ACCESSORIES

Create digital images of your slides and negatives with your Nikon DSLR

A roundup of products for photographers to consider

A high-resolution camera like the Nikon D850 is the ideal tool for digitising slides, transparencies and negatives, and with this in mind Nikon has introduced the ES-2 Film Digitising Adapter Kit. It’s designed to be mounted on a lens via the filter thread and is compatible with three Nikon optics: the AF-S Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8G ED, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D and AF-S DX Micro-Nikkor 40mm f2.8G. Two 62mm adapter rings are supplied with the kit for mounting it on the 60mm lenses, and it mounts directly onto the 40mm lens.

Two holders are also supplied in the box, one that can hold two mounted slides and the other for strips of film of up to six frames in length. The slide holder feels pretty durable and holds mounted slides snugly. In fact, a few slides in high-end Gepe mounts were a little too snug, and needed a pair of pliers to pull them out. The strip film holder, which opens like a razor clam, is less robust-feeling, but it does have supports between each frame and it holds the film flat.

Using the ES-2 is pretty straightforward: you mount it on the lens, load your film or slide into the holder, slot the holder into the adapter and then point it towards a uniform light source while you take a shot. We found that directing it towards a bright sky (not the sun) worked well, but you can also use flash or a constant light. In most cases the Nikon D850 was able to focus the lens on the film automatically, but you can do this manually if you prefer.

The tricky part of using the ES-2 is getting the framing and alignment right. A zoom mechanism lets you frame tightly or leave some space around the image, and a screw lets you lock the zoom and rotation, but it can still move if you’re not careful. Also, be prepared for the D850 to reveal more film grain than you may remember.

Above FILM HOLDERShort bars hold the film in position vertically in the holder, but it can creep alonghorizontally as the carrier is closed, so the frames are misaligned with the supportsif you’re not careful Above LIGHT DIFFUSER The diffuser does a good job of distributing light across the film frame and the D850’s AWB and Matrix metering systems generally work well, but you may need to tweak theexposure occasionally