4-Way Macro Focusing Rail Slider

After replacing my old bridge camera, I replaced old equipment. I owned a 4-way focusing rail, but it wasn't very well-built. There was no way it was going to have the accuracy or build quality for my new Panasonic FZ2500, a rather weighty camera, weighing over 2 pounds. I chose the Neewer, after buying a very nice Neewer carbon fiber tripod on Amazon. Neewer has a good reputation for quality, especially given the mid level price point. I looked at a few other types of focusing rails, but I really need the 4-way to do supermacros photography, like the snowflakes. I've never wanted to get back into carrying lenses, etc, so after 35mm, I simply decided on bridge cameras. I've photographed microscope slides with my bridge camera. I use a Raynox 250 super macros lens that I bought several years ago from Amazon. This requires the lens to be extended with the Raynox attached, to achieve super macros. Sharp focus is achieved by moving the entire camera back and forth, with a correction in framing by moving right/left. The 4-way focusing rail that I had, shifted when adjusting. The Neewer is rock steady. It doesn't use a worm gear (which can introduce backlash). Both axis are moved by rack and pinion mechanism. When switching to the opposite direction, there is less than 1mm of a turn of the focusing knobs before its engaged. You'd never notice it unless you were testing for it. The motion in all 4 directions is extraordinary smooth. Focusing tension is adjustable by smaller knobs. The focuser comes equipped with a Swiss Arca quick release plate with camera mount. I've got the Arca plate from the Innorel F20 pan/tilt head on the camera (another excellent piece of equipment that I bought on Amazon), which fit the focuser nicely. The mount clipped well, and very securely, holding the camera firmly in place. As a astronomer, I've used and worked on many telescopes, most with a rack and pinion focuser. I'll see how much vibration is introduced by using the focusing rail. I may outfit the focuser knob with a hands off, powered focusing adapter that fits over the knob. Addressing a complaint I've seen: For under $100, the Neewer 4-way rail is an excellent piece of equipment. I can't see where it would be improved. I think I saw a complaint or two about wobble in the rails. I have to believe this was from loosing the focusing adjustment too much. If you loosen the tension too much, you can indeed wiggle the rails. This is the same problem that you will have with any rack and pinion system, it's not a defect in materials or workmanship. I have a $500 aftermarket telescope focuser which will do the same thing. The secret is to maintain proper and enough tension, while ensuring smooth movement. When properly adjusted, there is no wobble or unwanted rail movement.

The rail works ok if the camera moves parallel to the ground, if it is too inclined the movement is not smooth. It is not easy to transport because of its shape. Excellent construction and material for the value.

I am impressed with this. It's solid build and works well. It feels like a precision-made product. I have this mounted on a copy stand and it holds a heavy mirrorless full-frame camera and lens. The adjustment knobs work smoothly and evenly. Good grips on the knobs. I especially like the Arca-Swiss mount that it comes with (including a plate) as all my cameras have Arca-Swiss plates attached, so it was easy to put them on. IMPORTANT: It also comes with a smaller 3/8" screw adapter for additional adaptability to copy stands (which tend to have the smaller screw diameters rather than the 1/4" "tripod" screw sizes.) Oddly, there is no information on this on the product description, even though I found this to be very important, since I would have been unable to attach it to my copy stand mount! All in all, this was a very solidly made product at a good price. I would recommend it.

I've been a photographer for 30+ years and have owned two of these. Both of them are of high quality and the machining and functioning has been great. I'm very pleased with the precision of the dials and locking mechanism. I use one for macro photography and the other for a homemade device for photographing slides. Both uses require precision focus and these work just fine. The only reason I'm not giving them five stars is that neither of the ones I have have seen a huge amount of use in the field or harsh conditions so I can't speak to the durability under those circumstances.

Edit: Customer support reached out to me to troubleshoot and found my unit to be defective and offered me a replacement even outside the 30 day period. Highly Recommend them, they stand behind their product! The belt came very loose. I had to adjust for the right tension otherwise the initial slide wont even initiate until the slack has been run through by the motor, THEN it will finally start moving. Also the stepper motor is not anywhere near as precise with its movements. everytime it moves it will literally move 3-5mm. I've played with the adjustment to try and get it to slide with less total lateral movement but it seems its stuck at this set movement range of ~4mm. It doesnt make for a smooth timelapse since my camera will take multiple pics in the same position so when I export the timelapse I literally have to increase the FPS to the max just to account for the multiple same position images. I'd get a higher quality motorized slider. The movement range is not precise enough for 12hour long timelapses. The software isnt as intuitive either. All I wanted to do was set a range of motion, cool that worked, and set the time I want it to take to complete that range of motion. And there is such a round about way of trying to time the slider you have to keep trying different numbers until you actually land on the right time. For a simple b roll this will work great, but for timelapse this is terrible. The build quality is really well made but its a bit heavy. As you can see in the video, the steps are not as smooth due to the stepper motor having too much range per movement causing the camera to take 2 or 3 images in the same exact position before again stepping too much.

Sturdy and smooth happy with it especially for the price

I think this is pretty good, It's solid, metal, and nicely made. I used it today for taking photos of bees in a flower. It's much easier to use this than moving the legs of the tripod lol. I ordered it last night with amazon prime and it arrived today, a sunday, free postage. Can't complain really. I'm using 68mm of extension tubes and an old olympus 85mm manual lens on my Fufifilm XT4.

Sembra un ottimo prodotto.

Erstklassige Verarbeitung. Leichtgängige Einstellschrauben.

Well built and operates smoothly. A couple of knobs are a bit tricky to access. Great value.

Le vendeur a été très professionnel Soucis réparé Très satisfait