Battleangel | Personal

A few bits and pieces that I got from Foto-tip.pl.

I’m not entirely sure about the macro focusing rail, but it was considerably cheaper than what I’ve found so far, even compared to Velbon and Manfrotto. Downsides are that it is fairly bulky and a tad heavier (680g) than Velbon’s comparable four-way rail and that it seems unlikely that I’ll be able to use it when the camera is pointing vertically or indeed any steep angle since it doesn’t lock very well as thus could exhibit creep. But then again I don’t know if there are any rails that allow you to do that. Also, it would have been nice if it would have moved in finer increments. But it should be fine for 1:1 macro under most circumstances.

The “light tent” is another work in progress since I don’t have any suitable lights. But the tent itself seems solid for the price which was probably half of the going rate in Sweden. It is relatively big (70x70x70) and has four different inlays (white, black, blue, red). The rest is a matter of light composition. And for this I would need three 100W+ daylight sources. Ideally compact fluorescent tubes that wont produce as much heat and blow a fuse. I saw that some people bought 500W halogen work lights, but running three of those seems like a big joke. Compact fluorescent tubes are possible to find at 25W (100W equivalent) but the real problem then is finding cheap lighting fixtures. This light tent was supposed to be a low-cost project so my hands are tied.

The GGS display protector and Neutral density filter are both self-explanatory I think. The latter is handy to have around when you want long exposures in broad daylight and you fear that the polarizing filter could produce uneven coloration.

I plan to use the off camera cord with a softbox flash for macro shots eventually. As for the wireless JJC remote the price made it irresistible. It’s a little crummy, and the manual didn’t quite explain how to charge the unit (I had to put it in “O mode” so that the receiver is off) but it does work as advertised. The charging solution is just incredibly charming by the way … geeky, complicated, somewhat superfluous, but charming. For the WS-series they have apparently replaced the lithium battery with two AAA batteries which in many ways makes a lot more sense.