Photomacrography EP1: DIY Macro Focus Stacking Stage

[@oscargonzalez8454]

Thanks so much for explaining this!!! So comprehensible explanation. Regards!!!

[@doogieham]

Very thorough demonstration, Daniel. I appreciate all of the detailed tips. I’m looking forward to your next one!

[@diatomsaus]

Thanks! That one will take some time, I'm busy with irl stuff, I don't even get much time to take photos nowadays.

[@lancenig]

Thank you

[@jimpurcell]

Thanks for the great ideas!!!

[@caltari]

What's your method of focusing with the Newport 433 Precision Linear Translation Stage with 25mm Vernier Micrometer? Do you eyeball each focus point before tripping the shutter or dial X amount of thousandth of an inch per shutter click? This new hobby now looks labor intensive and should I just splurge on a new Cognisys Stackshot Macro Rail; LOL. Thanks in advance.

[@diatomsaus]

You can get the Wemacro rail for a lot cheaper, they have no dedicated controller, everything is set on a smartphone which everyone owns nowadays, through bluetooth. It's not at all a compromise unless you fancy a nice dedicated controller box. There's numerous downsides of the stackshot and frustrations I've had with it... well lots of them. Long term comparison and review coming next month. I just need to prepare the script. I rarely do deeper stacks with the manual rail. 0.5um resolution is good and all, I have the stackshot and wemacro for everything else. Mine is used for testing and inspection, which I do through my Z6 rather than expensive scientific cameras. You can look up on how to use the micrometer, it's hard to put in words. Since my applications involves mostly singular exposures, I just use liveview, zoom in, and eyeball it.

[@caltari]

Spring is too weak when angling camera; lens and bellows at a downward 45 degree angle. I bought one on Ebay and need to return for refund. Any suggestions to beef up springs? Thanks in advance.

[@diatomsaus]

What you do is make sure the micrometer is PUSHING against the travelling block, in opposite direction of the direction of the resultant force due to the gravity of the system... what a word salad. This is hard to explain in words. It shouldn't be a problem however. Basically if you're shooting vertically, the gravity of course is towards the Earth's core, or rather perpendicularly downwards. The stage is placed on stand so that the micrometer is pointing downward. Actuation will result in the micrometer pushing against the resultant force due to gravity. It's similar in your case, have the stage at the same angle but make sure the above is met. Does that make sense? The springs shouldn't be touched, they are rated for the stage and swapping them out could pose problems. No matter how beefy it is, it won't be able hold up with a heavy system.

[@caltari]

@@diatomsaus Thanks for the fast reply. That makes a lot of sense. I'll have to try that before I decide to return. My setup is a Nikon Bellows with Tokina 100mm 2.8 Macro lens and Nikon D850 (kinda heavy). I just bought a Nikon 50mm 2.8 Enlarging lens on Ebay and will mount the lens reversed on the bellows. Thanks again. Mahalo

[@diatomsaus]

@@caltari It's not as heavy as mine, the stage works well for me. Just make sure you have some safety measures just in case you fail to tighten the clamp, I've smashed specimens and objectives because of that.

[@ttonAb2]

What are the best options for stacking software?

[@diatomsaus]

Zerene Stacker is the best for high mag. stuff.

[@naritcom]

1 inch is 25.4mm not 25.7mm as you say in your video that 0.3mm is a lot in macro photography

[@diatomsaus]

Yeah one inch is 25.4mm not 25.7mm my bad. Either way metric standard spacing which is 25mm won't allow imperial one inch spacing hardware to be mounted without compromise. Also that mistake has nothing to do with macro, not sure why you felt necessary to make such a remark. The micrometer does 1um increments, imperial or metric threads it doesn't matter.

[@axlerod6663]

The lefoto is not a good rail and is not suitable for stacking. I returned mine and got NISI NM-180. That is one of the best rails at that price range.

[@diatomsaus]

Yep, the left-right wobble is just horrible, even visible at 1x! The Nisi rail is made by Leofoto as well, which means they likely improved their lead screw and precision greatly, or for Nisi only... I still recommend using an industrial micrometer driven stage.