Copy stand P again

Some time ago I purchased a Pentax copy stand P (see old thread). This is a collapsible copy stand that I thought might be useful for the work I do. Here is the beast:



copystand (1) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



copystand (2) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



copystand (3) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



copystand (4) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Although I have had it for a few years, I'd never used it in anger but I decided to use it this afternoon. I had forgotten that one reason I hadn't used it was that my K-3 did not fit on the plate on the focus rail (in fact I had completely forgotten the original thread, but that was nine years ago). Arrgghhh. Then I remembered that I have a focus rail on which the K-3 does fit. Curious. I removed the one from the copy stand to find it has two pins to locate it. These match those on my other rail perfectly and so I was in business. When I had finished I compared the two focus rails. The one on the right is the one from the copy stand, the one on the left is the separate one I had purchased at another time.



focus rail par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

As you can see, one has a much deeper attachment plate, and the rail mechanism is reversed. How very curious. I suspect that my copy stand is an early model (Phil has a P-III) and I wonder if the change in the attachment plate reflects larger cameras, or perhaps one with a motordrive? Whatever the story, I'm glad I can now use my stand with my digital SLR by swapping out the two rails.

I've often wondered what that rail came off. I have the larger variety (on the left) which I use on a tripod. It happily supports a K1 with a macro rig.

I think the larger one was sold (was also sold?) as a separate focus rail --- John R. may know. I bought mine as a stand-alone thing, but that was through ?ebay (probably) so no info on the original situation. Luckily, Pentax had the sense to make the lugs on the back the same so the two rails are interchangeable on the copy stand.