mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

Wemacro has a very affordable, compact, sturdy, Vertical Stand for studio macro use.

https://www.wemacro.com/?product=vertical-stand

Folks on another site wanted to have a vertical & horizontal stand that could transform so I set out to find a way to do such with the Wemacro Vertical Stand. After some discussions and experiments I arrived at a workable solution shown here.

https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37180&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

And here.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4289979

I've improved the solution now with an even simpler and lower cost way to convert the Wemacro Vertical Stand to Horizontal use, and allow easy switching from V to H and back.

The 40mm square bar (normally vertical bar) is tapped with a 5/16-18 tap on the base end (end that normally attaches to base). There's no need to drill as the bar center hole is proper size for 5/16-18 thread (~6.8mm), so just a simple tap 5/16-18 into the soft aluminum. A 60mm ARCA clamp is securely attached to the bar end with a 5/16-18 3/4" bolt. The clamp is arranged such that a ARCA plate can slide vertically with the 40mm square bar horizontal as shown below. The 40mm square bar is held on one end with two standard Wemacro Right Angle braces with M8 hardware (part of Vertical Stand kit) and on the end with the vertical ARCA clamp with a 1/4-20 to M8 T Adapter, soon available for Wemacro or similar eBay (see thread https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4289979). The other end of the adapter is held to the base with a 1/4-20 3/4" bolt & washer coming from the base bottom thru the base clearance hole (3 on the end of the base). This holds the 40mm square bar horizontally 20mm above the Vertical Stand base at both ends of the bar for a very secure mount as shown below.

A 100~160mm ARCA plate sides in the ARCA clamp vertically and another (40mm) ARCA clamp slides onto the top of the vertical ARCA plate. This clamp holds the subject positioning & holding fixture as shown with a standard 1/4-20 bolt. Any standard subject device can be positioned to align with the optical lens axis mounted in this manner. A Ball Head, Alligator Clip Adapter, XY Positioner, Precision XYR Positioner (as shown) or Arm are easily attached and positioned. This setup will handle macro lens or lens extensions on a camera (or sitting on a focus rail), a lens on a Bellows (or sitting on a focus rail), or custom lens configurations on a focus rail (microscope objectives & tube lenses assemblies).

Very simple, small, inexpensive and somewhat sturdy precision table top horizontal stand is easily adapted from the Wemacro Vertical Stand without any drilling nor machining (I don't count tapping a already proper size hole machining).

Best,

Wemacro Vertical Stand Horizontal

(Download)

ARCA Clamps & Vertical Plate with Subject Positioner/Holder


ARCA Vertical Plate & Clamps with Subject Positioner/Holder

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Very interesting and highly informative. I've just started my adventure in macro photography and I find it extremely fascinating. I've bookmark the links that you provided and I agree that these prices are very reasonable compared to many others that I have looked into.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

A good advance in that area of macrophotography.

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

Mark,

I can't emphasize how useful and easy to use William's Wemacro Vertical Stand is, much more so than I think he even envisioned!! Either the Vertical as designed or Horizontal with simple mods use is so simple and takes up very little space (my ThorLabs based horizontal rig takes up about 4' by 6' and about 7' high with all the strobes and C stands, not to mention how expensive Thor stuff is!!).

I'm thinking about getting another Vertical Stand because they are so useful!!

Best,

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

Wemacro now has this horizontal mode as an option on their affordable Vertical Stand.

https://www.wemacro.com/?product=vertical-stand

https://www.wemacro.com/?p=2455

Best,

cactuspic Loc: Dallas, TX

Thanks Mike. Very helpful for higher magnifications.

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

BTW, you can also get a longer 40mm square bar to use in horizontal mode. Wemacro has shipping package limitations that prevent them from shipping a longer bar, but fortunately you can find a longer bar at Misumi USA and 80/20 Inc for under $20. I have a 600mm on order from Misumi. Not sure how well this 600mm longer bar will work vertically though, but soon I'll find out.

Best,

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

Just got home from work and had a package from Misumi waiting. It had a 700mm long 40mm by 40mm bar with a bunch of other stuff, this fits and works nicely with the Wemacro Vertical Stand in either the Vertical or Horizontal mode. I just need to drill a few 1/4-20 holes for the ARCA clamp mount.

The bar is from Misumi HFSB8-4040-X, where X is the length in millimeters. Works fine, the only issue is that the 40 by 40 bar used by Wemacro has a smaller 8mm slot for the T nuts, while the Misumi is 10mm. This causes the T Nuts with the kit to be a little loose, but you can order standard M8 T nuts from Misumi with the longer bar that have the proper flange (10mm) for their rails, they are only $0.64 each. Their shipping was quite reasonably also.

So folks can get a longer bar if they wish and not have to pay a fortune in shipping costs from overseas (if they have access to Misumi) for the longer bar.

Hope this helps,

Best,