Copy Stand

[CMoore]

Any of you guys use a copy stand...very often...is it handy to have.?
How many different Things/Scenarios do you use it for.?
Thank You

 

[dynachrome]

I made my own copy stand years ago my modifying the directions in The Manual Of Close-Up Photography by Lester Lefkowitz. It's useful for flat copy work. Of course, today, much of that is done with flatbed scanners. It is handy for use in flat copy macro work like stamp and coin photography. I have used my copy stand for making slide shows of old photos. I also took the head off of my old Bogen 22A Special enlarger and attached the 1/4/20 nut to the bottom of a camera to make an impromptu copy stand. If you have the room for it, an old Polaroid MP-3 or MP-4 unit is versatile.

 

[Konical]

Good Afternoon, CMoore,

I have a small copy stand (Bogen, I think) which serves fine for 35mm; I've also rigged an old Kodak enlarger chassis for copy use with 4 × 5. Neither one is something I use very often, but they occasionally come in handy. Years ago, I did a fair amount of copying old photos, usually with 4 × 5 Kodak Commercial film. I haven't had many recent requests for copying; I suspect that lots of people are getting by with simple scans of old photos, probably not realizing that the results may not have the permanence of silver-based images.
I also have another enlarger chassis (a Beseler 4 × 5) which I keep intending to make into a copy stand, but inertia has so far prevented that. If I ever get around to it, the motorized lift should make it ideal.

Konical

 

[etn]

My only use of a copy stand is for "scanning" film with a DSLR. The ability to adjust the column height is invaluable to adjust the reproduction ratio.
(I don't use it very often, as I am not too much into scanning. I prefer to project slides and print B&W negatives.)
But if you want to do this kind of work, a copy stand is the way to go. I used a tripod before getting the copy stand, it was just a pain in the ... The height could not be easily adjusted, I needed to install the rig before each use, the camera was on an arm off-center from the tripod, which made it more prone to vibration, etc.

 

[ac12]

In the past, I used my Durst M600 as a copy stand, just took off the head and secured the camera to the part of the head that rides on the column.
As etn said, that is MUCH easier to use than a tripod. Except that a tripod is easier and faster to set up than my enlarger, which is stored disassembled in a box.
In the past, before flat bed scanners, that was the only way to duplicate photos where all I had was the print, the negative being lost long ago.

Today I would probably scan the document or photo rather than shoot it on film. Much easier for me to do.

 

[AgX]

With Kaiser Enlargers you can take off the head via a stud-coupling and instead use their camera mounts with stud-coupling and still obtain vertical alignment. The also have nice repro accessories.

 

[CMoore]

Great.....Thanks for the info.

 

[cooltouch]

As others have mentioned, copy stands were originally used to shoot photos of documents and to make copies of photo prints. But there are other uses.

I actually bought a Canon Copy Stand 4, a somewhat utilitarian but very well made piece of gear, back in the mid-1980s. I still have it and its in almost the same condition as it was when I bought it. Over the years I've used it for the above reasons, of course, but I also use it for macro work. If it's a straight down shot, it's often considerably more convenient to use than a tripod.

 

[tessar]

I've used an enlarger as a copy stand occasionally -- easy to do, no extra equipment to buy.

 

[Luckless]

They are useful tools to have on hand. After all, it is better to have a tool and not need it than to find you need it and not have it.

One of my friends apparently uses their copy stand fairly often for still life work. It is however this heavy old monster that is adjustable and reconfigurable, and is also useful as a studio camera mount column. (It came free with their studio space... because the land lord and previous tenants apparently didn't want to be bothered lugging it away.) But they will lay out arrangements on the adjustable table of it, and photograph stuff from top down.

One that is flexible while being stable and reliable can be a powerful tool to work with.

 

[DWThomas]

After all, it is better to have a tool and not need it than to find you need it and not have it.

Hehe, oh so true -- but that's why I can barely walk through parts of my house!

I was using a sort of copy stand this very day, but it's something I made to photograph paintings. It also isn't as rigidly aligned as would be nice, but I use it to go out to galleries where the art club I belong to has shows and photograph the winners on site. (I'm also the newsletter editor and webmaster so think of it as 'vertical integration'! )

Don't really have a good shot of it by itself, but the overall setup looks like so:

The camera pokes its nose though a "buttonhole slot" in a dark cloth hung from a background stand to kill off reflections from tripod and camera hardware. Pretty necessary when the paintings are pastel or watercolor mounted behind glass. (And note, when shooting at 90º to the glass, polarizers are not effective.)

The top and bottom clamping rails are adjustable and have a closed cell foam tape on them to be a bit grippy. Leaning against the wall is an 11x14 mirror I use to get the lens axis aligned with the plane of the stand similar to how one might align an enlarger. The particular technology shown is That Which Shall not be Named for the desired expedience, but the technique is the same.

For smaller stuff, an enlarger column device would be handier. You can crudely simulate that with some pipe and pipe fittings -- did that long ago.

 

[Cholentpot]

I use a copy stand to make digital dupes of my negatives. It's invaluable to the process.

 

[CMoore]

I use a copy stand to make digital dupes of my negatives. It's invaluable to the process.

I am not even sure How/Why this works.......are the Negs on a light source, and then you shoot those with a Digital-SLR.?
Thank You

 

[cooltouch]

I can explain how mine works for digital dupes. Medium format is what I use mine for. For 35mm I have another setup. I built a portable light box out of a wooden wine crate, mounted two fluorescent strips inside it and cut a piece of translucent white plastic for the top of the box. I set the light box on my copy stand, mount my camera with macro lens to the copy stand, tape my slides or negatives onto the white plastic surface of the light box, switch the fluorescent strips on, and fire away. I move the light box around on the copy stand to center each shot. There are probably more convenient ways to do this, but it works. I depend on my camera's auto white balance function to get rid of the ghastly green that fluorescents normally have, although I think the bulbs I have in the strips now are allegedly daylight balanced.

 

[cowanw]

My setup is similar to DaveT's except I use a music stand. Recently I learnt to use a digital level on the face of the stand and the flat back of my camera to get at right angles (re tilt) instead of eyeballing everything. I still have to eyeball swing. If anybody has a hint for that.

 

[Cholentpot]

I am not even sure How/Why this works.......are the Negs on a light source, and then you shoot those with a Digital-SLR.?
Thank You

 

[narsuitus]

Any of you guys use a copy stand...very often...is it handy to have.?
How many different Things/Scenarios do you use it for.?

I routinely use a copy stand for close-up and macro work.



Copy Stand by Narsuitus, on Flickr