Lights on Rails or Tracks?

[Deanimator]

While I'm rearranging things so that I can get my interim macro setup configured, I've been thinking about how the permanent table should be constructed.

I've already settled on heavy plywood on a construction pipe and kee-clamp frame, but I've been thinking about better lighting arrangements than I currently have, articulated arm lamps clamped to the table top.

Has anyone seen continuous lights or speedlights mounted to a table top with rails or tracks so that they can be easily moved?

I'm not looking for something capable of fluid movement like a video slider, just something that would allow easy repositioning along the length and or width of a table top.

I was thinking in terms of something like conduit mounting rail, or shelf rail. I tried to find DIY videos, and have gotten some hints, but nothing specific to a table top, just ceiling mounts for big lights.

[Chris S.]

Dean,

I use a steel lighting stage and magnetic bases for the arms. This makes things very quick and easy to adjust, and permits very small adjustments. Quite a few members use optical breadboards, but they are expensive, and would be too slow and lacking in precise adjustability for me.

(BTW, you live close enough to Hartville, Ohio that you could work with both the fabricator and powder coating provider I used to make my stage.)

In the linked post, I showed the lighting setup with flash. These days, I prefer continuous light.

--Chris S.

[Deanimator]

Dean,

I use a steel lighting stage and magnetic bases for the arms. This makes things very quick and easy to adjust, and permits very small adjustments. Quite a few members use optical breadboards, but they are expensive, and would be too slow and lacking in precise adjustability for me.

(BTW, you live close enough to Hartville, Ohio that you could work with both the fabricator and powder coating provider I used to make my stage.)

In the linked post, I showed the lighting setup with flash. These days, I prefer continuous light.

--Chris S.

Thanks.

I've been using my time between jobs to throw out 18 years worth of junk, and make room for my macro rig. I'm hoping to have my interim rig in position by tomorrow night.

[Deanimator]

I use a steel lighting stage and magnetic bases for the arms.

That's an excellent solution, but one currently beyond my means.

I was however thinking about this, but had trouble finding somebody at Home Depot who knew what I was talking about. During breaks in cleanup, I did some online research and found what it was I was looking for.



The smaller sizes seem very amenable to mounting either continuous lights or speedlights. They're very versatile and studio lighting sockets or speedlights could easily be mounted on them and positioned at will. The picture shows a rail in the upside down position. You'd actually flip it over and use the slots to fasten it to the work surface. There are inserts that go inside the channel onto which a lighting stud or ballhead could be fixed.