Macro Rail

Have questions about the equipment used for macro- or micro- photography? Post those questions in this forum.

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crayfish74
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Macro Rail

Post by crayfish74 »

Anyone could recomend to me a Macro Rail on Ebay or other web?

Best,

Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

Need to know more about the intended use.

You can roughly think about these on two levels...

The first would be a rail used for low or modest magnifications and often for "single shot" macro in the field. (Such as might be the case with a 1:1 macro lens attached to the camera).

The second would be a rail suitable for acquiring an image stack, generally at magnification considerably higher than 1X. These need the ability to be easily moved in much smaller increments than the one described above, and usually have greater overall precision. (In choosing one for this use, it is helpful to have some idea of the anticipated magnifications that will be used).

enricosavazzi
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Post by enricosavazzi »

Charles Krebs wrote:Need to know more about the intended use.
[...]
The first would be a rail used for low or modest magnifications and often for "single shot" macro in the field. (Such as might be the case with a 1:1 macro lens attached to the camera).
[...]
I might add that an Arca-compatible clamp and long plate are a good alternative to a focusing rack/rail for low-magnification work. The practical focusing precision of a clamp and plate, in my experience, is at least as good as half a mm, which is quite adequate for 1:1 work. The rigidity of this system when locked is also far better than cheap focusing racks from eBay.

See the example below:

http://savazzi.freehostia.com/photograp ... 81376s.JPG

and the following URL for a more detailed discussion:

http://savazzi.freehostia.com/photograp ... ystem.html

A further advantage of the Arca system is its modularity and the possibility of combining components together to assemble custom setups.
--ES

crayfish74
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Post by crayfish74 »

Thanks,

Is for stack, and i will work with micro lens 4x and 10x 4:1 and 10:1


How about it?


http://www.amazon.com/Hakuba-Magnesium- ... B00004ZCTZ


Cheers,

johan
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Post by johan »

Looks like a Velbon slide... ok for modest magnification (ie 2:1) but not really right for consistent steps at 10:1
My extreme-macro.co.uk site, a learning site. Your comments and input there would be gratefully appreciated.

crayfish74
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Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:11 pm

Post by crayfish74 »

thanks,

So what rail i need for 4x and 10x? 4:1 and 10:1

Best,

enricosavazzi
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Post by enricosavazzi »

crayfish74 wrote:Thanks,

Is for stack, and i will work with micro lens 4x and 10x 4:1 and 10:1


How about it?


http://www.amazon.com/Hakuba-Magnesium- ... B00004ZCTZ


Cheers,
No, it will not work at 4x and 10x.

The only thing I would really recommend for this use is a microscope focusing rack like the ones discussed in the following thread:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... php?t=6070
--ES

Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

Certain microscope focus blocks (as discussed in the thread link Enrico provided) are great since they have a coaxial coarse and fine focus. These are highly recommended and a pleasure to work with. The fine focus dial is generally clearly marked and easy to read. The "tick" marks often indicate 2 microns of travel (but not always! Some Nikons are 1 micron, some older Zeiss are 5 micron).

An alternative would be a micrometer driven stage such as the Newport 426 or 423 models. Here are a few on Ebay right now:

160989353878
140930353593
290876656447
271140513882
160974128136

(I just did a quick search for these and know nothing about the sellers or the condition of the pieces, so I am not recommending any one of these specifically). Newport is not the only manufacturer of this type of stage... you will see similar ones from Thorlab, Melles Griot and others. On Ebay Newport is the most common brand. Sometimes you will see them offered with the "actuator" (micrometer drive) already attached, sometimes it is the stage only and you will need to get the drive micrometer. The micrometer drive can have different "pitches" so the distance intervals that can be readily dialed will vary. If you can readily move the stage in 2 micron increments you are certainly good for any 10X you will use, since the steps are typically in the 7-10 micron range. (And in reality up to about any 40X or 50X. You may need to do a bit or "cranking" with a 4X where your steps will be in the vicinity of 40 microns)

There is always the "StackShot", made specifically for automated image stack acquisition. But if you shop carefully you can be set up with either of the above components for about (or less than ) 1/3 the cost.

Fredlab
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Post by Fredlab »

Hello

On ebay, the right words are "linear stage" (and/or... actuator)
I apologise for my poor english
My blog (Macro Micro World)
My gallery

soldevilla
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Post by soldevilla »

I have build some very cheap linear stage and it need no special brico skills. This week I try to found some free time and I will show how to do it. It move easy the camera in steps around 0,05mm or less, enough for take images with a 10x microscope objective.

crayfish74
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Post by crayfish74 »

Dear Charles,

I was reviewing the rails but how I will attached the camera to it? I don´t see any screws in the base.

Cheers,

Chris

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

steps around 0,05mm or less, enough for take images with a 10x microscope objective.
Errm, 10x usually needs about 0.01mm,
4x for about 0.05 mm??

--
how I will attached the camera to it? I don´t see any screws in the base.
Yes hat's the harder part.:) Some stages have 1/4" 20tpi threaded holes, but usually not where you want, and nothing on top to help join to the camera. One common route is to drill and fix "arca" type rails/clamps to both sides.
Do a search on the Manfrotto 454 macro rail. It's easy to use in principle because it has the fittings for a camera. It'll work for perhaps 5x. If it were nicely made it would be really good, but it's not nicely made!
It "moves around" when you go along your stack. Although the stackers programs can track that, you end up losing the edge of the frame. It can be very useful though, and cost effective.

soldevilla
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Post by soldevilla »

ChrisR wrote:
steps around 0,05mm or less, enough for take images with a 10x microscope objective.
Errm, 10x usually needs about 0.01mm,
4x for about 0.05 mm??
I usually displace 0,05 for x4 and 0,02 for x10, but I have made images with my brico device at x10 and perhaps are not the best images in the world, but for it cost the result is very good, and sometimes I can´t transport my microscope to the site when I need to take the pictures.

After a quick wacht to the comet :D, I will upload images of this macro rail.

soldevilla
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Post by soldevilla »

Here the images:

Up. The hole for the 1/4" screw for to fix the camera.
Image

Down. The 1/4" nut to fix in a tripod.
Image

The know. The only mecanized part in my lathe, but a disc of wood will work perfectly. I have calculated the diameter in order that the circunference measure 100mm. and I have glued a fragment of a tailor scaled tape. Every mm in the scale now is a 0,01mm of displacement, because I use a M6x1 threaded rod. You can see the wood structure and the guides, no plays...
Image

The guides and the 1/4" screw
Image

40mm L iron profile and the M6x1 threaded rod. Two nuts an two teflon discs allow rotation without play
Image

A special M6 nut. Can be a normal nut glued with epoxi, or better a block in nylon.
Image

And ready to work!
Image

¿any cuestion? :D

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

This looks good. 1 mm pitch screw is used also by the Proxxon KT-70. You're using a larger diameter knob & scale, to get marks at 0.01 mm instead of the Proxxon's marks at 0.05 mm. But the drive precision should be similar. Probably with careful use you can make pretty reliable movements down to 0.005 mm (1/200 turn of the knob). Maybe even smaller if your hands are very steady.

--Rik

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