Exposure problem when copying slides

Started Dec 12, 2010 | Discussions thread
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guyburns New Member • Posts: 2
Exposure problem when copying slides

A friend is testing a D700 with a 35-105 D-Series lens and a Bower Slide copy attachment on the front, to see how good it is at copying slides. We will be comparing the result with my Nikon slide scanner.

We have had no success with exposure when shooting RAW. The exposure on normal photos (without the slide attachment) works okay, but with the copier attached and a well-exposed slide in the copier, whites are washed out and black are underexposed. To make a rough guess: on my scanner about 2-3 percent of the slide is clipped, but for the D700 the figure is more like 20%.

When viewed through the viewfinder the slide looks superb. But after a few hours of experimenting we can't work out why we have this exposure problem. We have tried holding the camera up to the sky and then to white paper illuminated by sunlight. Same problem, different exposures. A typical exposure from the white paper might be 1/20 sec at f11.

We have also repeated the experiment with a point-and-shoot Nikon using a home made attachment (black pipe on a flat base screwed into the mount hole). The exposures with this setup are superior to those with the D700.

What could be the cause of this exposure problem using the D700 and what settings might correct it? It seems to have something to do with the extension tube and the slide fitting. But what?

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