DIY Portable Macro Studio For Under $25 (Probably much less)

This is my first Instructable and it came about based out of need for a simple and portable way to photograph small products. I had seen various instructables like this that were made from a cardboard box which are great but not very professional or durable. I had all the materials sitting around left over from a prior project so I thought I'd make use of them.

Materials:

-Grey Plastic Electrical Conduit (Available at Home Depot)
*I think the sticks are 8ft lengths, two of them should be plenty
-8 PVC Pluming 90 degree Elbows 1" Diameter (Available at Home Depot)
-2 sq meters of white cotton, should be thick enough not to be transparent but light enough to let light through.

Tools
-Hand Saw (Band Saw is easier though)
-Scissors
-Sewing Machine
-Measuring Tape
-Pencil

Step 1 Cut The Pipe To Length

You will need to cut the pipes to the proper length now.

You'll need 6 pieces cut to 12" and 2 cut to 16"

Comments

[westfw]

Made one! Used "3/4 inch" sched 40 irrigation pipe rather than electrical conduit, and all I had to buy was the elbows... It seems to have alternate uses as well!

[Sariko]

I would never get all of the cat hair off that.

[jphphotography]

Good job westfw, I'd pull your fabric tighter when you're actually going to use it though (provided it you're cat doesn't claim it as a new bed). I hadn't thought of irrigation pipe although I'm sure it can be constructed from a bunch of different materials. I just used what I had laying around. I plan to add in DIY slave strobes made from disposable cameras as well but haven't had time, winter is coming though and that's the best time for projects. Thanks for sharing your efforts and I'm sorry for not replying sooner.

[westfw]

Since the top and sides are pretty much light diffuser/reflectors, why should they need to be tight? (genuinely curious, here...) As far as I can tell, PVC electrical conduit and PVC irrigation pipe are identical except for color; even the sizes are the same (unlike copper pipe, for instance.)

[jphphotography]

You're right the sides and the top don't just the backdrop to get rid of the wrinkles. I was saying it more as a joke than anything else. I think you're right about the pipe being pretty much the same, they're both PVC. I think the irrigation piping might be a little better for tolerance though, I've found that with the electrical conduit sometimes the PVC plumbing connectors are too tight or way too loose depending on the stick. Anywho thanks again for trying it out, if you get any good shots using it you'll have to share them somehow.

[LinuxH4x0r]

Great job! BTW, you should click the reply button on the comment, otherwise the person who wrote it doesn't know you responded

[jphphotography]

One more thing, the "CAD" drawings were made using Google Sketchup a great little 3d modeling program that is FREE!

[jphphotography]

Thanks for the feedback, you're right about the dimensions it should be 16 inches on the one drawing, because the pieces didn't actually fit together in the drawing I was a little oversize. As for the 1" pipe I'm not sure if that is outside diameter or inside, I'll have to check and then update the instructable but I think it is outside diameter if I'm not mistaken. As far as scaling it you're completely correct, I might make a larger one in the future if I have need for it.

[westfw]

Nice. Good use of combined CAD output and "real life", although I'm not sure all the dimensions add up right (The initial CAD drawing says the long pipe pieces are 1foot 6inches, but the assembly drawings say 16inches. It could be shortening for the part in the couplings, but the short pieces aren't similarly shortened...) Is this "1 inch PVC pipe", or "1 inch diameter" pipe (probably "3/4inch pipe")? I particularly like the way the "draping" fabrics don't really have any critical dimensions. And of course the way the whole thing breaks down for storage, and that it can probably scale to pretty much any convenient dimensions...