Somewhere in a shoebox you probably have a handful of precious family snapshots on 35mm slides. And you’ve thought would be great those show on your phone. With the 10x Moment Macro lens on your iPhone, Galaxy or Pixel, you can easily copy these transparencies yourself with no other equipment needed. Here’s how:

Clean Your Slide

Use film cleaner And Dust-Off to remove dust, dirt and scum that can deposit from improper storage. Pec makes excellent cleaning stuff. The cleaner the slide is, the less retouching will be needed later.

Mount the Moment Macro

Attach to the Moment case over the wide phone lens and add the diffuser hood. You can also wrap the outside of your diffuser in black electrical tape to block ambient light that can fog the image. Or just block it with your hand.

Tape the Slide Against the Diffuser

You’ll want to orient the camera and image horizontally. Then center the image as best you can. I use scotch tape at the top and bottom.

Hold the Slide Over a Sheet of Paper

I get the best results with white paper placed on a surface in front of a window. Overcast days or North window light are great for a nice, even light. Shoot at an angle with the light in front of you so you or the phone doesn’t create shadows.

Zoom Out

In the Moment Pro Camera app, pinch the screen out until the edges of the slide mount are cropped out. Now just snap the shot. If the image has highlights that are burned out or detail lost in shadow, correct the exposure and shoot again.

Edit the Image

Your photo will likely benefit from some post editing:

• Scratches, dust and dirt can be problems, even with a well-cleaned side. TouchRetouch is an excellent app for fixing these.
• White balance the image. Most photo editing apps have an auto-correct feature that adjust this. LUCiD or Perfectly Clear apps can automatically white balance and work on noise and sharpness as well.
• Film grain is the analog equivalent to digital noise. Kodachrome slides can have a substantial amount of visible grain. Noise reduction in your editing app can smooth it out.
• Sharpening can’t do much for out-of-focus slides, but a little bit of sharpening can give a crisp look to most images. Be careful not to overdo it.

How Do the Results Compare?

If you start with a well-shot transparency that’s in decent condition, the final image can look excellent on your phone and give you great 8x10” prints. It’ll be tough to find an easier and less-expensive way to get sharp copies of your vintage slides than you can get with the exceptionally-sharp Moment Macro.