Unpack the unit but do NOT plug it in
until instructed to do so.

You will need the following:
7/16th flat wrench
1/8th allen wrench (also called hex key)
medium sized phillips screwdriver
Sharp, bright, 35mm horizontal slides loaded in a tray
Digital Rebel EOS, XT, XTi or XSi (D450)
Canon 18-55mm zoom lens and the Canon EF25 II Extension Tube (not included)
Flashcard 512 megs or bigger.
Power supply or freshly charged battery.
Video cable that came with camera.
Photoshop or similar imaging program is recommended.

Remove cover.

Install lamp.

Replace screws.

Attach monitor cables.

Attach monitor.

Remove screws from panel.

Remove panel and set aside.

Remove camera mounting block screws.

Mount camera snugly to camera block.
Take care to keep block square to camera body.

Adjust zoom to 55mm position.
(Don't forget the extension tube!)

Tape zoom securely in place so it will not rotate.

Lock lens in MANUAL FOCUS position.

If you have a power supply for the camera, now is the
time to install it. If not, install a freshly charged battery.

Consult your camera instructions and put the camera
into the following settings:

A/V Mode on the top dial
ASA (ISO) 100
White Balance on tungsten (the light bulb icon)
Set display duration for constant.
Make sure that the histogram function is off.
Set the aperture to f22 (very important!)
Set the a/v settings to -1 stop underexposure.
Set the quality settings to high.
(Use the quarter circle icon that is smooth, not stair-stepped)

Mount camera firmly but do not overtighten the screws.
NOTE: There are several sets of mounting holes.
For Canons using the 18-55mm lens and extension tube,
use the third set as shown. If using the 50mm macro lens
only, then use the first set of holes. Some experimentation
may be required to determine the best mounting position.

Plug the camera cables into the side of the camera.
One cable will be the remote, which is already attached
to the side of the SlideStream and the other will
be the video cable that came with your camera.

Plug video cable into RCA jack as shown.

Load slide tray.
Make sure that all slides are in the
horizontal position. Vertical slides
will need to be turned 90 degrees on their side.
NOTE: If using an automated cropping program, you
can leave slides in the verticle position
if you use the Canon 50mm Macro lens. The image will be
reduced in size but, if using a 12 megapixel camera,
the resolution should be sufficient after cropping.

Plug unit into power 115VAC 60 cycle outlet.

Turn on power.

Advance to first slide using switch.

Focus camera and note whether it
is aligned or needs to be adjusted relative
to the slide frame. It is advised to
crop into the slide a tiny bit since the
aspect ratios of the digital camera and the
35mm slide are not exactly the same.

To capture a test frame, just press the
"camera manual" button as shown.

NOTE: The monitor does not show the entire
video image. Therefore, for critical alignment,
you will need to capture a slide, then open
that file in Photoshop or other image program
to see if you are level, focused and aligned.
The monitor is an assist to verify the progress
of the scanning process and should not be used
to make aesthetic judgements.

The camera platform is prealigned but will
most likely need to be adjusted. Take a sample picture,
remove the flash card and load the image into Photoshop.
Note any changes that need to be made to the alignment.
Use the 7/16 flat wrench to adjust the positioning of the
camera. It is important that the height of the platform
be the same from front to back but not side to side.

The position of the camera and/or focus can
be easily adjusted by turning the compound knob as shown.

Shoot additional pictures and check them in Photoshop
until alignment is level and centered. Once you have
critical alignment, it is advised to not remove
or disturb the camera again or realignment
will be necessary.

After verifying that your alignment and focus
is good, replace the side panel.

To start your scan, proceed as follows:

Capture the first frame manually.

After you verify the image in the monitor,
press the "start" button.

The projector will then advance and the
camera will automatically copy a slide.
This cycle will repeat itself until the
end of the tray or until it reaches
an empty slot, at which time the alarm
will sound.

To stop the alarm or to stop the unit
at any point in the capture process,
just press the "stop" button. If the unit
jams or tries to start with an empty
slot, you will also get an alarm. You may
need to press the stop button twice.

NOTE: The alarm can be silenced by turning it off.
The red LED end of run indicator will still function.

The unit has been preset to a speed that
is efficient for most all Canon cameras. However,
you can change the speed by adjusting the
speed control knob. Turning to the right
will decrease the speed and turning to the left
will increase the speed.

NOTE: The fastest speed is determined by two things:

1) The darkest slide because the
camera has to have time to make the exposure

and

2) The write time of your camera.

Some cameras, like
the older EOS and the XT, require several seconds to write
to the flashcard and to also prevent overheating. Later cameras,
like the XTi and the newer XSi, can write almost as fast as you can press the button but you still need to allow for exposure time!

So don't set the speed too fast or you will either still be
exposing when the slide moves or you won't be through
writing when the next camera capture command happens!

Some experimentation will be required. Higher ISO settings can
allow for faster capture rates but will increase the visible
grain of the image. Also, RAW captures will require more time
than JPEG captures.

When completed, turn off the unit and remove the tray.
If you are in mid-tray, then depress the
release on the side of the projector and rotate tray to "0" position.

At this point, you will have copied all the slides in your tray automatically. Bring all images into a program like Photoshop. The images may look dark because you set the camera to underexpose by 1 stop to protect the whites. Use the "Automate" function to apply the following changes to each slide: Vertical Flip, Auto-levels and Sharpen. You can do this manually to each slide but the "Automate" function will make it much easier. Consult your image program instructions in how to use the "Automate" function.

We hope to have a custom application that will do this more easily
in the future so that Photoshop or other image programs will not be required.

If you have any questions, email me or please call at 830-966-4664.

Roger Evans