After realizing that I could use some enhancements to my shooting rig for a particular topic, I ended up designing and making them in record time. And to my own surprise, they work quite well, with fewer issues and modifications than I thought I’d need. I present to you the tactical special ops night stalker imaging rig, the Beav Team Six:
Actually, it’s missing the Vivitar 285 strobe unit on top, because I forgot it for these photos, so it’s not as ‘complete’ as it should be. But here’s what you’re looking at.
The Canon 7D and Tamron 150-600 are obvious, but then we have the focusing ring extension, visible between the lens barrel and tripod plate here – this allows the focus ring to be turned while still supporting the lens farther out towards the end, for more stability. This was only practical because the lens has ultrasonic, real-time focusing, so the focus ring itself is decoupled from internal lens arrays and does not spin during autofocus. This means that the ring extension lever can be moved exactly where it can be reached best, or even out of the way atop the barrel (which is especially useful in that I often carry this heavy rig upside-down by the tripod mounting plate, directly underneath the lever here.) It’s attached by a pair of zip-ties that are quite tight, because there can be no play in the add-on with the leverage that’s put on it out away from the attachment point. Additionally, it is close enough to the lens that the lenshood will fit over it when stored reversed, so it does not need to be detached when returned to the case.
Then there’s the flashlight holder, which despite making a stupid mistake in the design of, I was able to modify enough to fit, and it fits snugly and aims that flashlight right where it’s needed, centered in the viewfinder even when the lens is extended to 600mm. It is not bright enough to allow autofocus at night, but it is enough for manual focus, thus the extension lever. This add-on fits right over top of the long lens grip, visible protruding from underneath the flashlight, but is easily removed when it is not needed.
Both of these, as well as the long lens grip, were designed in Blender software and then 3D printed. The initial design of the focus ring extension wasn’t quite adequate, so this is the second version, and I am contemplating one that will attach tight enough to the ring but not require zip-ties, thus more easily detachable.
While I’d been toying with the idea of a focus extension, these were created with one particular subject in mind: the beaver(s) at the neighborhood pond. So the very night that they were completed, I went out to do the acid test on a real subject, and saw absolutely nothing – the beaver wasn’t active at that time. So I tried again on a subsequent night – and then again, with the same results each time, and I’m not sure if this is because the beaver moved on or simply wasn’t active the specific times that I was over there. It’s a little frustrating not to find my subject when I’m this prepared, I admit, like getting a new dive mask for christmas, but the modifications are still useful for other subjects, so they’ll get their use even if I never see the beaver again.
Will I be uploading these for others to print and use? Very likely on the focus extension, less so on the flashlight holder, which is designed around the dimensions of the flashlight that I had handy and likely won’t fit too many others. The focus extension is designed around the Tamron SP 150-600mm F5-6.3 Di VC G2 (the second-generation version,) and may not even fit the first gen version, much less any other lens, so the application to the general public are limited to those with that lens. Before that happens, however, I may try out a few variations to see if there’s a better approach.
Anyway, when I get images with this particular rig, you know where to find them.