OT- Need your input- c-750uz owners.

[PaulM2]

Most of you know that I have built a copy stand for doing the copy of all my old slides in order to have them saved away on digital. Re: http://www.pbase.com/paulm2/image/92726077

The other day, a friend called and asked if he could borrow my rig. He is doing a update to his home and in the process found some boxes containing approx. 300 35mm slides of his fathers, who passed away about 10 years ago. Also in one of the boxes was his dad's C* n camera (a EOS ELAN SLR) which he sent to me and which I have since repaired, but thats another story.

Back to the copy business. My homemade copy stand when last used, had been altered to use the c-750uz. I went over to my storage area to get the rig and as soon as I seen it, I remembered I had sold that camera.

So I could either rebuild the copy stand for a different camera or go to ebay and find another. Yesterday the replacement ebay c-750uz arrived. Bare camera only, no manuals etc. It works for what I now need, but has some problem with the EV (very dim).

Hence my question. I am using SMacro, "A" mode and the timer function to take the shot. Presently I am using AF but would like to use Manual Focus so that I could preset the focus and have the camera as still as possible.

I had remembered how to get to MF in the c-750uz (hold the OK button for a bit), but not having the manual for the camera, how do I use manual focus in SMACRO?

What I am trying to do is to get as large a image of the 35mm picture area of the slide as I can. For the picture below I was set at about 65mm measured from the nose piece of the camera to the slide. Can I get closer?

Any input from you will be great.

Paul
Here is a shot taken with my current setup which is OK.
My wife Evelyn sailing with friends. Lake Ontario, 1972

 

[AJohn]

You get to manual focus in SMacro the exact same way that you mentioned...hold the OK button down until the focus meter pops up on the left. Then just toggle over to MF. I just tried it.

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Andy
FCAS Member #120
http://www.lightscapeimaging.com
http://www.imageevent.com/ajrphotos

 

[PaulM2]

Thanks for the reply.

Tried the manual focus in smacro. Very touchy for sure.

So far I have not achieved proper manual focus, going to make myself a focus screen with a grid on it. I have a magnifier that fits over the LCD.

As I am doing a copy of a flat image, the focus between slides does not change, so therefor the idea of manual focus, but the AF function works very well. Maybe I should leave well enough alone?

I have also found that I can use the RM-1 or RM-2 remote and trip the shutter even with the camera as close as it is to the slide on the copy stand, so now Ii won't have that 10 second delay with the timer function. This also will eliminate pressing the shutter button and any associated remaining movement to the camera prior to actually making an exposure.

Again, thanks for looking at this post and your trying the MF on your camera.

Paul

 

[Timewarp]

Hi Paul,

If you want to have a manual available for the c750uz, you might try this link: http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/manual/zoom/man_c750uz_e.pdf

Hope you are continuing to recover from your accident. Maybe if Old Man Winter will release his grip on us, we'll be able to do some outdoor shooting.

 

[Henry Falkner]

Tried the manual focus in smacro. Very touchy for sure.

When I did own the C-750UZ, the manual focussing was a feature that I found less than helpful. The magnifier in manual focussing mode pixellates badly, and disappears too quickly as well. Also, the 0 settings for sharpness, contrast, and saturation produce too much of all three, resulting in artifacts. The sharpening in particular is very broad. The result you show, in my perception, bears this out.

Don't get me wrong - the C-750UZ suited me for four years, from 2003 to 2007. But my current SP-570UZ produces better detail, the sharpening in particular is more discreet, and the magnifier shown in manual focussing stays on for long enough, without the magnified segment dissolving into squares.

If you are stuck with the C-750, I would at the very least set sharpness at -2 and EV at -0.7, especially for slide copying. Auto Focus may do as good a job as you can expect, particularly when the slides are popping from the heat of their illumination. Using WB +- at 1 step less blue may make post-processing less finicky.

Henry

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Henry Falkner - SP-570UZ, Stylus 9010, Stylus 7020, D-490Z
http://www.pbase.com/hfalkner

 

[PaulM2]

Thanks for looking in and the URL for the Manual.

Accident is almost a thing of the past. Leg is still a bit weak when standing or walking a lot. Fingers are still taped together, but the splint is gone. Maybe next Thursday I will start with the little rubber ball.

Paul

 

[PaulM2]

Thanks Henry.

I am using the sharpness setting at -2 per your tip. Seems to work OK.

One of the problems I have noticed starts with the old slide itself. It looks like the film material itself has artifacts or in other words, de-laminating. I may be doing this copy process just in time.

Currently the storage box I am working on, has Model Sailboat pictures that date from 1972 to 1979. The Kodachromes have aged the best, some of the other brands exhibit color cast and I have been told by "Kodak people" that the development process or the chemcals used, determines this. In the past, I have noticed that copies of 35mm Extrachrome differ greatly from slides of 2-1/4 sq, I also was told that the development process was very different.

My settings now for this copy process is WB=Tungsten, sMacro, ISO=100, "A" mode, Sho mode for picture saving. Camera is set for remote trip with the RM-1, Sharpness = -2, The camera setup is on the home made copy stand with the distance from the face of the slide to the fixed nose piece of the camera lens housing = 65mm. Two 40w light bulbs with aluminum foil in the box, then thru a piece of frosted glass. Typical exif is 1/80s @ f5.6.

Another big item I have not noticed before, is the xd card itself. I have three 512mb cards here. One is 512mm (no other marking) a M512 and a H512. Big difference in the write speeds. I have not noticed this before as when you take a picture, normaly you don't notice the write speed. When doing the copy process, I can change slides while the previous shot is still writting with a 512mb or M512mb card, not so with the type H card.

Again, thanks for the help.

Paul