Goniometer Alternatives
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Goniometer Alternatives
The ideal set up seems to be a matched pair of Goniometers to allow rotation around both axis of the subject. To find a reasonably priced pair has proved difficult/impossible.
Has anybody found an economical solution that gets close to the fine control required?
Has anybody found an economical solution that gets close to the fine control required?
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And how do you confirm it's parallel with the camera sensor? I've had a heck of a time doing that with a chip or wafer.RobertOToole wrote:For the sole purpose of getting the subject stage parallel with the camera sensor, not for just plain tilt control, I went to using clay layer below the subject stage.
Saves me so much time I sold my Goniometer stages.
Best,
Robert
-JW:
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Hi JW,Smokedaddy wrote:And how do you confirm it's parallel with the camera sensor? I've had a heck of a time doing that with a chip or wafer.RobertOToole wrote:For the sole purpose of getting the subject stage parallel with the camera sensor, not for just plain tilt control, I went to using clay layer below the subject stage.
Saves me so much time I sold my Goniometer stages.
Best,
Robert
-JW:
Lower the camera and lens onto the stage and make contact to align it. For best results a rigid Camera+lens setup works best, like my SM2 setup, but I have gotten good results even using a telephoto lens as a tube lens.
It's a dead simple method I learned from a friend and it saves me tons of time.
Best,
Robert
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I like to use tip-tilt stages for leveling. Goniometers are a bit of overkill for that purpose. I use a goniometer when I'm doing pseudo-axial lighting, along with a tilt adapter on the camera. It's needed in that app since the tilts can be several degrees, and an 8-degree goniometer matches nicely with an 8-degree tilt adapter. But for stage leveling, tip-tilts seem more suitable as they only tend to tilt a few degrees max.
I prefer the mirror method for calibrating the stage to level. Put a mirror flat on your subject stage, stop-down your lens, and adjust the tip-tilt or whatever until the reflection of the camera lens is centered on the sensor.
I prefer the mirror method for calibrating the stage to level. Put a mirror flat on your subject stage, stop-down your lens, and adjust the tip-tilt or whatever until the reflection of the camera lens is centered on the sensor.
Hello, I'm a new member so hope I'm not barging in. For a vertical set up I am using a first surface mirror on the lens, a laser collimator on the surface bounced back to the aperture in the collimator. Adjustments are made with a rotation stage and a goniometers, focusing is a linear stage. Takes a few tries but I can usually get a wafer, center/four corners sharp.The goniometer and rotation stage were sold as a unit for around $150.00 from one of the Asian sellers on eBay
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They aren't that expensive, you just have to be patient and actively seek deals.
Alternatives:
1. Ballhead
2. Make one. It's actually not hard at all. Get two pieces of aluminium, one smooth bore in the middle for screw and nut, and two m3x0.5 ones on each side of the bottom plate. Buy 2 high precision adjusters from thorlabs, $8 each or so, use the two adjusters for angles.
3. Geared head, more expensive and defeats the purpose of your post but you do get a good tripod head too
With proper goniometers, you can convert them to a geared head with ease. I have 3 sets of thorlabs ones, paid $60 for two of the sets. Just gotta wait. I've since traded 2 of them for some other stuff with a friend.
Leofoto made an area Swiss L60 clone, not expensive. I'll get one during China's capitalism festival of 11-11 and see how it goes. Like the idea of arca-swiss clamp and rotation built in.
Alternatives:
1. Ballhead
2. Make one. It's actually not hard at all. Get two pieces of aluminium, one smooth bore in the middle for screw and nut, and two m3x0.5 ones on each side of the bottom plate. Buy 2 high precision adjusters from thorlabs, $8 each or so, use the two adjusters for angles.
3. Geared head, more expensive and defeats the purpose of your post but you do get a good tripod head too
With proper goniometers, you can convert them to a geared head with ease. I have 3 sets of thorlabs ones, paid $60 for two of the sets. Just gotta wait. I've since traded 2 of them for some other stuff with a friend.
Leofoto made an area Swiss L60 clone, not expensive. I'll get one during China's capitalism festival of 11-11 and see how it goes. Like the idea of arca-swiss clamp and rotation built in.
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I do but it's still gonna be very very hard for those outside of China without a working ID to obtain. I'll send you the link to your inbox when I get home. Also Taobao requires an account to use, which requires a Chinese ID. The link very likely won't work, I can send you a snapshot of the page too.elf wrote:Do you have a link for this?Macro_Cosmos wrote: Leofoto made an area Swiss L60 clone, not expensive. I'll get one during China's capitalism festival of 11-11 and see how it goes. Like the idea of arca-swiss clamp and rotation built in.
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Leofoto's, 10 degrees adjustment: https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a ... 4801657581elf wrote:Do you have a link for this?Macro_Cosmos wrote: Leofoto made an area Swiss L60 clone, not expensive. I'll get one during China's capitalism festival of 11-11 and see how it goes. Like the idea of arca-swiss clamp and rotation built in.
Marsace, 3.5 degrees but cheaper, seems to have lower centre of gravity too: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1 ... 1476442006
FULL DISCLOSURE
I personally know and talk to the founder of Leofoto. I don't get a cent and I pay for all my stuff out of my own wallet. I just think they are one of the few Chinese companies that make good products and offer good customer support, Marsace is one of them too but I don't know anyone from that company.