That is something I builded for around 15euro, the es-2. The most expensive part was the set down filter ring.
That way gives good results and a raw file of your cameras dimension.
I made it from PVC pipe that I can expand so I am not limited to a certain focal length.
George
I will try the scanner first. It seems to me that if I get a light box, I can put the negative on it, and shoot with my camera with the macro lens I do have. For now though, I want to try it with the scanner.
I went through my negative collection - couldn’t find all of them. What I did have was half good, and half trash, now tossed out. I had some negatives that were piled on top of each other - no idea why I did that, but this goes back a lifetime ago. They seemed to be “melting”. Dumpster time for most.
If this works for 35mm, if I could ever find a view camera at an affordable price, that opens up still more possibilities, but I don’t want to do too many things at the same time. One at a time, no problem.
My M3 could probably benefit from a c&l (clean and lube) but the only thing that feels different from what I remember is the focusing is now “stiffer”. This is almost certainly from the 50mm collapsible Summicron lens, that probably hasn’t been used since the 1960’s. I’ve also got my Nikon SP, but the Leica was always the “better” camera.
Joanna, once upon a time I had a 4x5 Graflex! Not sure you know what it was. Like an SLR on steroids! I never should have sold it, but never thought I would want to use it again, and even today, if I still had it, I’m not sure I could deal with it - unless I had never sold my darkroom gear…
I’ve got lots of free time to work on this stuff. I just got my first Covid vaccination this morning, I go back for another in three weeks, and two weeks after that, while I still need to be careful, I can start going around with my cameras again like I used to. So for the next few weeks, I can get even more involved in PL4.
Joanna, I used to even have a “polaroid back” for large format cameras. Do you use one? The idea was I could take a polaroid of what I want to photograph, and only when I’m satisfied, I would put the real film back on the camera. A co-worker had the full outfit back then (1970’s) and had he been willing to sell it, I would have found a way to buy it. Oh well… (I did buy his full Nikon F4 outfit, but that’s another story…)
Speaking of black and white, I watch a long video last night of all the steps the fellow went through to create a “perfect image”, but I didn’t like the end result, and didn’t like the way he did things. When he finished, it looked like a photo taken with an iPhone and special effects. I was going to stop the video several times, but I wanted to see how he did things. I hope that if I buy this “film pack” I can do the editing completely in PL4. I will never “be” another Ansel Adams, but no reason I can’t try…
Joanna, what is the difference between “film pack” (around $80), and buying DxO Optics Pro 10 (apparently around $200)?
Do I have a choice of buying one or the other, or is one of them part of the other?
DxO Optics Pro is a predecessor to PhotoLab. You don’t need it because you already have its successor.
Just get FilmPack Elite.
It is now downloading. Nice New Year’s Present to myself. 
Optics Pro 10 is a version of PhotoLab five generations back from PL4. What would have been OpticsPro 12 was rebranded as PhotoLab 1 in late 2017. I can’t imagine anyone selling OpticsPro 10 for $200 today.
Mark
You have a 30 day free trial before purchasing so you can determine if it is for you.
Mark
It’s got to be an old ad, still accessible on Amazon:
I had no idea what it was, so I started searching…
I changed my mind, and decided to try it, and this banner showed up with a big discount.
Long story, it’s bought and paid for now.
In the extremely unlikely case that I don’t like it, I could probably get a refund. New Year’s Present to myself.
Yes, that is quite a beast. There are several people who walk with a stoop as a result of carrying such a best on a neck strap 
No, even if you can find the Polariod film it would cost more to use that than to get the exposure right, or even take a couple of bracketing shots.
My Nikon D810 has a 5x4 framing option, so I sometimes use that, with the appropriate focal length equivalent to get a quick idea of what I’m going to get framing wise.
Other than that, I have a cardboard frame and a “measuring stick” that I can put against my cheek, with the frame at the appropriate distance for the desired focal length to do framing before having to get out all my lenses in turn to find out which one suits the shot best.
do you have a picture of that cardboard?
george
I see. And a rail with 5 distance marks. Thanks.
George
… just enter the license number in PhotoLab and you can work without having to install FilmPack or ever leaving PL while editing…
After entering the license code, you get this:
So I could have purchased it, added the activation key, and then started using FilmPack without having done the download? If so, why did I want/need to download anything - or is the download really just providing the sample images to select from?
At some point, I need to bring my laptop up to date - back when I used to travel, BC19, I had everything on the laptop that I had on my iMac, so I could use it when traveling, and especially when I went to India.
Hmm, I just noticed that I have a new program on my iMac, DxO FilmPack5.
If I can do all the FilmPack functions from within PL4, when might I want to use the standalone program, or is it provided so I can do editing with FilmPack while I’m not running PL4 ? Or is it intended for people who might not even own PL4 yet?
When you install the standalone app, it gives you the opportunity to install it as a plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.
But it doesn’t handle RAW files. For that, you need to use it from within PhotoLab.
I have opened FP to look at but I have never had need to use it.
The answer to both your questions is yes!
But surely you can’t edit RAW files in the standalone?
Never having used it, I don’t know any of this, but I expect I’ll be using it from within PL4.
