Blue Metalic Wasp/02 - The hardware

Here the individual hardware components are shown.

Purposes achieved by this gear are ...

1) Keeping the camera steady during the long exposures necessitated by high magnification and small apertures.
2) Advancing the image plane in a controlled manner.
3) Making sure there is no angle of view change from image to image.

Up to about 1:2 magnification the image plane can be advanced just by turning the focus ring on the lens. Beyond 1:1 though a macro rail is needed.

This "ground pod" as "Really Right Stuff" calls it is very convenient for objects near the ground (or table)!

The IR remote is used to trigger the shutter without physically touching the camera and thus possibly introducing shake.

The ground pod, ball head and macro rail together weigh about 4 pounds, 8 ounces.
The E330 with the 35 mm macro lens and EX-25 extension tube on it weigh about 2 pounds, 2 ounces.