Nice rig! Thanks for the link. I can see a Manfrotto ball head. I'm going to have a lot to pack around!

That's a good point, it looks like it would get unwieldy with a ball head on top of the rails, and then the camera on top of it.
The StackShot has a 'goose neck' bracket on top of the carriage, I haven't made a part like that yet. I have a spacer plate on top of my carriage, just enough to lift the Manfrotto quick release clamp up above the plate on the end of the rails.

I've posted an 'in progress' shot of my camera rails. Two temporary angle brackets are attached. The control box will be seperate, it will house the electronics, power supply (AC/battery?) and the stepper motor driver.

The bottom plate needs 3/8"-16 threaded holes for the tripod mount. Manfretto quick release is on top. The threaded screws on the left that attach the motor will be replaced with hex spacers.

I was thinking of adding a 'goose neck' on top of the carriage, with the quick mount on top of that. I've trial mounted a Nikkor 105mm macro lens, and the lens is clear of the rails. So do I need a goose neck like the StackShot has?

That's a nice head! I hadn't ran into it before. Yes, I'd appreciate seeing a picture of in in use. You put your rails on top of it right?
I'll get a picture of my rig posted soon. I still need to drill and tap its base for the 3/8"-16 thread that Manfrotto uses. Probably also some 1/4"-20 threaded holes.

I've read it before, perhaps a year ago, when I started selecting macro lenses and equipment. I'm in the process of reading it again.

I've designed, built (machined), and programmed a set of (CNC like) rails for stacking. Stacking is an advanced topic which I'm not really ready for, but I wanted to design/build it for a project (I'm an engineer, that's what we do for fun).

I've got it running, but I realized one normally needs to tilt a camera for macro or close-up photography. I have a Manfrotto ball head. I intended to mount my rails (similar to StackShot) on top of a Manfrotto tripod. But the camera and rails need to be tilted to capture the subject. So is there an example of the StackShot and a ball head setup that I could study? I can simply mount the ball head on top of my rails (I don't yet have a bracket on top of my rail carriage). Or, the rails could be mounted on top of ball head. I need an example before I do some final work on my rails, like the mounting to the ball head, or a bracket to mount on top of my rails. Ideas or links to pictures of setups using something like the SnapShot rails?

Nothing about external only flash in D3300 (that I know of). It can't send commands.

I'm thinking the lens hood has something to do with it. I'm on vacation (and I can use another lens). I'll try some experiments when we get home. It acted like it was flashing sometimes.

Thanks for the replies.

Try the Nikor 18-300mm F3.5-4.6 lens.

I'm getting (twice now) funny results while trying to shoot with the built-in flash on a Nikon D3300 camera and the 3.5-5.6 Nikor zoom. Most of the time the flash doesn't go off. Shooting at 52mm F4.5, or 44mm F6.3 Aperture priority. Always works on 60mm Macro lens (F6.3), etc.

I did have the lens hood on. Acts like slow-rear? I checked, it's on fill flash.

Thoughts?

Thanks

How about waiting for the D7300? I have a D3300, and really like it.

I'll close this thread out.

I did the shot, and was able to change the color temperature, and a little touch to set the white balance, and they came out good in the printed copies as well as on the screen.

Thanks for the comments!

True, and I'm going to use the RAW files anyway.

Thanks Michael,

I'll see how it goes in the next few days.

Alan

Thanks for the reminder. I want to try that.

That could work! I wonder how it prints on their printer?

Thanks for the reply Cat!

Yes, that's right; screen letters looked white, but are really a shade of cyan. The printer is a big commercial laser printer, I expected better! Looks like I'll be replacing colors.

Alan