Using Lumix FZ15/FZ20 to copy slides?

[Bigbird]

Has anyone tried copying slides using the macro feature of a Lumix FZ15 or FZ20?
I've had a Konica-Minolta Dimage Z1 for about a year now, and have had good results copying old slide images using the super-macro feature. This was a major selling point to me at the time I bought the Z1 ( I was able to do some test shots & was very pleased with the results). Now I'm looking to move on to a 4-5 MG camera. I've narrowed my search to either the K-M Z3 or the Panasonic Lumix FZ15/FZ20. The K-M Z3 has a minimum Macro distance of 1cm - same as my Z1, so copying slides should be the same as with my Z1. The Lumix FZ15/FZ20 have a minimum Macro distance of 5cm. Will that make a difference in being able to copy slides? I leaning toward getting the Lumix, but would hate to give up the ability to copy my old slides.

[arghman]

Haven't tried that but I did do some quick experiments with the fz20 a few days ago... the 5cm number seems to be a spec: if I turn my focus ring all the way to the right, my fz20 (and some other people have posted this also) can focus pretty much up to the lens itself in the 1-2x zoom range. Beyond that and the minimum focus distance increases rapidly; the 200cm spec at high zoom seems to be about right. Here's an example pic I took of a sauce bottle (http://www.pbase.com/image/38103570) right up against the lens at its closest point. You can see the color fringing at the top & bottom, but it looks pretty good. (Not sure if/how the color fringing is affected by light level / object distance etc, maybe it is less at higher zooms, more light)

I have a Nikon 6T & 5T also but am waiting to get my adapter :( so can't post pics of that -- my guess is that with one of the closeup lenses you'd be fine as far as focus goes. Image quality is another story, depends on how picky you are.

[keiffer]

Kind of reminds me of a time where a friend of mine liked my printed pic so much....She took a pic of my pic.:-)

[shu246]

should be able to do it with an adapter ring and '+' lens.
have not tried it yet, but is on my list of things to get.

[shu246]

Well, I never did get that adapter and set of + lenses.

I have used the dickens out of that FZ-20, archiving the wife's watercolors and freelance photog for the local county rag.

Today I ran across a couple of trays of slides left by Father in 1983. How to copy them? I remembered this as the premier forum while I was re-learning photography and transitioning to digital. Haven't visited in many years, but came back to look for hints - and found this old thread.

Here's what I came up with today.

First was to build a light box. Piece of plate glass from a picture frame, an upside-down flourescent light fixture, some two inch strips of cardboard duct taped to the glass to box it away from the light, and a sheet of copy paper for additional diffusing.

The original plastic lens shroud that shipped with the FZ20, without the scalloped extender piece, actually spaces the camera at about the optimum distance from the slide. Put the slide on the light table. Rest the camera, spaced by the factory lens shroud, on top. Find and focus for the maximum fill of the slide in the frame area.

That will be with about 2.6x zoom. Any more zoom, and it just won't come into focus at all. It works well to come up to about 3x zoom, run the manual focus ring full clockwise (as seen from the rear). and then start tweeking the zoom down while working the manual focus ring to keep the detail square alive.

When the focus point is just short of full clockwise on the focus ring as you decrease the zoom, you have arrived.

There will be some barrel distortion at this point. Also, the film area will not totally fill the camera frame; there will be a margin of the cardboard slide mount.

Tune-up can be done with Photoshop, Gimp, or whatever. For a quick-and-dirty, I used the free Irfanview program to crop down the image area and slap up the gamma for brighness.

There you have it. Four and a half years late, for anyone who cares.

-shu