New Copy Stand!!!

cmerlo1 · September 23, 2021 3:33PM

I recently bought a new Smith-Victor copy stand to replace the cheapo one I bought, mainly because the pole was angled forward instead of being perpendicular to the base, so as you raised/lowered the camera its position changed relative to the coin. The Smith-Victor was nicer, but the camera arm, for some reason, was plastic. It was flimsy, and with my 180mm macro on the camera, the parallax was WAY off, as the weight made the camera tilt inward toward thew pole. I was showing this to my buddy Harry (@shortnock), a retired AP photographer, and he said "what you need is a heavy duty stand like the Polaroid one we used to use". He remembered that a friend of his had it, and called to ask if she'd be willing to part with it. She said sure, and simply gave it away. Harry's brother brought it down from Ft. Worth today, and I got it setup.

This thing is HUGE. It almost touches the ceiling. It is really sturdy and heavy, and vibration is not a problem like it was with my old copy stands. Anyway, here it is, in all its glory, my new (old) Polaroid MP4 Land Camera copy stand, along with the first couple of images I shot just to see how it would do. Thank you @shortnock!

WildWestHalfDollars · September 23, 2021 3:34PM

Awesome!!!

TurtleCat · September 23, 2021 3:35PM

Nice! I solved the leaning tower problem with my stand with a bit of paper wedges at the base of the vertical bar. Works perfectly.

Desert Moon · September 23, 2021 3:41PM

that is one huge copy stand! great set up!

Best, SH

shortnock · September 23, 2021 3:47PM

Good to see that copy stand getting some more mileage.

EXOJUNKIE · September 23, 2021 4:22PM

@cmerlo1 what are those white covers you’re using to diffuse the light? Did you purchase them or make them?

cmerlo1 · September 23, 2021 4:27PM

@EXOJUNKIE said:
@cmerlo1 what are those white covers you’re using to diffuse the light? Did you purchase them or make them?

They're called 'diffuser socks'. I got them on Amazon. I believe these are the 7" ones.

EXOJUNKIE · September 23, 2021 4:28PM

@cmerlo1 said:

@EXOJUNKIE said:
@cmerlo1 what are those white covers you’re using to diffuse the light? Did you purchase them or make them?

They're called 'diffuser socks'. I got them on Amazon. I believe these are the 7" ones.

Cool! I’ll look for them. Thanks!

Broadstruck · September 23, 2021 4:30PM

Wow that column is tall!

I had to place my Kaiser RS-1 on a 16" tall coffee table next to my desk as otherwise I need a step stool to shoot 60-70mm diameter sized medals.

cmerlo1 · September 23, 2021 4:37PM

@Broadstruck said:
Wow that column is tall!

I had to place my Kaiser RS-1 on a 16" tall coffee table next to my desk as otherwise I need a step stool to shoot 60-70mm diameter sized medals.

According to @shortnock, it was used for shooting an entire newspaper page. I doubt I'll ever need to get the camera that high, but if I ever do, no problem. 😀

Broadstruck · September 23, 2021 4:41PM

@cmerlo1 said:

@Broadstruck said:
Wow that column is tall!

I had to place my Kaiser RS-1 on a 16" tall coffee table next to my desk as otherwise I need a step stool to shoot 60-70mm diameter sized medals.

According to @shortnock, it was used for shooting an entire newspaper page. I doubt I'll ever need to get the camera that high, but if I ever do, no problem. 😀

Yeah I can see that with a 50mm macro...

Well if you ever do just cut a hole in the ceiling and glance down into the view finder from the upper floor

cmerlo1 · September 23, 2021 4:44PM

@Broadstruck It's so close to the ceiling I'm thinking of shimmimg it against the ceiling to cut even more vibration.

Edited to add: I have the camera connected to my PC and can view, control, and shoot using the Canon app.

Broadstruck · September 23, 2021 4:54PM

@cmerlo1 said:
@Broadstruck It's so close to the ceiling I'm thinking of shimmimg it against the ceiling to cut even more vibration.

That might make things worse as on these old copy stands the base due to weight is mass dampened. If you shim then you actually loose isolation as any vibration on the whole structure will impact your camera.

ms70 · September 23, 2021 4:59PM

You got great results there.

Broadstruck · September 23, 2021 5:04PM

@EXOJUNKIE said:

@cmerlo1 said:

@EXOJUNKIE said:
@cmerlo1 what are those white covers you’re using to diffuse the light? Did you purchase them or make them?

They're called 'diffuser socks'. I got them on Amazon. I believe these are the 7" ones.

Cool! I’ll look for them. Thanks!

Coffee filters & a rubber band work well too as often as you need a diffuser.

Desert Moon · September 23, 2021 5:35PM

@Broadstruck said:

Coffee filters & a rubber band work well too as often as you need a diffuser.

The Melitta bamboo ones?

crazyhounddog · September 23, 2021 6:04PM

Nice stand. Looks nice and ridged.

coinsarefun · September 23, 2021 6:18PM

Awesome! Pic’s look superb.

Dave99B · September 23, 2021 6:46PM

Great stand, and amazing results! Wow.

Dave

robec · September 23, 2021 6:47PM

Great setup. I doubt you’ll ever need that much elevation shooting coins, but you sure got it if you do. 😊

messydesk · September 23, 2021 6:55PM

@cmerlo1 said:
@Broadstruck It's so close to the ceiling I'm thinking of shimmimg it against the ceiling to cut even more vibration.

Hell, just bolt it into the ceiling joists and sell it with the house when you move.

Edit: I like the way you framed your discovery VAMs.

nwcoast · September 23, 2021 7:14PM

Nice! Reminds me of some of the stands that were the bread and butter of our old photograpy department back in the day! We had a couple of those Polaroid MP-4’s too, with quartz halogen lights.
Those suckers were HOT! I spent years of my life working on those things too.
Wow, bringing back some memories here.
Nice stand there though, and nice work.