Spinning 35mm Adapter & Rail System

reaktor

reaktor

Well-known member
A while ago I decided to build a diy 35mm adapter for Nikon lenses. I decided to create a spinning model. Afterwards, I decided that I would need a rail system so I got to work. I didn't want have to wait on parts to come, so I took a trip to "The Home Depot" and found whatever I thought I could use.

For everyone who has been dying to find 15mm rods, copper 3/5in plumbing pipe is almost perfect, and its like 18 dollars for like 10ft.

The purpose of posting this isn't just to show off 2 of my first diy projects, but to show people that they can build a rail system for extremely cheap from parts at The Home Depot instead of going and spending lots of time and money buying specialized parts from manufacturers etc..



35mmrails_16.jpg



35mmrails_10.jpg



35mmrails_14.jpg



Additional images can be viewed at http://reaktor-films.com/diy/images/




The parts used:
1dce84af-6880-4a3f-bf62-0cf836bede86_300.jpg

3/8in to 1/2in Conduit Hanger
Store SKU# 856460

a59110da-1b48-4a58-847c-40f49622c1f4_300.jpg

1/2in Set Screw Coupling
Store SKU# 839671

Copper pipe for plumbing, the store near me has these approx. 2ft sections precut instead of buying a 10ft rod.




The plates and everything slide when untightened. The screws don't really matter, and same with the nuts. The piece holding the plate for the camera up are two pieces L pieces of steel with holes for variable heights drilled in it. The plates themselves are aluminum I found and cut, it can be replaced with any material. I drilled all the holes in the plates myself with a drill press, but it can be done with a power drill. Oh yeah, I painted it black too... like that stones song.

You can do this too, I'm 17 and don't have any shop class experience or anything. It was absolutely simple.




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Im havin trouble building this...Can you help?

Im having trouble tighteing the screws that hold the conduit hanger into the board. Those are my main issues, getting the screws tight because they are a little awkward to get to.

Got any solutions?
Click to expand...


1. Just take the base plate and the conduit hangers, take out the screws on the top.

2. Take the screw and nut you're using, and put in in from the underside of the plate.

3. Now put the nut on from the top.

4. Tighten it using a wrench to hold the nut, and a screwdriver or drill to turn the screw.


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How is the entire rail system attached to your tripod?
Click to expand...


There is a small nut on the lower plate, that connects to my Manfrotto tripod clip. the screw is just long enough, I'm going to get a standard 1/4" 20 turn screw and use it instead of the standard screw for the extra length.

501PLa.jpg



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Wow. this is really good! Does the camera plate provide enough support?
Click to expand...


Yeah, the plate is totally sturdy. It's real strong metal. (use with 35mm adapter and DVX100b)
 
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Wow. this is really good! Does the camera plate provide enough support?
I really like this design and I think im going to build one.
 
Thanks!.

Yeah, the plate is totally sturdy. It's real strong metal. I'm trying to build a quick release dove-tail mount thing for manfrotto tripods so I can easily remove my camera on the fly.
 
Seriously man, that's frikkin' awesome. Building your own rail system is brilliant. Especially because it seems like one of those things no one would even bother to THINK they could do (myself included), but you thought it out and broke it down. Rock on.
 
zach72 said:
How is the entire rail system attached to your tripod?
Click to expand...

There is a small nut on the lower plate, that connects to my Manfrotto tripod clip. the screw is just long enough, I'm going to get a standard 1/4" 20 turn screw and use it instead of the standard screw for the extra length.

501PLa.jpg



Armisiano: Thanks for the interest man. This thread sat dormant for about a week. Exciting!
 
Im havin trouble building this...Can you help?

Im having trouble tighteing the screws that hold the conduit hanger into the board. Those are my main issues, getting the screws tight because they are a little awkward to get to.

Got any solutions?
 
1. Just take the base plate and the conduit hangers, take out the screws on the top.

2. Take the screw and nut you're using, and put in in from the underside of the plate.

3. Now put the nut on from the top.

4. Tighten it using a wrench to hold the nut, and a screwdriver or drill to turn the screw.

- Hope that helps. I would love to see yours when you finish.
 
I did the first tests with my 35mm adapter, and it looks fantastic. Video to follow soon.
 
http://www.reaktor-films.com/diy/35mmadaptertest.html

Well, I captured and edited some footage I took yesterday at the park. It was very sunny outside.

