Focus Rail Adapter

[molucca]

Thought I would at least tell what I have been doing. I have a macro focus rail that has about 6 inches of travel. I made an aluminum extension using .125 inch aluminum, and added a piece of U channel for stiffness. I just finished making birch plywood holders to position a 3 X 5 card. I tried attaching a subject to the card, and setting up for a macro shot. I was able to set the focus, and then move the assemble to get the light the way I wanted. Rich

[Mike S]

Sounds intersting. Here are plans to build a photo studio lab for shooting pics of objects. looks pretty good. total cost is under 100 bucks.
table top studio

[molucca]

http://www.indeptharts.org/showthrea...2968#post22968

A view of the device. Rich

[Mike S]

what was your cost to build that?

[molucca]

I only bought a piece of U channel and a couple of fasteners. The length was about 18 inches. I had a piece of aluminum in the scrap pile, and the fixture length was determined from that. The length was fine for the 100 mm lens. The plywood was aout $2, and I had that also. The focus slide was expensive, but I don't think you need one. I would thing you could use a yard stick with a .25 hole. Cameras are typically 1/4-20 thread. Just need a couple of sliding blocks to hold things. Rich

[John Rayner]

Wow Rich, Now you have a bug studio! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[molucca]

Thanks John,
I haven't seen too many bugs. For all the billions butterflies, I have only seen a few. It rained on the bushes during their bloom, and hasn't been warm after that.

I liked the frame adapter. It shows the size of the subject that will be photographed. I made the aperature somewhat larger, too. It shows what the 100mm lens will capture. I need to look at the camera alignment. The focus rail doesn't align the camera. I did see a little of the frame on on side of the image, and thought this was just a camera alignment problem.

Looks like everyone is doing great with their photography.

Rich

[John Rayner]

WE need you to join in the fun too...

[molucca]

Thanks John,

I made an alignment block to set the camera position. It is a aluminum block with a scratch down the center. I used a digital caliper to measure the scratch position. This should eliminate all the errors in drilling holes. I have see somne of the frame at times. I am not sure If the camera captures more than what I can see through the viewer. I may increase the aperature in the frame slightly.

I have been trying rose petals in the frame. The petals seem to get rubbery as they dry, and become somewhat flat. I have an ibutyln petal in the frame today. I'll see how it looks in the morning.

Rich