Focus Rails
/Hello and welcome to the Macro Blog!
We are almost half way through the Macro Fundamentals video/livestream series, a 50-chapter overview of everything macro photography. I decided to do this series in order to update and correct any information from my back catalog that is either incorrect or out of date. This is important because of the AI-powered content assistant that I am building should not be presenting the viewer with inaccurate or incomplete information - a real possibility if we don’t make sure the most recent information is also the most accurate.
On Tuesday we will be devoting the entire hour to the macro focusing rail, from the cheapest manual, rack and pinion piece of junque to the most capable and beautiful works of ”linear actuator” art. I will include every rail that I have owned or do own, as well as any rail I have borrowed, repaired, or included in a client’s system build. I am going to give you my list of every rail, from least to most desirable, with the current price, links to where you can find it, and my personal opinion on every one of them. The master list can be found below. Your link to the macro rail livestream is right here - https://youtube.com/live/mfez2vVtQKg?feature=share
Thursday we give you a long-overdue update on your best macro rig in 2026. I have lost count of how many times I have revised and improved my own rig. Going over every bright idea and every false start, I have come up with a series of questions that can be used to guide you through the process of designing the rig that you really need (without any of the bells and whistles that you don’t need). This checklist represents one of the most significant changes to the content in my back catalog. It has turned a lot of theoretical guidance into a much more practical, evidence-based workflow, allowing you to make genuinely informed decisions about how you equip and construct your new extreme macro platform. Be sure to join Thursday’s livestream to learn all about this new decision tree, and how to use it - here is your link to the the stream - https://youtube.com/live/E3Ipcu1T8YM?feature=share
After giving the matter a great deal of thought, and in consultation with co-host Bud Perrott, I have decided to discontinue our macro post-processing video series, AfterStack. We have completed a total of 48 chapters, in which we have covered every topic we had planned for, and numerous additional subjects for which we had not planned. This included periodic updates on new Photoshop developments and cross-compatibility with other editing programs. With a new episode twice in every month, the series of discussions maintained a logical flow that was both practical and useful for most participants. All of these programs were recorded and published as stand-alone videos still available of my YouTube channel.
Our reasoning for this decision was multifactorial and included the following elements:
We have covered every topic from our original plans for the series;
Our live participants and video views have not increased despite a significant and continuing investment of both time and funding; and
I have been experiencing increasing difficulty in finding time for all of this channel’s activities and have been looking for opportunities to prioritize programming that would benefit the largest section of my audience.
There are several other, less important, reasons but these are the most significant ones. And this is not necessarily a final decision. Instead, consider it a pause that may be reversed as circumstances dictate. However, for the time being, AfterStack is discontinued as of this date, so there will not be an AfterStack episode this coming weekend. It is my hope that the gift of several extra hours, every other week, will free me up to produce more channel content and to complete some of the partially finished projects that have been on hold for lack of time. I may even take one or two Saturday’s off work and go take some pictures!
I want to recognize and thank Bud Perrott for all his enthusiasm and work in his role as co-host for the AfterStack series. He has been a reliable and well prepared expert who has earned the respect of our attendees and viewers since day one. My thanks also go out to every participant for giving up a chunk of your weekend to attend the workshop and share their editing experience. This would never have seen the success that it did without your presence. Thank you all!
As promised, here is my list of manual and automated focus rails. For each section of the table, the rails are listed from least to most desirable and include my reasoning for the order. Please bear in mind that these are my own opinions and the ranking has not been influenced by anything but my own experience with the device.
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. The Brand / Model column remains visible while you scroll.
