Ah, I'll use the Micro-Nikkor - the shopping list of tubes, adapters and what not for the Raynox (not including the Raynox itself!) was starting to add up. I'd rather use what I have as much as possible!

Thank you for the explanation! Chris R: I shouldn't have used the word 'extension' in this case, I've been shopping so much for "extension tube sets" to go with the Raynox that it seared itself into my mind :) Rik: I had seen this graph before, but couldn't understand how to read it, I get it now wi...

...and allows the overall magnification to be adjusted somewhat by changing camera-to-Raynox distance. Here I'm quoting Rik from the http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31810 thread. This is the second time I come across this information on the forum, and I don't understand it. I'...

I haven't been posting much lately, especially since my vacation is over, I'm back in Canada where there are no bugs nor flowers at this time of the year :) However, I'll see if I can post an image what I ended up buying - I took Charles' recommendation of the vintage Novoflex rail, to which I added...

Charles,

Thanks for the advice on the cheap chinese rail!

Just thought I'd share this link, some close-up photography of the everyday life of flies...

http://www.fotosidan.se/gallery/view.htm?ID=230148


Made me smile!

Well, turns out someone was willing to pay more for that Novoflex rail than I. So I wait for a mini-review on the Chinese cheap rail...

Poor thing only has a few fair's on it's head, obviously he's looking for a suitable wig!

Thanks Charles, I might wait and see what you think about the 28$ rail.. however I'm seriously considering bidding on the first Novoflex vintage rail you posted. We'll see tomorrow evening when the auction ends.

Hmm, that cheap ebay rail is interesting; they offer free shipping to Canada, and at that price, it's not much lost if it ends up being completely useless. heh. I've been eyeing that Novoflex Mini. And, I can get it cheaper here in Canada; 225$ with 10$ shipping and only 5% taxes, and with a low cos...

AndrewC; the intended purpose is to find a rail that will cost me less than 300$ CAD once everything is paid for. So far this is the reason for not just buying the Novoflex L rack; even supposing I simply bought a knob style quick release for my RRS ballhead, and then putting my current levelrstyle ...

Looking at the Velbon website, I notice that the total length of the rail might be a problem since my working distance is less than 2 inches with the reversed lenses.

Well, all this talk of the manfrotto 454 has turned me from it; that's the sort of information that I couldn't find with the forum's search, and hopefully it will help people searching in the future! Charles; I had thought of ordering the Chuo Sekei linear slide posted above because of (a) the micro...

What exactly is the meaning of centers in "1/4x20 on 1" centers or M6 on 25mm centres"? The tapping I understand, just not the "centers" part.


By the way, I really like that second picture you've posted of your setups; looks like an artillery piece from some science fiction movie.

Thanks for the tips.. I've been looking at the chuo seiki and melles griot stages on ebay, but what was mentioned was currently my "problem", most do not list any sort of measurements for the threads and spacings, and how to mount the RRS clamps and rails to these things. I'm not really setup for me...