Least expensive way to create rails/rods?
 

I was wondering if most people are putting together their own rails or just buying them?
I wonder if the sum of parts is more expensive then the ready-made ones...

You could put together a set of support rods for as little as ~$25 but its going to depend on the tools you have and your experience with them. If you need to buy tools its probably going to be more expensive.

Its really pretty simple, you can learn a lot from studying others designs or commercial products. All of the materials including aluminum rods can be found at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, ect... I prefer to use aluminum but I have seen others use wood.

Under $25, sound great to me. I see quite a few people buying the camera stage from b&h or the like, does this factor into your $25.00?

Just remember to get the standard 15mm rods so that you can use the standard gears out there, like a matte box or follow focus unit

did you know what is the standard distance between the two 15mm rods!?

centre to centre is 60cm

6cm, or 60mm he means.

sorry you are right 60mm or 6cm... hee hee

Must be really tired looking at the computer screen . Can't even spot my mistake I've made..

many thanks

Most metal or machine shops will let you order lengths of aluminum tube at most thickness and widths.

rip it from old enlargers
 

many old enlargers are collecting dust, as paper and chemical are so$$ and everyone moves to digital

i bought an eastern european enlarger for 100$, great feature is tilting on lens bd.

JY

The least expensive way would be to lash your camera to a couple of small tree limbs.

Why not save your money and get a real base plate and rail system that will not embarrass you on a shoot.

Once you get a universal set, you will be able to use them on any camera you might upgrade to in the future. And they will be compatible with all the other goodies that you will want to get for your camera, like a matte box and follow focus.

Can you suggest a quick release plate that might do the trick that won't break the bank?

Go to Cavision site. There you will find all you need.(BHphoto sells their stuff too) Try also Cinevate and Redrock. This guy is copycat but last resort. He ship very, very fast.
http://www.thecinecity.com/home.php?cat=269

Quick relaese plate from Manfrotto. The universal one. You can use it with most of the manfrotto camera plates on it too.

http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductD...&ci_sku=462045