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macro focus rails

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Harpreet

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which rail is better interms of usability, gettin subjects in focus with fine adjustments of movements.
manfrotto 3419 or velbon super mag slider
 
I ca't relly tell you wich is better (which I know is the real question) but i can tell you that I'm very happy with my Velbon. It's build very solid and has a nice tight feels when you use the knobs.
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http://www.alloverphotos.com
This is my first web site, it's more a test of design than display.
 
Harpreet said:
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which rail is better interms of usability, gettin subjects in focus
with fine adjustments of movements.
manfrotto 3419 or velbon super mag slider
Click to expand...
It depends on what lens you are using and what you are using it for. If you are planning on shooting insects, tripods (and ergo, focus rails) are pretty pointless, as insects move around and all your time would be spent trying to set up for a shot.

That said, if you are shooting 1x-2x, the Manfrotto rail should suffice, but if you are shooting at higher magnifications (such as with the mpe-65mm), your best bet is the Novoflex Castel series, which is quite expensive:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=0&shs=castel&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=jsp%2Fproduct.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t

The Castel rail is very well built and has a very fine focus adjustment, which is needed for high mag shots, as the focus plane is very thin.

I decided I needed a focus rail when I first began macro, but resisted the urge to buy a high end (expensive) rail until I knew I would use it. Instead, I bought one of the Adorama-type rails from Link Delight on ebay. I paid $65 for it. I've used it a few times, and it's there when I need it, but I'm glad that I didn't buy the Castel yet, as my minimum usage wouldn't justify the cost. Eventually, I may build a focus rack for studio work, at which time I will likely pick up the Castel.

Drake
 
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I also seen that rail on linkdelight.com. Please let me know about ur rail, about focussing and fine movements of camera? I have my 350d with battery grip on. Is it good enough to hold camera with battery grip on without any woobles?
 
Harpreet said:
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I also seen that rail on linkdelight.com. Please let me know about ur
rail, about focussing and fine movements of camera? I have my 350d
with battery grip on. Is it good enough to hold camera with battery
grip on without any woobles?
Click to expand...
It holds my 400D fine and is fairly sturdy, but as I said, the focus adjustment is not as fine as one might want at high mags. Also, there is no QR system on this 'rail'. I've added a Manfrotto RC2 QR plate to the bottom and an RC2 QR assembly to the top, This becomes a bit unweildy, but serves my purposes. Also, the Link Delight adds about 3 1/2" vertical height to the tripod (before any QR you might add). You can use the rail without QR as well.
 
I own the Kirk rail and am really pleased with it...no slippage with a 1dsm2+sigma 150+reversed 50mm mounted vertically. Good price too!

I have never owned the manfrotto but know a few that have had it and the primary complaints were it is too stiff to adjust and there is a wobble in the mount.

I would investigate that further before buying.
 
I use Novoflex. I use the Novoflex mini when I’m in the field and a Novoflex Castel in the studio. I have been pleased with both, although the height of the mini rail is sometimes a problem, it is light enough and small enough that I often leave it attached when hand holding the camera.

What ever you go for, you want to keep the height of the camera as low as possible to reduce flex in the system. You need to keep the focal axis as close to the pivot point as is possible. I would lose the battery grip when mounting on a focusing rail.

I would also strongly suggest a geared tripod head, such as the Manfrotto 410 mini head.

Brian A.
 
Harpreet said:
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which rail is better interms of usability, gettin subjects in focus
with fine adjustments of movements.
manfrotto 3419 or velbon super mag slider
Click to expand...
I thought I'd have a bash at making one as my other hobby is machining. Sorry, I know this is not answering your question.

It's built like a tank, ugly as sin but absolutely solid as a rock and the thread gives very fine micro adjustment. The release is off an old tripod.





Trevor
 
Clearly, using the BG will increase the "moment arm" of the setup. Is the BG necessary for this particular application?

I'd leave it off if it isn't required. You can get an external power supply for these cameras with a "dummy battery" that fits into the battery compartment allowing you to feed power to the camera via a cable.

So if you need a lot of power for time lapse or something like that, you could approach it that way and still not need the grip.

Also, along with the longer "lever", the extra flex of the grip-to-body interface could add to the potential shake and uncertainty.

Some of the macro lenses do have a tripod mount, so that's a possibility, too. But I'd still take the grip off because more weight is not desirable.

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Jim H.
 
Where did you get the bearings?

Or did you machine them from brass or bronze?

I do a bit of machining, but I cheat and have a good friend with a CNC shop. He also used to teach machining, so every time I need something made, it ends up being a lesson on machining and CNC programming.

Anyhow, I've been toying with the idea of building a special vertical "copy stand" type of setup with a stepper-motor driven vertical drive so that I can automate focus-stack shooting for snowflake macros.

But the more I see of focus stacking, the more I'm tempted to make the system more flexible so that it can be used for non-vertical movements.

One of the potential trouble spots is coming up with a way to make the lead-screw bearings.

I could just punt and buy the lead-screw assemblies from SECS or Nordex or the like, but where's the fun in that?

I'm curious as to how you built the "guts" of your system. It looks very nice!

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Jim H.
 
JimH said:
Where did you get the bearings?

Or did you machine them from brass or bronze?

I do a bit of machining, but I cheat and have a good friend with a
CNC shop. He also used to teach machining, so every time I need
something made, it ends up being a lesson on machining and CNC
programming.

Anyhow, I've been toying with the idea of building a special vertical
"copy stand" type of setup with a stepper-motor driven vertical drive
so that I can automate focus-stack shooting for snowflake macros.

But the more I see of focus stacking, the more I'm tempted to make
the system more flexible so that it can be used for non-vertical
movements.

One of the potential trouble spots is coming up with a way to make
the lead-screw bearings.

I could just punt and buy the lead-screw assemblies from SECS or
Nordex or the like, but where's the fun in that?

I'm curious as to how you built the "guts" of your system. It looks
very nice!

--
Jim H.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Jim. All stock materials except for the thread which was off-the-shelf threaded stainless bar. The guide rails are solid stainless 10mm stock bar. One part I was pleased with is I managed to make the travel lashless by using a spring-loaded brass bush in the alloy body to counter lash in the thread.

Here's a flash bracket I just finished, adjustable height naturally. Thought I might as well try and use the machines to save some money. The black grip is a foam rubber motorcycle handle bar grip.



About your focus stacking rig, it sounds like a 2-axis CNC table. If your friend knows all about CNC machining, I'm sure he could give you some pointers about putting a system together. Do you know any of the lathe, mill and CNC user groups on Yahoo? There's one dedicated to converting small Chinese made mills to CNC so there all the info you could possibly want on stepper motors and drivers, the programming, thrust bearings, ball-screw shafts. There are also many companies selling kits for CNC conversion. These are probably too heavy for your application but the principles are the same. Stepper driver kits are cheap and plentiful. Let me know if you need any links.

One idea that springs to mind is converting an old Roland flatbed X Y plotter if you could find one on ebay. It would have programmable steppers in two directions plus all the rails and bearings ready made.

Trevor
 
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