More about the extra extension

necessary for Nikon ES-1 slide copying attachment on DSLR

The ES-1 tube itself telescopes over nearly an inch of range (about 24mm of extension), but it is designed short, expecting to focus close for a 1:1 full frame film copy. To fill the smaller frame on the sensor of digital cameras, the idea of a 1:1 slide copy is instead 1:1.5. This smaller image means the slide has to be farther in front of the lens than the ES-1 adapter can manage. The macro lens can focus anywhere, but the ES-1 can't move forward enough to get the full frame onto the little digital sensor. It needs nearly an inch more extension. This extension is in FRONT of the lens.

My case of the Nikon 60mm macro lens and D70S DSLR needs 20mm extra extension added (between lens and ES-1) to be able to cover to full frame (to see a little of the black edges). You probably do want to shoot with mild cropping, to prevent having to do a manual crop operation on thousands of slides. And a little cropping is probably a very good thing for most slides anyway. But without any extra extension, the 60mm will crop to roughly about 70% of the width (half the area) at maximum ES-1 extension. That is excessive loss. It is fixed by adding a 20mm long tube with 52mm threads at both ends, male and female (which goes between front of lens and the ES-1 adapter).

I use a K5 tube from an old Nikon extension tube set K, and it works great.   The K set is the old non-AI mount - NOT compatible today, and is said to damage today's cameras if used as normal extension tubes - however this use only needs the central K5 threaded tube. The K5 tube from the K set is an aluminum tube 20mm long with 52mm threads at each end (so it fits the ES-1 and BR-5 directly). The K set also includes a threaded 10mm K4 tube, which is nearly enough for the 60mm (but not quite - some cropping). The Nikon Extension tube K set is long out of production, but used tubes may be available. Sometimes found on Ebay (search Nikon K extension) or www.keh.com (search Nikon K5 tube). All you need is the K5 ring.

This is no doubt confusing, but what I can see is that on the D70S and Nikon 60mm macro lens, the 20mm K5 extension tube is sufficient to show an area very slightly larger than necessary at full extension of ES-1 (final image has thin black borders around the mounted slide, except at the bottom - the slide needs to be lifted very slightly - I put a couple of layers of very thick paper at the bottom of the ES-1 slot). The ES-1 can be collapsed some to crop slightly. The 10mm K4 tube (alone) at full extension will crop the slide to about 89% percent width. No extension at all will crop to about 73% width, probably not acceptable.   20mm or 30mm seems about right. I am speaking of the Nikon 60mm macro lens on a 1.5 factor DSLR body.

If you have some other lens situation that will focus up very close, then use a tripod to experiment with framing appropriately on a slide, and then in that setup, measure the distance from front of lens (front of filter threads) to the slide. The ES-1 telescopes to provide from 45 to 68 mm of that distance, and you need a threaded spacer ring to make up the difference, to get within that range. To hit near the middle hopefully, to have some range on either side. Focusing distance makes the slide image be larger or smaller, and the ES-1 range locates the slide at that correct spot, where the image size is right.

Does anyone know of any other similar 52mm threaded tubes that might be found? A simple tube about 20mm long, with 52mm male and female threads on the ends? Finding an extension is the problem. I wish I could tell you an easy answer, any answer.

To be sure it is clear, the B&H page for the ES-1 says it is for the 55mm macro lens and PK-13 extension tube (27.5mm). The PK-13 is a bayonet mount extension tube for use BEHIND the lens, to allow the 55mm lens to focus to 1:1. The 60mm AF macro lens already focuses to 1:1 and does not need or use the PK-13. The PK-13 will not help the 60mm lens to copy slides.

I also have a Nikon 55mm macro lens (manual lens, old f3.5 modified to AI), which came with a similar M2 extension tube to do 1:1). On a digital body, it still needs additional forward extension to size the slide, and the 10mm K4 ring works well for it (extension in front of lens) on a Nikon D300 body. This requirement for extra front extension is due to the smaller DSLR sensor size. Some lesser rear extension should work too, but I am unable to guess how much. I can tell you that 22mm rear extension is not enough for the 55mm lens, needs a little more for the ES-1.

