Multifunction Tripod/Copystand?

[WestonP]

I'm buying a new camera for photographing art work and I've been looking at copy stands but most are too small and expensive for my needs. Does anyone know of a tall tripod that can be aimed directly down? I was thinking I could photograph large pieces on a wall with the tripod in a normal position and then tilt the camera down over the edge of a table (like a copy stand) for smaller pieces.

 

[Boney]

Look for a tripod where you can remove the main center post and insert it upside down. Handy as a copy stand. This where having an articulating LCD or a right angle viewer comes in handy though.

 

[KenC]

I'm not sure I understand the question because every tripod I've ever seen (excluding mini or table-top models) allows for pointing the camera downward (more a function of the head, actually, but I think they all do this) and is tall enough to point down at a table and use a 50 mm lens for copying. I've actually done copy work on the floor rather than having to stand on a chair to work the camera.

 

[WestonP]

This where having an articulating LCD or a right angle viewer comes in handy though.

Yeah, I know

My heart is really set on a D7000 but I'll end up with a 60D just because of the articulating LCD.

 

[KmH]

GIOTTO'S-Professional Photographic Equipment - look at the MT line of tripods.

 

[table1349]

If you want a copy stand on the cheap go to you local camera shop if you have one and see what they have in the way of old, no-functional, enlarger. I picked up an old Saunders enlarger without a working/repairable head for $30.00. Removed the head, attached a QR plate to the head mount and have a great stand.

 

[WestonP]

If you want a copy stand on the cheap go to you local camera shop if you have one and see what they have in the way of old, no-functional, enlarger.

An interesting idea, thanks. I'm not sure I could find one large enough for my needs though and need a tripod anyway. So, two birds and so on...

GIOTTO'S-Professional Photographic Equipment - look at the MT line of tripods.

The MT9360 is exactly what I am looking for, thanks. Now all I need are some equally posable lights.

 

[bratkinson]

For the very limited copy work I have done, I have a dual camera mount "bar" I picked up perhaps 30 years ago. About a foot long, it allows 2 cameras to be mounted side by side, about 3" apart, on a single bracket. The bracket has a standard screw mount with the screw hole about 3" from one end that I simply screw into my older tripod. The resultant setup looks like a "T" with one side of the "T" longer than the other. I then mount only one camera on the longer end of the T, which centers the lens about 8" away from the vertical part of the tripod. After adjusting the tripod head so the camera is pointing downward, I move it over the corner of my kitchen table and shoot away. Whether it's flat paperwork or an array of very small parts I want to photograph, it works amazingly well. I'm guessing the practical limit on my setup is about the size of a sheet of paper, but that's all I've needed it for.

Now that I've gone to an L bracket and quick releases, I'd have to either remove the L bracket from my camera or get appropriate mounting plate and clamps for the double camera bar to use it again.