Macro focus rail

[DaveW]

They are not at all bad for conventional macro work Harold. Maybe not for high precision multiple photostacks where you need controllable minute steps. Mine has 1/4" and 3/8" tripod screw holes in it's base. The latter just fits the head fixing screw of my old Durst M600 enlarger and so converts it into a handy copy stand with it's head removed.

That seems to be the same model I bought in the UK 30 years ago with a "Vintec" name on it. I have seen it sold in the years since with a few different "own brand" labels, so evidently some factory has been churning them out for years unchanged.

DaveW

[Joseph S. Wisniewski]

Those things are ubiquitous. Adorama sells them as their house brand. Kirk sells it with his Arca clamp and plate attached.

I have one purchased years ago. While I was never impressed by its performance as a focusing rail, I use the top portion as a "slide bar" for stereo work.

[puzzledpaul]

The single axis one I've been using (with a variety of lenses) for the last 2 > 3 yrs is a home made one, based on the main rail + tripod mount from a Pentax bellows bought on fleabay.

pp

[rjlittlefield]

It might be worth a mention of this budget model:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.9430

Interesting! There are some slight differences in appearance from Adorama's -- size of knobs and so forth -- but there's a dramatic difference in price. $174.95 for Adorama's, $65.90 for the one from Deal Extreme.

I have one of Adorama's. I mostly use it for 2-axis subject positioning. It works well enough, but for that application, it's hard to imagine that there's enough difference in build quality to justify a 3X higher price. If I need another two-axis rail, I think I'll try the cheap version.

--Rik