I have A7R V arriving tomorrow that I’ll be using for photography, as well as scanning. I’m hoping to pick up a Sigma 105mm dedicated to scanning and thought about sourcing a tripod collar so I can get the lens permanently mounted on my Kaiser copy stand. Is this worth bothering with or do people find that the whole rig would still need re-levelling every time the camera’s reattached?
I’d also appreciate some advice on what to place in between the collar/camera and copy stand to help with levelling. Not an Arca Cube, I can’t stretch to that, or even half of that!
It’s surely very handy to be able to leave the lens in place so that you can continue ‘scanning’ just by attaching the camera body. Probably best to check alignment (mirror?) before each session but I doubt that it would have moved if it’s solid in the first place. It also should make it easy to turn the camera body through 90º for stitching or 645.
As far as alignment goes if you have a large secondary base with adjustable feet or even just card shims, then that would take care of it without the extra expense of an adjustable head, and without the disadvantage of adding extra mass and length to your camera support.
I find it easier to remove the camera/lens with collar from Arca Swiss clamp on linear stage (focusing rail), then separate the camera and store the lens safely. I don’t find a need to re-adjust verticality each time. I do need to adjust focus of-course.
@Noddemix . for ease of use, attaching the lens instead of the camera can make life much easier. As far as having to re-level goes, there are two ways to reduce manual effort be either building a very stable rig or by using a device that helps to adjust easily.
You start with a Kaiser copy stand. It should be easy to mount your gear to it with the least number of components. Attaching the lens as directly as possible reduces flexing and vibrations. The farther away the lens is from the column and the copy stand baseplate, the longer vibrations can last.
Great, I’ve ordered a third-party collar (iShoot), as Sigma don’t seem to offer one for the 105mm Macro.
I’m not sure why I didn’t think of that. My focus was on adjusting the camera but the Lobster holder I’ll be using has rudimentary screw-on legs that may be enough to help me get things level. Or as you say, something else placed underneath that’s adjustable.
Hi Graham. I got a great offer on the Sony that meant I could source one brand new that’s cheaper than a used copy. It arrived yesterday and I’m looking forward to taking it for a wander if the rain stops here in the UK. Months of effectively no rain, I buy a new camera and it rains all weekend.
Is that the iShoot IS-S24240FE collar? I’ve just ordered one and if yours is the same, I’m reassured. It looks solid.
I think I should go the “very stable” route, as I’ll be ‘scanning’ 35mm about 95% of the time and won’t need to recompose for different formats very often. But may need to compromise on “quite stable”, as I can’t imagine it will be as solid as what you’ve got there. The Kaiser RS 2 XA is the less solid of the two copy stands I was considering, but I only have so much space in my studio.
I’ve ordered a collar and will attach that directly, then make adjustments elsewhere as recommended by others.
Yes! That is an iShoot collar. The Sigma 105 is quite heavy, so for less downward stress on the collar lining adhesive I remove the lens with the collar attached from the column when not copying. I have another same iShoot collar on my 24-105mm G lens which I can quickly interchange for reflective copy up to A3.
