Ideal (overdone) macro support

[DanK]

Well, a post by Grahame convinced me to get a focusing rail--not to make fine adjustments between images in a stack, which I do by changing focus, but to have the ability to move the camera forwards and backwards to frame better, without moving the tripod. (If I get to much higher levels of magnification, I may use it for manual adjustments as well.) Now that I have added it, I think I really went over the top. The photo below shows my setup for things like flower macros. The first thing (starting at the bottom) is a Manfrotto "junior" geared head, which allows fine adjustments in all three dimensions, without noticeable sag after adjustments. That's the most important piece, IMHO. However, like other Manfrotto heads, it used a proprietary quick release plate, which was a real pain. So the next thing up, with the silver knob, is a Hejnar arca-swiss compatible replacement clamp designed for this Manfrotto head. On top of that is the focusing rail. And on top of that is an L-bracket so that I can mount the camera in either portrait or landscape orientation. I think this covers all of the bases. One problem, however, is that all of these things are heavy, and together they are very heavy. The second problem is that once I had added the last piece, I realized how embarrassingly much I had paid for all this stuff over the years.

Anyway, since there is a growing amount of interest on this site in tripod-based macro, I thought I would post this. However, to get back to the OP of the thread that started all of this, no, you DON'T need a rail to do focus stacking, if your magnification tops out at 1:1 or even 2:1. You can do it fine with manual changes in focus or by using Helicon Remote to make those changes for you.

[Shadowman]

Nice setup, I also use the rail for extending over ledges, great perspective when shooting through open windows.

[IzzieK]

Very good setup...I was thinking of adding a rail to my accessory acquisitions some months back but thoughts gone AWOL when I decided I wanted a new camera instead....

[ajohnw]

I bought one with the same 2 movements off Ebay. Generic and it's not too bad. The main reason I bought that type was for alignment wishing that it had one for height too but then I want to try using a microscope objective projecting directly onto the sensor so mag will can be "somewhat" higher than typical macro lenses. It's probably easier to move the subject around really using a microscope stage.

John
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