I recently acquired a lot of microfilm (550 reels) and I would like to digitize it because it contains local history I know microfilm scanners are expensive, therefore I’d like to try to make something that might work well to digitize it. My question is, what would be a good camera to use for job? I think I may need a macro lens and possibly some extension tubes, but I could be wrong. The microfilm is both 16mm and 35mm. I would like to get clear legible images from it. I’m not concerned about speed as I would be doing it manually. The film would be backlit. I do have a microfilm carrier that I plan to modify to feed the film thorough. I do have experience with Arduinos but not much with the Raspberry Pi. Any advice would be very helpful.
Sounds like a cool project!
You’re on the right track with the macro lens and extension tubes. For the camera, I’d skip the small board cameras for this one and pick up a used DSLR or mirrorless body in the 20–24MP range. Something like a Sony a6000 or an older Canon or Nikon APS-C body is cheap on the used market and will give you much cleaner, more legible images. Just make sure you can trigger it remotely. Since you know Arduinos, you can fire it through the wired remote port with an optocoupler. A Pi HQ camera can technically work too, but at 12MP you’d probably end up shooting half-pages of newspaper and stitching them together.
The 35mm film is the easy part. A regular 1:1 macro lens (60mm or 100mm) should fit a full frame in one shot. The 16mm is harder because document images are shrunk down a lot more, so you’ll need more magnification, around 1.5x to 3x. That’s where the extension tubes come in. Tubes on a 60mm macro will get you into that range without much trouble. Another good budget option is an old 50mm enlarger lens (El-Nikkor, Rodagon, Componon) on tubes or a bellows. They’re made for flat film and they’re very sharp.