Andy Cox
Forum Replies Created
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Yes, it is tricky when you just have hand tools. The most sophisticated tool I have is a small bench drill.
There are some pretty compact and inexpensive camera heads that will do what you want, and will probably be more cost effective in terms of your time and offer a smoother action than a home brew affair.
As I mentioned previously, spherical rod ends are very forgiving. You only need to drill a single hole for each one, and then adjust the offset with the locknuts.
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The head mount rotates on a couple of bearings that sit on a bolt running through the v-roller plate.
An easier option for alignment would be to use a couple of spherical rod ends. Self aligning but not as compact as roller bearings.
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That’s interesting – I didn’t realise the SliderPlus wouldn’t lift vertically. The drawback with this design of slider is that the motor isn’t just lifting the camera, head and carriage, but also the entire weight of the rails and the motor itself, so it does require a fairly hefty motor. I’m using a DigiSlider slow motor which seems well suited to the job.
To be fair, the shots here were taken with the camera in descent. Although it can lift the camera, I think this may result in inconsistent movement steps. The weak point in my setup is probably my choice of belt; a 6mm Synchroflex. Plenty strong enough, but the teeth are a little on the small side, and the belt jumps if not correctly tensioned. I wish I’d used the 10mm belt and pulleys I have. My heaviest camera lifted with this slider is a D600 (hence the sensor spots – currently back at Nikon) with the 24-85 kit lens.
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When I originally looked at the SliderPlus they didn’t have the time lapse unit, hence why I went down the OpenBuilds route. I ordered the V-slot, got side tracked and did nothing with it for a few weeks, then when I finally started work on the slider project, Edelkrone announced the time lapse unit just a few days later!
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on it once you’ve tested it out.