MACT Loc: Connecticut

I have a Nikon D7200+105 macro lens (sometimes with extension tube) and a Sigma ring flash mounted on a Stackshot rail which in turn is attached to the vertical post of a copy stand. (See diagram) Because the entire system is quite heavy and extends a considerable distance from the post, it is prone to vibration. Moving the camera up and down the rail, and even taking a shot, cause the system to vibrate enough that I have to include several seconds delay between shots. This may not seem a big problem but I am creating stacks of 50-100 shots across a 2-D scan, for a total of 3-5000 individual shots, so even a 3 second wait adds several hours to the entire shoot.
What I am hoping someone can suggest is a relatively simple (I am NOT mechanically gifted) mechanism to stabilize the system.
Many thanks

bettis1 Loc: Texas

Not sure whether your vibration is originating in the copy stand post or in the rail or both. So just based on the physics of the set up, the chance for vibration increases the further you move from the fulcrum point of each (as you have illustrated it, the fulcrum of the copy stand is its base and the fulcrum of the rail is its center. The further the camera is from the source of the vibration, the greater the motion so the greatest vibration will come from any movement in the copy stand. You might try to isolate the copy stand movement by securing it to a solid item like a door frame or a piece of furniture with duct tape.

Bob (a wild guess but you have to admit that it is relatively simple!)

naturepics43 Loc: Hocking Co. Ohio - USA

Can you post a picture of your set-up? You have at least 3 connection points that may be adding up to severe vibration. Seeing what you have may be helpful in offering advice.

MACT Loc: Connecticut

Not a great pic, but it should show the set-up

(Download)

naturepics43 Loc: Hocking Co. Ohio - USA

It's hard to tell from the photo if the copy stand post is taller than the back plat of the Stackshot ( In the drawing it is) so if it does, go to a hardware store & get 2 "C" clamps or Irwin quick-grip clamps to clamp the base of the copy stand to the bench top. If the copy stand post is 1" x 2", get a 2" "C" clamp & a 1" "C" clamp. Also get a 36" piece of aluminum angle (1/8" thick). After clamping the base of the copy stand to the bench top, lay the aluminum angle on the back plate of the Stackshot & against the copy stand post & slide it toward the wall until it hits the wall. Clamp the angle to the copy stand post & to the back plate of the Stackshot. That should help with two of the wiggle points. The third (the camera tripod connection), will require ordering parts from e-Bay. If you want to go that far, I can show you a bolt together solution that I use. Hope this helps. Just a "shade-tree" fix.

bettis1 Loc: Texas

I think that naturepics43 is correct. My first impression when I saw your set up, before I read his response, was to put a "C" clamp on each side of the copy stand post. I believe these modifications will go a long way in eliminating the flexing that causes your problem.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

One way to reduce vibration is to sandwich a rubber sheet between hard attachment points (such as camera to StackShot, StackShot to copy stand, and between copy stand base & table). Basically, simple make-shift shock-absorbers.

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

Looks like you have made some investments with the dual Stackshots. With that in mind, Thor Labs has some professional (physics labs) level hardware. It's not cheap but very high quality and good long term value. They have solid aluminum bases (Breadboards) that are drilled and taped for attaching fixtures. You can add a wide extruded rail that bolts directly to the base often, creating an extremely ridged structure. Thor offers a couple types of sliding clamps (Mounting Platforms) that can slide up and down this rail. You can attach Stackshot directly to this sliding clamp, and slide it up and down the rail. Use another sliding clamp to mount your subject positioning fixture on, you can slide this clamp with subject fixture up and down the rail also. This creates a simple means to get your subject and camera/lens aligned and in position for different imaging sessions.

The concept produces a very ridged structure that allows relatively easy positioning of the camera/lens/Stackshot and subject fixture. You can either position the base vertically our horizontally. If you chose horizontally, get 4 Sorbothane rubber feet that mount to the bottom of the base plate, these are made of special rubber than absorbs higher frequency vibrations. You can assemble all this with nothing more a set of Allen head drivers.

I tried many setups, including a copy stand similar to what you have, but eventually evolved to this type of setup. I use it about 35 degrees from horizontal, to keep some of the Camera/Lens load off Stackshot, but allow gravity to "help" with loading the Stackshot bearings and drive screw. This really helps elevate backlash effects if you stack in one direction, which I do going "up".

The setup is somewhat heavy and very ridged, and very easy to adapt.
Here is what I have from Thor Labs.
MB1236 12" by 36", 1/2" thick, 1/4-20 thread Aluminum Breadboard, one
AV5 Sorbothane Feet (4 per package), one
XT95SP-1000 95mm Rail, one
XT95P11 Mounting Platforms for 95mm Rail (Sliding Clamps), two

Vibration is a bear to deal with, and more so as you increase magnification. I use this setup at 10~20X with sub-micron resolution for imaging semiconductor chips. Anyway, hope this helps.

MACT Loc: Connecticut

Thanks. I really appreciate the suggestions. I will start with the simpler options but the Thor solution looks very promising.
The off-vertical may help with another problem. Pointing straight down means the sensor doesn't know if it is supposed to be in landscape or portrait mode, and randomly flips from one to the other!

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

If you go the Thor route, make sure you get things with 1/4-20 threads, this is the same as the camera mounting standard. This will allow you to directly mount all kinds of camera accessories, things like flash bases, extension arms and so on......very handy and requires no drilling.

MACT Loc: Connecticut

Thanks, I think this may be worth the price. I have contacted Thor for some technical details. In particular I would like to add support for lighting, flash and UV lamps.