Here is a good page with Nikon's chart that comes with the ES-1 adapter, but note the DSLR wants 1:1.5 for a slide copy. The ES-1 chart does show that the 60mm lens with the PK-13 has a range of 0.9 to 1.6 on the ES-1 (instead of infinity to 1:1 without it), which sounds like it should do 1.5 then, and first thought was that it should help. However, the problem is that it may do the ratio (the 60mm lens alone will do the ratio), but forward extension will still be necessary to position the slide far enough out to capture all of its size at 1.5.

All the rest about the ES-1 may be great, but Nikon is letting us down bad on this. Nikon should be providing such tube with the ES-1. Or at least they should make one available. It is required to use the ES-1 with their digital cameras.

One possibility to add just a few more mm is to knock the glass out of a few old battered 52mm filters (real cheap on the used market), and combine a few of them to make a 52mm threaded tube (but very many seems very awkward).

Or maybe the necessary extension tube is too difficult to find. Forgetting about the ES-1, maybe there are other innovative ways to make something at home. It will likely only be used for a few days anyway, until all the slides are copied. All that is really needed is the macro lens pointing perpendicular to the slide (from about 3.5 inches for the Nikon 60mm AF macro, or maybe only 1/2 inch for a compact camera), and a diffused light source on the back side. I have seen one made from about one foot of 1x4" board, with the camera bolted to one end (1/4"-20 screw for tripod socket), and a plastic pill bottle with a notch across the top to hold the slide - attached at the other end on a small moveable board to adjust position. This slide holder seems the only tricky part.

Or any standard macro setup should work too, simply with a tripod or copy stand, and a DSLR and a good lens, pointing at the slide which is located appropriately close. Two parts of this seem harder than normal work: One is making a slide holder that is convenient, fast and reliable to use, but which might be as simple as laying the slide at a certain spot on a translucent slide sorting tray. The other (to copy slides) is getting the lens to focus at the one correct close distance and enlargement size.

Macro Photography is a big subject (Search Google), but standard methods to get the closeup enlargement are:

• A true macro lens that focuses to near 1:1. This is the only easy way.
• Extending a regular lens (like a 50mm f/1.8 should be excellent) with extension tubes behind the lens to make it focus very closely,
• Bellows acting as the same type of extension behind the lens - adjustable, but is typically longer for more extreme closeup. Perhaps with reversing rings to mount the standard lens backwards when focal length becomes longer than the subject distance.
• Closeup lens, which is a magnifying glass in front of lens (mounted like a filter).

Extension tubes or close up lenses are very handy for photographing things we come across, like bugs or flowers, where we accept whatever enlargement size we get, but this slide copy problem is harder because it requires an exact size ratio, and an exact size area. It is difficult to predict the exact extension giving that exact situation. A zoom lens is not the best optically, but its variable focus length surely makes this job much easier.

The rule for bellows or extension tubes behind the lens is that an extension length equal to the lens focal length will give 1:1 ratio when the lens is focused to infinity. However, near 1:1, there will only almost zero focusing size range other than 1:1 (perhaps only 0.99 to 1.1), and 1.5 will not be possible. A shorter extension will give a greater range farther from 1:1. But this is trial and error, and there is not sufficient control possible for exact ratios. Again, a zoom lens will help this by offering many choices.

This degree of closeup needs everything to be motionless. Using the self-timer on the shutter would help, or a remote control or shutter cord to prevent shaking the camera. Or the speed of a flash used as a source would greatly help that aspect. There must be several other ways to use the macro lens and DSLR to quickly copy slides.

But what makes the Nikon ES-1 desirable is that it provides an adequate slide holder, and it attaches to the lens so that any relative motion between slide and camera is zero - no shake.