Wynd Loc: Banner Elk, NC

I have a Canon 7D and this same lens. I love the idea of the rail. Can you tell me who makes it, and maybe the model #? Thanks.

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

I use the Cognisys Stack Shot Rail and Rotary table. https://cognisys-inc.com/focus-stacking/stackshot-pkgs/stackshot-macro-rail-package.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAxvGfBhB-EiwAMPakqmuCNYwR4VdSgtm4Hi2Y3vevrc6t9K5jsGi5yDElvfOPRbtXqZnYdBoCiHUQAvD_BwE

Check out all of their options. Super high quality and great tech support.

Wynd Loc: Banner Elk, NC

Thank you!

OldCADuser Loc: Irvine, CA

I originally posted this in the 'Main Photography Discussion' forum, but someone suggested that I should also post it in the "Macro section" as well, and this thread seems pretty basic, so I'm going to repost it here:

I've just finished putting together a macro set-up. I've only taken a few photos with it, but was wondering if and how others are doing in this area.

The camera I'm using is a Sony a6000 24.2 Mp, Mirrorless (this is my old mainline camera, which I replaced a while ago with an Sony a6500), The lens is a 60mm 1:2.8 Artisans Macro lens. I use a Neewer LED ring-light and a 150mm iShoot focusing rail mounted on a Pergear ball-head on top of a Zomei tripod. I use a wired Pixel shutter release (it can also be triggered wirelessly with a separate receiver unit).

As for for storing my gear, I'm using an Apache hard-case (with my mainline camera, I use a soft-sided field bag).

Here's a few shots of my set-up.

OldCADuser Loc: Irvine, CA

And here are a couple of the images that I've taken with this set-up:

OldCADuser Loc: Irvine, CA

And before anyone mentions it, someone has already suggested that rather than a ball-head, I should be using something a bit more controllable. And I responded that I do have another tripod, with a traditional pan and tilt controlled head, just that it's much heavier.

zarathu Loc: Bar Harbor, MDI, Maine

Macro Table. Usually use Canon R5 with Irix 150 mm f/2.8 macro. Sometimes add: kenko 2x teleconverter, 150mm extension tubes, NiSi 2x diopter close up lens.

OldCADuser Loc: Irvine, CA

Note that I also have a pair of extension tubes, 10mm and 16mm, that can be used individually or together to get 26mm of extension.

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

PhotoMono123 Loc: Houston, Texas

Since there are some other macro set-ups here, I thought my rig might be of interest to some folks.

Back in 2018 I built my own automatic macro rail set-up. It was a first attempt and worked fine. However there were some issues I wanted to correct and some features I wanted to add. That first rig was big and bulky (the base was an oak stair tread) and the camera was always in a horizontal attitude. In addition, the coding for the automatic focus-stacking rail was the first coding I had done in more than 30 years, and it was crude and sloppy.

So my goals for my new set-up were 1) horizontal and vertical positioning and 2) more refined code for the microcontroller that runs the automatic focus rail.

After coming up with several designs for a base that would swing from the horizontal to vertical position, I decided to take the path of least resistance. I bought a mounting kit from WeMacro. It was as good as (probably better than) anything I would have created myself, and it certainly cost no more money than I would have spent buying lots of try-this/try-that parts — nothing I make ever saves me any money.

Since I created my first macro focus-stacking rail, I have gone on to build 2 iterations of an automatic pano head. Programming the pano taught me a lot more about coding, so I was really able to improve things this time around with much tighter and cleaner code.

The system now calculates the step size automatically. I used a formula I first found on Extreme Macro Photography, a wonderful macro site by Johan J Ingles-Le Nobel who often posted on the Pentax Forum. By entering the magnification and the aperture of the lens along with the depth of the subject, the step size and the number of steps needed for the stack are automatically calculated.

The concept of the focus-stacking rail is that it makes the stacking process completely automatic. All I do is respond to some prompts and then tell it to go. The system takes a picture, moves incrementally, and waits for the camera to settle; then the process starts again taking the next picture. When all the frames have been completed, the camera returns to the starting position. Essentially, I can go enjoy a delightful beverage while the macro process is taking place.

My magnification tools include extension tubes, a bellows, reversed lenses, Raynox DCR 150 & 250 close-up filters, and a few manual-focus prime lenses. The bellows acts essentially as a continually-adjustable extension tube. I use both constant lighting and flash lighting — sometimes combined, sometimes just one or the other. Using a WiFi connection, I do my initial set-up on my iPad so I don’t have to look at the LCD screen on the back of the camera body.

Here are a couple of images of my system.

OldCADuser Loc: Irvine, CA

Gee, that makes my set-up look a bit crude

Anyway, it looks amazing and I hope that it performs up to the obvious level of effort that you've put into it.

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

Great section! I just re-found it. I had actually posted to it before. I have since revamped my set up. I added an additional Cognisys stack shot for the vertical, some additional Stella Pro Reflex lighting and added a computer with a couple of monitors so I can see images from the vertical rail better, using the Nikon software. Still trying to get the focus peaking to work through Nikon NX Studio software, but haven’t been able to figure that one out yet. Nikon support was not able to help. Using 2 Z9 bodies and various lenses including 200mm tube lens with a Mitutoyo 5X MPlan, Laowa macros, Nikon MC105 and MC50mm macros. Also a Novoflex automatic bellows.

I found that for lighting, the Stella Pro Reflex is amazing as it is a combo LED and flash that can flash up to 30 FPS. Never over heats so doing a stack of 500 or more images is not a problem. I frequently use up to three of them at a time. I think they are more reliable than my ring flashes.

If anyone has any ideas about how to get the focus peaking to work with the Nikon Studio, that would be greatly appreciated. I tried Nikon tether, but believe it or not, it does not give you live feed of what your camera is seeing, that’s Studio.
Thank you and all my best
RL

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

Last one I took is of a house spider that I have had for a while. Was dead when I found it, as I don’t kill spiders or bees. 460 images stacked in slabs of 100 each. Held in a homemade ping pong ball diffuser I made. Spider is mounted on a pin that is pushed through a drilled hole in 1/4-20 threaded nylon rod, screwed into a flash stand spigot, attached to my stackshot rotary table/stackshot, above the mirror covered table.

Photomono

@Robertl594
The spider is excellent.

And thanks for sharing your rig — it has given me some things to think about. I do like the ping pong ball being used as a diffuser. Very nice. My rig isn’t at the same level as yours, but I nibble away at it. Some day…