I have noticed problems with the focal flange from the lens to the GG. I could get away with a 50mm 1.4 lens (since that is what I calibrated it with, uncorrectly might I add. I didn't do the infinity focus thing.)

Horrible vingetting with the 20mm, 85mm, and 135mm lenses. A few of the shots you can see either the edge of the hole into the adapter box, or the edge of the macro lenses I'm using. (old vivitar +1,+2,+4 stacked close-up kit)

Also the camera moves around in relation to the adapter a little bit becuase I haven't permanently mounted the two together. A few shots have wierd washy blown out highlights, this is from the sun shining in from the camera side of the adapter.

I also think the batterys are running low. I have been running them a lot without replacement.

I did some tests to try and find the best distance/zoom/macro combination. I have to zoom to atleast Z74 to get past the rings on the macro, then I have to put up with the horrible edge of the glass. I cut out a piece of paper from a college application that was approx. the size of a 35mm film plane cropped to 16:9. I want to have to zoom in the least amount (save light) and get as close to the camera as possible. With no macro I can get about 15mm from the glass and almost fill the screen with the makeshift film plane.

I think the best thing for me to do right now would be to buy an asian 72mm +10 macro lens and test distances (heck they are only like 15 bucks) and try that. Technically, if you could eliminate the use of a macro lens and just use the DVX's great closeup ablility you would maintain the best image quality and light, right?

I would love some feedback from my fellow DIYers. You guys are great.
 
I been in your route few years back,

Heres some tips to get you up to speed.

Double check your flange distance if its 46.5mm. use a caliper tool. a mis calculation by half a mm will affect your wide lenses.

Target for a gg image of not more than 28 x 16mm. Forget trying to get the 35mm image size of 36 x 24mm. Its not possible with your setup.

I used to do what you are doing. Using a stack of close ups, then got an asian 10+ macro. In the end your images will have so much CA in the corners and sides. Its workable, but you wont like it.

Invest in a good 10+ achromat doublet. I ended up buying the brevis achromat which is the same as the M2 achromat on my DIY adapter.

The distance you will work on from GG to achromat rim will be 79mm,

Good luck.

Ted
 
Thank you very much Teddy!

Where is the focal flange measured from exactly? Why is the 35mm image not possible? Why 79mm on the achromat?
 
The flange distance is from the shiny stainless metal surface of the nikon mount in your adapter to the the surface of your GG. This is the matte surface that faces your nikon mount.

the 35mm image is not possible without the aid of condensers which will even out the gg illumination. If you try to achieve this by using your close up stack or an achromat, You will have light falloff or vignette in the sides of your gg image. If you try to maintain the image size and remove falloff youll have soft distorted edges.

Depending on the quality of your GG, you might get away with 29 or even 30mm width, but if your gg is transparent enough, it will allow the aerial image of the "hole" created by the lens, a dense gg diminishes the falloff effect but at the expense of light loss.

79mm (or say 3inches) is your best starting point. This is measured from the surface of the GG facing the achromat or close up. This assumes the diopter power is 10+. You will need to back up more if your diopter is weaker. Thus if its 7+ diopter the distance bet gg and achromat will be 5 inches.

Whats your gg material?

Let me remind you not to be tempted buying the asian or any other single element close up lens. Go for the doublet type achromats.

Ted
 
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I've been looking at cheaper macro lenses (sorry teddybear) I want to test things out and such before I invest in a very nice achromatic doublet.

Which of these do you think would yield the best results?

CHOICE 1

CHOICE 2

CHOICE 3

CHOICE 5

Personally, 5 is my favorite choice due to total price. BTW I have multiple CD's made for differnet light consumption. One ground from steel wool, one from 500 grit sand paper, and one with a rougher grit.

I've also found that I can achieve the same view on the gg with z76 moved closer to the GG than z99 at the almost 5inch mark.

Thank you Teddddy
 
Apologies not necessary since this route will let you experiment and see for yourself the progress you are making.

I also started out with different combination of stacking close up lenses from different makes. I had sunpak, cokins and asians. Then you look at the R&D of the big players and ask why they dont go this way. I realized its the CA and edge softness issues.

yeah, I agree 5 inch is a long set up. These figure is the best starting point. If you decide to "cheat" on the TV safe areas to get a bigger gg image you might get to lessen the distance between gg and achromat/close up lens. The higher diopter power will allow you to close the distance without having to zoom in so much.

Ok, good that i know what kind of gg your using so we can isolate certain issues when we trouble shoot the set up.

Ted
 
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