Product Description

The Super Mag Slider is a lightweight macro stage for very precise 4-way camera alignment, made from Magnesium alloy. It moves forward, back, left and right, making it ideal for precise close-up work, tilting or macro-photography. MF-screw driver is attached to detach the bottom screw adapter. After detaching the adapter screw, it allowes installing a 3/8 inch screw. Light weight, and smooth action for adjusting the macro photo focus, the Super Mag Slider weighs only one pound, and allows 2.5" top maximum movement, and 1.3" bottom maximum movement. Its overall length of the top plate is 8.1", and the bottom base is 4.4", and features a 1/4-20" camera screw and 2 reversible 1/4-20" to 3-8" tripod connections.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34607 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Hakuba
• Dimensions: 1.55 pounds

Features

• Perfect aid for shot positioning
• Accurate focus adjustment
• Magnesium composite provides strength and low weight

Customer Reviews

Short term: Great!
I did a ton of research to get to this; because of the confusion between the Velbon and Hakuba Brands I thought no one carried it... Perseverance paid though.

What is it for? I want to take macro shots, which with my setup (Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras + Kenko DG Auto Extension Tube Set for the Canon EOS AF Mount.) involves being really close to the subject and an extremely shallow depth of field; focusing implies moving the entire camera on a tripod or moving the subject, which is very impractical.

The macro slider allows you to move the entire camera forward and backward, left or right with precision. The whole thing feels sturdy and movement is smooth.

The help I needed.
I recently received my Velbon Magnesium Macro Slider from B&H photo; the Hakuba and Velbon models are the same. Some photos I have seen of this slider show the control knobs on both sides of the device; those are mirror images, the knobs are on the left side only. Also, the appearance of the knobs might give the impression these are internally geared two-speed knobs, but they are single speed one piece knobs. A couple bolts were not well tightened at the factory, and they used non-standard two hole bolt heads, but I finally got them tight. The length from camera mount screw to the end of the rods is 6 3/4 inches, so the rods will stick out further than some lenses. In this design the rods move the same amount as the camera/lens, so if your lens has to get close to the subject to focus, the rod ends might get close or even touch the subject. I don't know if that is a problem in practice since the rods would be some distance below the lens, but it is something I thought about. My Canon 70-300mm IS USM lens with 250D close-up attachment extends a bit past the rods at 70mm and over 2 inches past at 300mm; the rod ends never get closer than ten inches to my macro subject. The movements are quite smooth and precise, and overall build quality and design are better than I expected for $100. The bottom section provides left and right motion and has two tripod thread lugs. The top section provides the fore and aft movement and has two tripod mount areas as well, so the top alone can be attached to a tripod to provide fore and aft movement with the bottom removed. The top and bottom are separated by loosening a captive bolt with the supplied allen wrench, after lining the bolt up with an opening by turning the bottom knob. A second tool is included that can remove or tighten the tripod mount lugs (there are 3 tripod lugs included and 4 holes they can be screwed into). The other end of this tool is an open end wrench to adjust the sleeves that hold the sliding rods, thus allowing the user to adjust the amount of force required to move the rods through the sleeves. No instructions are included. I separated the top and bottom parts, turned the bottom 180 degrees, and reassembled them. Now I have the fore and aft movement knob on the left side, and the left and right movement knob on the right side, so I don't have to fumble around to find what knob does what while looking through the viewfinder (the designers really thought this one through). All in all, this slider has been a great help when focusing and positioning my camera/lens for macro work. I no longer have to move my tripod 2 inches forward, one inch back, a quarter inch forward, and on-and-on, to get the subject in focus. I just get the tripod in the ballpark, and focus with the slider. Frustration has turned to joy! I certainly recommend this slider to anyone who wants good equipment at a reasonable price. ADDED: I have found a secondary use for this slider. That is; if you have a very heavy tele lens that unbalances your tripod head, this slider can bring it more into balance. Just attach your camera and lens to this slider with it adjusted all the way to the rear and it will tend to balance your gear on the tripod better than just using the tripod head.