The compound eyes of a fly, the colorful details of a flower, or the perfect product photo in the studio - the world of macro photography has a lot to offer. But anyone who has ever tried to take such a photo will have noticed that it is virtually impossible to set the focus precisely and with repeated accuracy. Focusing rails, however, make exactly that possible and are one of the most important tools in macro photography. They enable you to set your point of focus precisely and advance your camera assembly with repeatable accuracy. When photographing with manual and specialized macro lenses, bellows, or microscope lenses, focusing rails are an essential piece of equipment, especially when the subject being photographed requires the use of the Focus Stacking technique.
The innovative CASTEL-M is a manual focusing rail specifically designed for the application of focus stacking in progressive magnifications up to a maximum of 5:1. As magnification increases, depth of field decreases, especially above 1:1 (life-size). The decreasing depth of field at reproduction ratios above 1:1 requires extremely accurate and precise camera advancement to create identical distances between the individual images of a typical stacking sequence. Precise overlapping of each image is necessary for the stacking software to create a successful composite photograph.
The CASTEL-M has been specially designed to assist macro photographers in achieving consistent, predictable results when engaged in this repetitive task and throughout a range of different magnifications. The CASTEL-M has a spindle that drives the sliding camera mount forward with extreme accuracy for each image. It also has practical indexing steps for magnification factors of 2:1; 3:1; 4:1 and 5:1 which are selected via a lever. Once the rail is positioned and the starting focus point selected, progression through the sequence of images is carried out via a single click of the focus wheel which advances the camera assembly clockwise in precise incremental stops to the focus point of the next image. No need to worry about the necessary step size and precise overlapping of the individual pictures; the rail does this for you automatically.
The click stops have been calculated in such a way as to avoid the negative effects of lens diffraction. Whenever necessary, the sliding camera mount can also be advanced without the use of click stops. The advancement is completely arbitrary and controlled by the photographer. However, measured repeatable step sizes can be achieved with the help of laser-engraved scaling on the focus wheel. One complete rotation of the focus wheel equates to the movement of the sliding block and camera assembly by point eight millimeters! Cool, isn’t it? 😉 In addition, CASTEL-M is, of course, completely integrated into our ARCA-compatible Q system from the top and bottom. It, therefore, accepts compatible removable plates in the quick-release coupling, which can be rotated by 90° and can be used and clamped directly in suitable coupling mounts.
- Length: 20,5cm/8.07“
- Width: 6,5cm/2.6“ at moveable camera mount, 5cm/1.9“ at the rail, 5,5cm/2.2“ at the Focus wheel
- Height: 5,5cm/2.2“ at the Focus Wheel, 4,5cm/1.8” rail with moveable camera mount
- Weight: 679g/1.5 lbs.
- Max travel: moveable camera mount: 100mm
- Revolution: One full revolution of the Focus Wheel equates to 0.8mm of travel
- Scaling: Laser engraved scaling with 0.01mm division
- Click stops available for magnifications of 2:1; 3:1; 4:1 and 5:1
- Max. Payload in vertical position: 4kg/8.8 lbs
- Quick release unit: ARCA-compatible, can be turned in 90° angles, Spirit level, Safety-Pin for NOVOFLEX-coupling plates
- Rail: at the bottom ARCA-compatible over the entire length of the rail, 1/4"-20 and 3/8”-16 sockets
Want to know more, or purchase the rail? Click here: [ Ссылка ]
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