| Rank | Brand / Model | Score | Availability | Experience | Type | Mag. Range | Travel | Min. Step* | Load H | Load V | Controller | Pros | Cons | Best Use | Price | Link | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novoflex, Castel-Micro | 97 | Available | Owner 3 years | Automated | 1X-50X | 100 mm | 0.2 µm | — | 4 kg | Dedicated, wired, touchscreen | Beautiful, accurate, modern, intuitive | Expensive | All purpose, studio advanced, outdoor use | $3,449.00 | VIEW ↗ | My favorite rail, a work of art and a joy to use |
| 2 | WeMacro, Pro-100 | 94 | Available | Owned 6 years | Automated | 1X-50X | 100 mm | 1 µm | 5 kg | 4 kg | Phone app. Bluetooth | Basic, intuitive, well made | Phone app controller, clunky GUI | All purpose, studio advanced, +/- field use | $329.00 | VIEW ↗ | Best bargain for money, well made, easy to use, with excellent support |
| 3 | Cognisys, Stackshot v.1 Extended | 93 | Available | Owner 10 years | Automated | 1X - 20X | 200 mm | 2 µm | — | 4.5 kg | Dedicated, wired | compact, reliable, accurate, great support | Controller needs update, long min. step | All purpose, studio, deep stacks | $720.00 | VIEW ↗ | Industry leader, a little dated |
| 4 | DIY, Hi precision linear actuator-based stepper | 91 | N/A | My design, DIY controller, | Automated | 1X-100X | 50 mm | 0.1 µm | 5.5 kg | 4 kg | User defined | Very high precision actuator with closed-loop control, extremely versatile, modifiable to meet requirements | A lot of work, requires basic microcontroller programming skills | Experimental, high magnification studio applications | 5-600*** | Contact Allan | This is a DIY project based on a hi precision Moon's linear actuator |
| 5 | Cognisys, Stackshot 3x Extended | 90 | Available | Owner 1 year | Automated | 1X - 20X | 200 mm | 2 µm | — | 4.5 kg | Dedicated, wired | touchscreen, 3 axis | Moderately expensive | All purpose, studio advanced | $969.00 | VIEW ↗ | Industry leader, great controller and support |
| 6 | Cognisys, Stackshot v.1 | 89 | Available | Tested | Automated | 1X - 20X | 100 mm | 2 µm | — | 4.5 kg | Dedicated, wired | compact, reliable, accurate, great support | Controller needs update, long min. step | All purpose, studio | $639.00 | VIEW ↗ | Industry leader, a little dated, less versatile than long version |
| 7 | MJKZZ, THK2001A System | 84 | Available | Setup and repair for client | Automated | 1X-50X | 90 mm | 1 mm (thread pitch) | — | — | 3-axis, WiFi and USB | WiFi + USB interface, three axis controller | The rail is used | Medium to high magnification studio work | $450.00 | VIEW ↗ | It helps to have a reasonable understanding of stepper operation and coding. Company based in Europe. |
| M-1 | Novoflex, Castel M | M-96 | — | Tested | Manual with incremented stepping | 1X - 5X | 100 mm | — | — | 4.4 kg | N/A | Beautiful, reliable, compact, portable | none | Low mag, studio/outdoor | $699.00 | VIEW ↗ | Best manual rail, by far |
| M-2 | NiSi, NM 200S | M-79 | Available | Owned 6 years | Manual, lead screw | 1X - 5X | 100 mm | 1 mm | 5 kg | — | N/A | Well made, durable, versatile, user friendly | Significant backlash | Low mag, general purpose | $215.00 | VIEW ↗ | Legs are useless - must use QR mount for stability |
| M-3 | Haoge FM-160 | M-75 | Available | Owned 2 years | Manual, lead screw | 1X - 5X | 115 mm | 1 mm | est. 4 kg | — | N/A | Solid, well made, compact | Significant backlash, small drive knob | Low mag, general purpose | $69.00 | VIEW ↗ | Very basic, solid build, lacks precision |
| M-4 | Manfrotto, 454 | M-63 | Available | Owned 18 years | Manual, wormscrew | 1X-3X | 120 MM | 1 mm | 34 kg (manufacturer claim) | — | N/A | QR lever, low profile | Inconvenient mount, inaccurate, coarse markings, stiff | Very low mag, low precision uses | $186.95 | VIEW ↗ | Stiff and hard to use without accidental movement |
| M-5 | No Brand, 4-way focus rail | M-42 | Available | Owned 12 years | Manual, rack & pinion | 1X-3X | 120 mm | 1 mm | 2.5 kg | — | N/A | Cheap, lightweight, 2-axis | Terrible backlash, inaccurate, no arca mount, no QR mount | Very low mag, low precision uses | $23.00 | VIEW ↗ | low mag only, unstable, only slightly better than no rail |
The table can be viewed right here in my blog, but I will also provide links to the master Excel spreadsheet and a .pdf version, for those who prefer these formats.
For those who prefer it, here is a readable PDF of the same content:
And for those who prefer to play with Excel spreadsheets, here is the source material: