All directions macro tabletop

A forum to ask questions, post setups, and generally discuss anything having to do with photomacrography and photomicroscopy.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

keks
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2011 10:41 am
Location: Austria

All directions macro tabletop

Post by keks »

Hello all,
I am new here, actually not totally new, got some useful informations from here while I built my macro setup during the last few weeks.
I have seen many setups here, but none which can do macro shots from any angle (please correct me if i have overlookes one). I wanted all angles, and I wanted to have all the stuff in one piece for higher stability.

Besides, I have slightly modified the stackshot cause I didnt have a good feeling with some tiny screws that they used for the plate where the camera is usually mounted.

Concerning lenses I have a Rodenstock Apo Rodagon N 50 mm in retro position and a Luminar 25 mm.

Concerning light, I am still working on it, but considering 2 flourescent bulbs with daylight spectrum mounted on flexibel arms.

This is it:

Image

Image

Image

And one of my first stacks (horsefoot, 47 shots):
Image

Let the sun shine ;-)

AndrewC
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Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:05 am
Location: Belgium
Contact:

Post by AndrewC »

Nice setup and welcome :)

I have something similar on one of my rigs where I have a linear drive mounted onto a Burzynski head - I use it for larger subjects (<10x magnification) where I want to rotate the camera rather than the subject. On smaller subjects for ( >5x - yes there is some overlap ! ) I rotate the subject on a goniometric mount.
rgds, Andrew

"Is that an accurate dictionary ? Charlie Eppes

rjlittlefield
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Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Keks, welcome aboard! The stacked image is excellent, and the setup is a design that I do not recall seeing before -- most appreciated. I have added it to the FAQ list of setups, HERE.

--Rik

Chris S.
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Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:55 pm
Location: Ohio, USA

Post by Chris S. »

Keks, great way to start out! Welcome!

Thanks for sharing your innovative setup—very helpful to me and no doubt others.

Like you, I’ve been wanting the capability to shoot images from any angle between horizontal and vertical. Unlike you, I haven’t moved this particular project out of the idea stage. So seeing how you’ve done it is very useful.
A couple of questions. What are the green-blue “split blocks with center hole” (for lack of a better term)? They look like something I could use in several ways, if they come in a nice variety of sizes.

Also, what is the purpose of the additional split block that is unused in the configuration you posted? My guess: You use this for more nearly vertical configurations, mounting the camera-StackShot assembly there after removing it from its current mounting point and rotating it 180 degrees in the horizontal plane?

It appears that in your approach, the center of gravity is pretty far from the center of rotation, and that it would change during focus stacking. Do you see this causing any unwanted movement at the magnifications you are shooting? If stable currently, would you expect it to continue to be so at higher magnifications?

Again, thanks much for posting your rig—I love learning from what other people are doing.

Cheers,

--Chris

ChrisLilley
Posts: 674
Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 6:12 am
Location: Nice, France (I'm British)

Post by ChrisLilley »

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for posting your interesting rig. I don't recall seeing one that swiveled like that.

Your StackShot-to-camera mounting is certainly more solid than the stock one :)

I was surprised that there was no heavy base plate, just the light aluminium extrusions. I would have thought that this would make it top heavy. Presumably though you find that it is stable?

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

Hmm, cool. I'd be interested to hear if you can use it for higher magnifications, say above 10x, with ambient light.
I think it might wobble a bit.

Pardon the extrusion intrusion, but, er, maybe something like ..

Image
as an option?

keks
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2011 10:41 am
Location: Austria

Post by keks »

Hello, thanks for the appreciation!

@Chris:
The greenish ones are clips, brackets...dunno the exact english word, however, they are usually used for mounting tubes, one costs about 2-5 Euros here, including the mounting plate. There are lots of sizes from i think 6 mm up to 57,5 mm, available in inches also. You should find them at www.parker.com, or in a local shop for hydraulic/pneumatic stuff. The exact position where i mount the clips just depends on the actual tube lengh on the camera and the desired angle.

Yes, center of gravity ist far from center of rotation. Alternatively it could look like this (drawed with google sketchup, i can recommend it):

Image

I was thinking a while about that matter, but in the end i found the version that i built to be stable, therefore i prefer it (for now). The clips are quite strong, i guess they can carry up to 10 or 15 kg without any problem, that should be enough for most here. And of course its allowed to use a 60 mm clip :wink:

@ ChrisLilley, ChrisR
...seems to be a common name....

The weight of that thing is 7 kg actually. But I think weight doesnt matter that much in this case because both camera and object are fixed on the same framework. It stands very stable, no chance to fall over.

I have done some vibration tests at magnification 10:1. Using the magnifying function of my G1 i had approx. 0,17 mm from left to right on the screen. What i have seen was:
The StackShot doesnt move exactly straight, doing a slight tottering (only visible with the magnifying function), but when the Stackshot stops, everything is still immediately. Heavy footsteps near the setup cause vibrations (in the range of few hundredths mm), but when i walk with soft steps, I cant see any vibrations. Putting all the setup on a matrace and adding 10 kg weight allowed jumping in front of it wihout visible vibrations.

Surprisingly, the extrustions are quite elastic, more than i thought, at magnification 10 its not wise to touch the vertical ones during recording. But no touch no wobbling and no problem at all.
The diagonal mounted extrusion (thx chrisR) would of course improve the situation, but useful just above 15:1 or so, just a guess.

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

keks wrote:The StackShot doesnt move exactly straight, doing a slight tottering (only visible with the magnifying function), but when the Stackshot stops, everything is still immediately.
Remember that when the StackShot moves, it is just like pushing quickly on the uprights, first one way to start the camera moving, then the other way to make it stop.

With my StackShot, the rail moves straight when it is bolted down to a heavy weight, but when it is on anything elastic there is some vibration with each movement.

That is a nice picture from Google Sketchup. Thanks for the suggestion.

--Rik

Chris S.
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Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:55 pm
Location: Ohio, USA

Post by Chris S. »

Keks,

Yes, it’s odd how many of us here are named “Chris”—sometimes, it gets confusing.

That is a very nice CAD drawing of your alternate configuration. I’ve been intending to learn Google Sketchup myself—seems like a very useful tool.

Parker seems to be calling those clamps, in English, “tube clamps” or “clamp halves.” They seem to be hard to purchase over the Internet—sites that carry them are not generally retailers. I’ll have to visit a local hydraulic/pneumatic shop, as you suggest. Thanks for the tip!

--Chris

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