Trying To Find A Basic Copy Stand.

Years ago I rigged up a photo enlarger with a holder to accept a camera bottom socket screw and used it with success. Unfortunately I can't remember now just how I cobbled it together or even which stand I used - it was at school, and we had several enlargers available - Bogen 22, Durst, Omega, Beseler, or whatever. With digital cameras becoming popular, I'm beginning to see more and more enlargers priced to sell at yard sales; in fact, I picked up an Omega B-22 for $5.00 a few months ago (like I need a fifth enlarger sitting in my garage!). You might check flea market, pawn shops, and the like in your area. Or if you ever get into Topeka ... have I got a deal for YOU! Oh, and some older tripods could be "reversed" so that the tripod screw protruded from the bottom instead of the top. Can't remember which ones, though - sorry.

Thanks for a great idea pls! I've been using a tripod much like SD shows(still have a long way to go to duplicate his pictures though). It's an old vivitar and center piece is only held by a locking ring. I've already reversed it and I can see that I now will not be restricted to a corner of the box I use as a base. It might not result in better pictures but will sure keep me from dropping a coin onto the floor.

Dave, I see the two lights on thepower bar, on top, and the desk lamp below. Do you use all three at the same time, or a combination, fot different light anfles? I "lifted the photo, for future refefence, but haven't had mich time to do anything about it, what with both the wifa and I takling turns getting sick, and losing our younger son, the 5 th of the momnth. Then the Santa ANA winds tore my awning off half of the porch. Last but not least, I bought the new canon Powershot A590 IS, and haven''t had time to learn to use it other than for the wind damage. Those pictures came out beautiful!
Dick

Hello again, Superdave! I finally got well, and so is the wife!. I was able to find the bulbs, and there are several tracks, but not a flex type light around! I want to be able to "aim" the light at the focused area, and nothing available will permit this. Is there another source of the flex lights you use? I have a couple of rigid mounts , ()such as in the yard lights,) used with motion-detedtors foe aiming the light, but it is too rigid. The bulbs I have are halogen, "pure white" lights from Home Depot.I got a dimmer , also. It makes it much easier that tryibg to locate a DP-DT swith, or having to "hard-wire" the bulbs in series, or parallel, to control the amount of light. Question: Are the flexivles "plug-in, or are they hard-wired in place? It appears from the photo, that they could be plug-in. Thanks,
Dick

OK. The distance you're going to need from the camera to the coin depends on the camera. In your case, you'll find that Canon will probably be happy anywhere from "almost touching" on back, and the size of the final image will determine how far away the camera wants to be.

Your goal is to get nice clear images of at least 500-600 pixels (the size of the coin itself). That is not unreasonable for your camera. Here's an example of what I've been able to do with my A720IS, with the same basic sensor as your A590:



The image you see here is smaller than the camera actually shot it, and I used no zoom. The CCF Gallery software limits me to 800 pixels in size; the original shot is 1000px. My guess is you won't need zoom, and I don't know if you can zoom while using the Macro function, anyways.

The camera was 4-5" from the coin, and I had my two halogen lights relatively far apart, and tilted in so the center of the light they cast reached past the camera and directly on to the coin. I could have backed off a couple more inches, settling for a smaller final image size, but I was trying to get the most I could out of the camera. I suggest you start about 10" away, preferably with a copper coin - lustrous silver is a bear to light properly, and will frustrate you while you're learning. At that distance, play with lighting and camera settings to see what works for you, get yourself in the ballpark, and then start moving the camera closer if your images aren't big enough to satisfy you.

Halogen bulbs get hot. I usually shoot no more than half a dozen images or so, and then dim the lights to allow them (and everything they're shining on) to cool down. I generally shoot at night, with no extra light around except for the computer monitor, which in my case is kinda in front of my "studio," facing away from it. Try to put only the light you choose on the coin; it makes white balance easier.

So what haven't I answered?

SuperDave,I have another question: This relates to a Canon
TV ZOOM lens.V6x17 17-102mm1.2.0. In the past, I used it to work as an optical magnifier, usinf the reverse viewing. It came off my Magnavox color camera. It is bith manusl, and electronically adjusted. The question, can it be used with the Powershot? I haven't removed the present lens ifrom the camera, so I have no idea if the threads are even close. Any ideas, or should I just forget it as a "crutch"?


thanks, again, for your patience,
Dick

Depending on your area, you can find copystands or enlargers on Craigslist from photographers who are clearing out their old equipment.

I've got one that I've borrowed from my camera club.