The Slow Slide From Sunwayfoto

Precision workers to the front, please. Those of you who are accustomed to hanging out the side of helicopters photographing volcanoes handheld with a 6000mm lens may take a day off - possibly to bandage yourselves and possibly to recruit your nerves with strong tea... The accessory rail that you see in today's report is somewhat reminiscent of the screw feed of a turning lathe or a laboratory instrument. I can see it being adapted for both purposes. It is intended to be used to hold a camera that you want to go in and out or side by side in a very precise fashion. And it can be doubled up - if you mount another of these sideways on the top clamp you can combine the motions and then go in, out or either direction at will. Of course you will have noticed the clamp-lock Arca-Swiss mount on the top and the A/S rail on the bottom. These are accurately made to the A/S specification and will take all standard mounts. The screw feed is extremely smooth and you are given a choice of either a rapid crank at one end or a knurled thumbscrew at the other. A tempting thought - mount a Dremel or other small motorised drill on the top block, clamp it vertically, and use it as a modeller's pedestal drill. This would be a particular boon to anyone using focus stacking for their macro shots...you can rarely get movement precise enough with just a tripod to do this sort of thing.