Nikon ES-2 adapter consists of the following parts:

• one frame for 6 negatives
• a frame for 2 slides
• a support for the lens, which holds the two frames
• two rings for the stand

The user manual leaves me rather perplexed. I learn how to screw it all together, which I could have figured out on my own. Any indications as to how to use the rings and the types of lenses to choose, or the slightest information on the adjustments to be made? Nope.

My conclusions so far:

• The rings attach to the 40mm macro lens intended for DX cameras (aka APS-C) and the 60mm macro lens intended for full-frame cameras.
• One of the two intermediate pieces (the ring) must be used for the 60mm macro lens, because the filter thread measures 62 instead of 52 millimetres. I have to place the larger ring on my APS-C camera, which moves the negative further away and reduces the frame so that the full negative is on the image. On large formats, I should use the smaller ring. The 40mm macro lens (compatible only with APS-C cameras) should be able to be placed directly on the support.
• Nikon's 105mm macro lens is not suitable. The minimum focusing distance is too great.
• The ES-2 may also work with cameras from brands other than Nikon. Since it contains no electronic components, it attaches to any lens with a filter thread measuring between 52 and 62 mm. However, the minimum focusing distance must be very short indeed. I tried this with a 90mm Sony macro lens. It's already 28 cm, which is too much. I'm also not sure the frame will fit if a foreign brand is used.
• You can only scan negatives in small format (36 × 24 mm). My scanner, however, has a holder for medium-format negatives. With a bit of tinkering, I can scan a Kodak Instamatic format.

Lenses

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 ED Micro

Nikon F, full size

13

Lenses

CHF311.–

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 40mm f/2.8 G DX Micro

Nikon DX, APS-C / DX

56

I'm now trying to figure out how to photograph negatives. The user manual still doesn't do me much good.

First try with negatives

So I'm photographing photos. This would obviously be absurd if I took my film camera (which would work, in theory), but that's not the idea. Hi, my name is David, and I'm a stills photographer.

What settings should I use? I start with ISO 100 and F8, as these values correspond to the best possible image quality. I opt for automatic exposure time. Even without a tripod, I know that my camera will hardly move, because the (very light) stand moves with the camera. The aperture probably shouldn't be too large, because film never lies completely flat on the stand. At such a short distance, the depth of field would be far too shallow with a large aperture.

Automatic mode is not made for capturing negatives. It tends to underexpose shots. Depending on the intensity of the light source, I set automatic exposure compensation to +1.0 to +2.0 EV. The histogram shows me if all is well.

Before I start my test, I'm warned that I'll need a spotlight or flash with a lens hood. The ES-2 has an opaque glass front which, in my opinion, diffuses the light sufficiently. A clear, constant light source is sufficient. Neon lights are not great, they flicker. If you really need to shoot in neon light, activate flicker reduction. You'll find this setting in the D7500 menu, under shooting > flicker reduction.

I also turned off Active D-Lighting, which is used to brighten up shadow areas. This feature is handy when the sun is shining, but not in my case. All it does is reduce contrast on negatives.

I can already see on the screen that the photos will be sharp, but I have no idea what the colours will be. I can only see the negative; I'd have to invert the colours on the computer.

So far, I've only seen the negative.

So far, the Nikon D850 is the only camera that can properly display negatives on its screen. This is really handy, especially at the beginning, to check straight away if everything is ok. You will, however, be obliged to save the corrected shots in the camera in JPEG format.

I had to return the D850 I used for my test, and these cameras are generally very hard to find. So I didn't get a chance to play around with automatic colour correction.

Since I can't see on the camera whether the white balance is correct, I shoot in RAW format. I could then modify it without loss.

Compare the sharpness

I use this image - the scanned version - to compare sharpness and actual resolution, as the tree branches easily show them.

This framing was done from the middle of the image. The scanned image is much less sharp and detailed.

