Top Down Macro Dolly Shots: How? What Gear/Rig?

L

Luc Desjardins

Member
Hi everyone!

I have a simple need, but can't figure out a simple solution for the life of me.

I'd like to be able to do top down dolly shots of small objects I'd lay down on a flat surface.

For example panning through documents that I lay on a table, shooting at them top down.

Right Now I have an AF100 camera that I use with a pancake lens that I mount in reverse so I can do ultra macro shots, meaning that it has to sit very close to the surface I'm shooting, but eventually I'll get a proper macro lens that'll allow me to shoot from a more reasonable distance.

I thought of maybe using a slider or a table top dolly and some kind of 90 degree bracket (Which I have yet to find) to have the Camera pointing down, but then I get two problems:

1 - How can I get enough offset so the camera does not shoot the dolly itself while pointing directly down (And how do I compensate for the weight of the camera so the dolly don't tip over).

2 - How can I precisely adjust the height from the camera to the surface it's shooting, since focusing distance is so critical in macro.

I thought of an hypothetical dolly set up with a hole in the middle (as to avoid the tipping over problems), rigged with the necessary combination of brackets as to be able to shoot down at a 90 degree angle (through the hole) while being able to precisely adjust camera height, but to my knowledge, no such setup exists on the market.

What do you think? How would you do it?
 
I think the tool you might want to use is a crane. You can mount your camera, place it at any height, and pan across items on top of a table top with the camera pointing downwards. I might look into something like this which shouldn't be too expensive considering you were looking into a dolly + track system. It's compatible and has amazing reach and can be used for all kinds of fun projects.
 
Hi SDub,

It could certainly work but there is one drawback: It won't fit in my kitchen as it take quite a bit of space.

Also, the panning motion would still be ultimately restrained into an elliptic shape, as oppose to say a multidirectional dolly on wheels which would be more maneuverable into specific pans and even circular movements with a centered axis of rotation if needed.

Still, the crane sure is one option that I could definitively use in countless other situations, it's just a little bulky and maybe "stiff" for what I need.
 
Come to think of it, I have a tripod with a center column which allow me to mount a head either over the legs or under the legs.

By mounting the head under I could probably set it so it points down, adjusting the height using the center column.

Then I'd only need to set up individual wheels on each legs (A wheeled spreader won't do since it'd block my field of view).

Does such wheels exists?

Or maybe there'd be a way to use KFlex style rails in a more minimalist setup than a full blown dolly track.
 
Last edited:
I just got an idea, using a regular slider sitting on two light stands screwed in to each side, I think I could then tilt the camera down on a tripod head fixed to the slider's travelling part and not worry about the rig tipping over because of the light stands legs.

All I'd need to do is to lower both light stands enough to get close to my table surface.

Or I could get a slider / dolly that can naturally be used upside down :

http://www.proaimshop.com/pas/Camtr...y-slider-with-free-camera-mounting-clamp.html

But for now, I got myself three wheels that I'll try to put on my tripod legs. It's a cheap option and well, if it works it works!

http://www.amazon.com/Studio-Tripod-Caster-Wheels-Light/dp/B00F3HXO7G

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I'll get back with my results!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top