Novoflex stepping motor focusing rack

chris_ma · Post by **chris_ma** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:56 pm

Seems that Novoflex got a new motor driven macro bellows out:

https://www.43rumors.com/novoflex-annou ... sing-rack/

typestar · Post by **typestar** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:57 pm

@chris_ma,

this is what it looks like:

https://briansmith.com/novoflex-announc ... sing-rack/

retail "only" € 1,800 EUR ...

chris_ma · Post by **chris_ma** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 3:23 pm

what a steal

Novoflex seems a bit boutique, pretty design and solid build quality but not really top of the line stuff and a bit overpriced (at least from the adapters that I used).
There aren't many manufacturers that play in the same price/quality range though, personally I prefer more industrial build quality, but that usually involves some DIY adaption.

main specs for those who don't want to read the full press release:

Code: Select all

The CASTEL MICRO has a maximum travel distance of 100 mm and its smallest repeatable step distance is 0.2µ! 
The maximum carrying capacity for vertical assembly is 4 kg.

typestar · Post by **typestar** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 3:42 pm

chris_ma wrote:what a steal

.....solid build quality but not really top of the line stuff
.... personally I prefer more industrial build quality, but that usually involves some DIY adaption.

....its smallest repeatable step distance is 0.2µ!

@chris_ma: what product on market would you point to for "industrial build quality" ?

is 0.2µ precise "enough" ?

Thankyou!

chris_ma · Post by **chris_ma** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 3:57 pm

hi typestar,

others here have a much better overview over the different solutions, and I think there is also a lot of info in this forum already.

personally I've been experimenting with a THK rail, 400step motor and trinamic controller with 256 mirosteps. total of about 300EUR (with a used THK rail, new it's about 1000EUR) and my wild guess is that this gives the same or better accuracy then the novoflex solution - about 0.01um per microstep on paper, but in reality 0.2um sounds more likely (16microsteps).

novoflex's 0.2um number sounds great to me, but I'd expect that to be rather optimistic (ie marketing) numbers. should work up to very high magnifications.

also, novoflex does provide the thing as a fully featured integrated system, so it should be useable straight of the box. that also means that you pay a big markup for the development and the material costs are probably a rather small part of the total.

just some thoughts.

typestar · Post by **typestar** » Sun Sep 22, 2019 2:44 pm

chris_ma wrote: ...
novoflex's 0.2um number sounds great to me, but I'd expect that to be rather optimistic (ie marketing) numbers. should work up to very high magnifications.

also, novoflex does provide the thing as a fully featured integrated system, so it should be useable straight of the box. that also means that you pay a big markup for the development and the material costs are probably a rather small part of the total.

chris_ma, so much money for the out-of-the-box.... thankyou for your thoughts

typestar

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Sun Sep 22, 2019 3:11 pm

For our uses, the big advantage is the option for rear-standard focus stacking. But I think this could be done with a $2 piece of aluminum plate attached to the front of the WeMacro rail, with a hole in the plate for the lens, and a free bag bellows connecting the rear of the lens to the camera mounted on the rail. I'd rather save the $2000+ and put it towards lenses and objectives.

But if I had lots of money, I'd buy it.

mawyatt · Post by **mawyatt** » Sun Sep 22, 2019 8:34 pm

I would not be surprised if they are actually using the Trinamic chip, there's not enough potential market to justify a custom chip development, and the Trinamic is the best stepper controller chip I'm aware of.

Agree, teaming a Trinamic with a THK KR rail would be a very difficult combo to beat in actual performance (read not specmanship).

Lou, that would be a nice adapter to make!! If the hole was 42mm or 52mm threaded then various lens adapters could be used and you would have a flexible motorized bellows!!

Best,

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Sun Sep 22, 2019 9:58 pm

Mike, I will be making one. Rear-standard focus bracketing interests me a lot. I like photos with a more intimate perspective, as if the viewer is right up next to the subject, not looking at it through a telescope. But if the lens is in close, moving it during stacking will change perspective at every step, which ruins the stack. I need rear-standard stacking, so the lens stays in one place. I've been doing this manually lately, using a geared cine follow-focus rig, but attaching the lens rather than the camera to the rig. As I rotate the focusing helicoid with the gears, the camera moves, since it is hanging in space. I like the results a lot, but it requires patience and concentration. I'd rather have a machine do it automatically.

mawyatt · Post by **mawyatt** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:12 am

Lou,

Wondering if the PI Piezo Stage we are developing over here could possibly help.

https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... hp?t=39962

It's designed to move the objective (25mm threaded), I'm using it to move the subject, but it's small enough to mount to the end of a rail.

Is having the lens moveable and the camera moveable independently useful?

Best,

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:15 am

For my purposes, that's not really needed. I can move the rail or subject manually until the lens is in the right position, and that needs to be done only once.

The camera can be heavy, and the distance moved can be fairly large, so I think the voice coil won't work for moving the camera.

elf · Post by **elf** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 12:02 am

mawyatt wrote:
Is having the lens moveable and the camera moveable independently useful?

Definitely if you want to shoot non-orthoganal panoramas. Moving the lens' entrance pupil to the rotation point for the panorama is easier than moving the rotation point.

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:49 am

Good point!

Yawns · Post by **Yawns** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:09 am

Lou Jost wrote:For our uses, the big advantage is the option for rear-standard focus stacking. But I think this could be done with a $2 piece of aluminum plate attached to the front of the WeMacro rail, with a hole in the plate for the lens, and a free bag bellows connecting the rear of the lens to the camera mounted on the rail. I'd rather save the $2000+ and put it towards lenses and objectives.

But if I had lots of money, I'd buy it.

Are you speaking about something like this?

Screenshot 2019-10-16 at 16.27.58 by antonio caseiro, on Flickr

I would like to try it, but I don't understand fully yet (still digging in the forum) that "rear-focus" thing.. the lens is fixed, the sensor moves the step...but what about the subject?.. is it fixed too ?

elf · Post by **elf** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:06 am

Yawns wrote: .. the lens is fixed, the sensor moves the step...but what about the subject?.. is it fixed too ?

Yes, but it helps to have it on a stage for initial focusing and composition.

100mm is a little short for focusing with the bellows. Perhaps having replaceable lens mounting brackets would work.