The framing below has been done from the edge of the image. Blurring on the sides could reduce the quality of the image but, as you can see, it doesn't.

I can select much higher resolutions on the scanner than the ones I've shown you here, but you can already see that the image has more pixels yet is less detailed than the one produced by the camera. An even more powerful scan resolution would only increase the file size without improving its actual resolution (sharpness).

Getting the colours right

What about the colours? I left it to the scanner software, and was quite happy with the results. This is obviously not possible with the Nikon ES-2. You really have to get the colours right on the computer.

Colours are not simply inverted on a negative. The image also has a pronounced orange tint, known as the "orange mask". It turns blue once the colours are reversed. I can't just click Ctrl-I in Photoshop. My idea is to use white balance.

The white balance setting in the camera plays no part in the RAW format. When I open the RAW file, I set the value to the minimum (2000 kelvins), which eliminates as much orange as possible. I'd also advise you to go for a value of around -20 on the green-magenta scale.

I then open the image and invert the colours. I finally see if the colours are more or less correct. No colour inversion is possible in the Camera RAW dialogue box in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

I then open the image and invert the colours.

In Photoshop Elements, I simply enable automatic correction of colour, contrast and tonal values. Tonal correction is essential. It generally works well, but a few adjustments are necessary. I remove the edges of the image first so that they don't automatically influence the correction.

Sometimes the lowest kelvin number is still too high, and the image still too blue. If this happens, I save the file as a TIFF to preserve the colour depth, then open it in the RAW file converter (this command is called "Open in Camera RAW" in Photoshop Elements). The cursor is back in the middle of the colour temperature bar. I can move it further towards the yellows.

So the colours are adjusted relatively quickly. If I always use the same white balance values, I get fairly consistent colours.

To compare, here are the colours I obtained with the scanner.

Automate many images quickly

I have hundreds of photos. Fortunately, I can automate almost every step in Lightroom and Photoshop Elements. Only the cropping has to be done individually. Here's how to go about it.

For white balance, simply select all the relevant images in Lightroom and set the adjustment bar. To invert the colours, set the gradation curve to 'linear' so that it only forms a diagonal line. Now raise the zero point (bottom left). Then click on the point at the top left and move it down. The diagonal will reverse. If you don't get it right the first time, that's normal. Don't give up! Once you've succeeded, save your gradation curve.

Once you've inverted the curve, the settings bar won't behave as you'd expect. No need to turn to the automatic tone corrector. I therefore export all the photos in TIFF format (16 bit) so that they have a normal gradation curve.

In Photoshop Elements, I then go to File > Process multiple files. In the dialogue box, I select Auto Tone Correction and Conversion to JPEG. You can also activate automatic contrast and colour correction, but I find that some images look better when their colours have not been retouched. Once this option is activated, there's no going back. So I prefer to leave it out and edit images manually afterwards, if necessary.

Colours and light sources

I shoot during the day so that my images aren't even more orange than they already are because of the orange mask. This is because daylight has a bluish tint. Artificial light works too, as I can then make the orange tint disappear. Be aware, though, that the result varies slightly depending on the light sources you use.

Summary

Before I even started my test, I knew that the ES-2 had two advantages over the scanner: it takes up less space than a flatbed scanner, and it scans photos much faster. It takes less time to process with the scanner, but it produces finished photos that you can't edit.

The scanner requires no equipment, unlike the Nikon ES-2, which you need to combine with a Nikon-SLR, a compatible macro lens, a RAW file converter and usable image-editing software. The price of the two methods isn't really comparable, on the other hand I think 170 francs for a few pieces of plastic is excessive.

With Nikon's support, I get photos at a higher true resolution, richer in detail. Colours are easy to adjust. However, this adaptor does not automatically remove scratches and dust.

I would choose Nikon's support if I could.

I would choose the scanner for my older photos and the adapter for more recent negatives.

David Lee

Senior Editor

David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.ch

My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.

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