Copy Stand

I have some 70 year old books and magazines that I want to photograph so I am looking for a copy stand. New ones look pretty pricey considering that I won't use the stand much and they don't seem to come up on ebay that often. However, every day there always seem to be a few enlargers on ebay and I wondered if I could use one of those.

Since I never did get into home processing I thought I would ask the experts here. An enlarger looks like a copy stand with the enlarger attached, so if the enlarger can be removed, how much more would I have to do to attach a camera? Looking on the internet (and using Kaiser as an example) a copy arm is between £20 and £200, so there is a possibility of getting one for not too much money.

Am I missing anything?

Richard

I can't comment on your question regarding the use of an enlarger stand, however Pentax copipods come up for sale on Ebay quite often and are usually not that expensive.

None for sale in the UK at the moment, but I found this link

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honeywell-Pentax-Copipod-Vintage_W0QQitemZ290199540082QQih...

Steve

Thanks, I may get one if it comes up cheap, just to try it out. I cannot find any exact dimensions. The link you gave says that the legs extend to 22" (55cm), so I guess the lens front element is about half a metre from the item. A rough estimate seems to indicate that fully extended the area covered will be about 48cm square, which will cover most of the things I want to photograph. (The magazines are 23x31 closed, so say, 40x31 open.) It does mean that I am restricted in using a copyboard (I wanted to lay some glass over the magazines to keep them open by not put too much pressure on the spine). Also, there is the worry of mounting my nice expensive DSLR on four spindley legs

Richard

Check out this link. You could always PM Ken and ask for his opinion

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5606&highlight=copipod

Steve

Richard

You are welcome to borrow my copipod if it's a short term project. I think I only have the 49mm adaptor for it.

Thatnks, that is a kind offer. I don't intend to do the photographing for a few months (meaning, I am too busy now) so I may get back to you later if I may.

But in the meantime, the Copipod, does it sound like what I would need to photograph the magazines I mentioned (essentially 46x31cm)? And what lens would be suitable - I have the 18-55 kit lens (but I have a 52-49 step down ring so I could use it on the copipod albeit with the danger of some vignetting) I also have a A50 and and A28 both have a 49mm filter ring.

Richard

Richard

The copipod was specifically designed to keep the camera square to a flat surface and should be ideal for your purposes. I'll check the area under the legs to see if this works.

I woudl suggest a 50mm f1.7 as a suitable lens though it might be a bit too long for the istDS at those distances. Someone else might be able to comment on this.

alot of tripods have centercolums you can position for copy work.
also possible to do some copywork by placing a peice of board on blocks to a 45deg angle on a table and using a regular tripod.

most enlargers can be converted to copystands, with accessories or a quick trip to the hardware store for a drillbit and some bolts.

I once used my kitchen table...and some clamps. the table had a center panel to expand it, and by simply opening the table up, I was able to use a Manfrotto superclamp with a tripod ball and socket head to clamp my camera to the edge of the table, and two clampstyle lamps for lighting. (flouresenct lamps may be better with digital).

We used a C-Clamp with an appropriately sized screw (to fit the camera's tripod socket) tack-welded onto it. With a large washer and nut you can ensure it's tight enough to prevent the camera from moving without driving the screw through your camera's baseplate and damaging it (as one of our helpers did - totally scrapped a K1000...)

Then, place your magazine on the floor, find a suitably high table to clamp onto, and you're set... (We used a couple sawhorses with a 2X4 to clamped across them to clamp the camera to, as we could slide the clamp back and forth along the board - we were copying very large antique naval charts, and some were up to 60 inches long and 40 inches wide...

We found that daylight-rated flourescent lights worked best, but that was with film, and Digi, with the ability to set WB, may make that a moot point...

Your idea of placing glass over the subject to hold it flat works, but adds the possibility of reflections - you'll need to place your lights carefully. Maybe take a look at that matte framing glass (or plexi or whatever it is...)

The Copipod is good but I dont think the 18-55 is the lens for the job. You would be better off using a prime lens. The copipod was designed to be used with a 50 or 55 standard lens on 35mm film and a macro lens would be absolutely ideal, you will also need extension tubes (at least a number 1) for some work. You cannot/must not use AF since the little motor doesn't have the power to lift the weight of the camera body and a right angle finder is a must.

I used to have a Durst F30 enlarger whose head was attached by a 3/8 tripod bush and by attaching my tripod head to that the camera was positioned centrally over the baseboard. It is essential that the camera is 100% parallel to the work.

In all copy work you will have to either take incident light readings or take reflective ones from a gray card.

If all of this sounds too much there is the much simpler alternative of using a flat-bed scanner. If the work is too big to go in in one piece, scan sections and use the panorama tool in PS - works brilliantly.

I have a good copy stand made out of an enlarger column and baseboard ( a 'Gnome' enlarger I think) and I bought a copy arm from Gamer Engineering who made my Gamer Universal enlarger for £4-7-6d in old money. It takes all my 35mm cameras and my Pentax 6x7 .