Built a Macro Stand

[xuth]

Built a macro stand for my camera today. This was prompted by a) multiple postings of things how to make a microscope with random objects and b) seeing that I could take pictures like this picture of the head of a pin with just the camera equipment that I had

Comments

[xuth]

Well, since I kept the stack vertical there should be no torque on the lens mounts, but regardless, the camera is designed so that lenses can be mounted to a tripod and the camera mounted to the lens so there should be no torque that I could likely apply that would be beyond spec.

And I did have a bubble level as well.

[pecunium]

Torque on lens mounts is rarely enough (esp on an SLR) to have enough variance from len axis to film-plane to make any difference. If it's snug enough to block light, it's tight enough to stay put.

[turil]

What does the magnification? Or is it just a normal close up/zoom feature on the camera, and this is just a stand so that things don't move?

[pecunium]

If you look at the image you will see an extension tube between the lens, and the camera body. That moves the film plane further from the lens, and so decreases the minimum focal length, which makes the image larger (this is what the, "macro" function does on lenses so equipped. Using it actuates a cam, which moves the lens assembly further out in the barrel of the lens/frame of the camera).

The overall magnification is a function of the focal length of the lens in front of the extension (the shorter the lens, the greater the magnification; by and large, there are some exceptions, but those are already specialised lenses), and the amount of extension behind the lens.

[turil]

Thanks! I don't think I've ever heard of an extension that goes between the camera and the lens. (And I was a photography major in college.) Interesting!

[xuth]

oops... I failed to mention that yes, I have a set of extension tubes that do pretty much as pecunium says. I can also put a teleconverter into the mix to get a slightly different style of magnification (but it degrades the image quality almost as much as it enlarges the image in this particular case, I'd do better with more extension tubes but can't justify the expense for this little toy).