I got a new Christmas present for myself.
If you don’t know what it is, I explain it fully over on Patreon, for the benefit of the supporters who donated money to enable this purchase. I also explain some of my research plans there.
I’m sure some readers here will be able to instantly recognize it — it’s not that exotic — and the rest of you can entertain us all with wrong answers.
Marcus Ranum says
You may want to hang a sandbag on the other end of the boom arm to damp vibration. Or a bottle of water in a shopping bag, which also works.
Looks fun! I know what that’s for :)
davidc1 says
Or a sandbag hanging between the legs to make it more stable .
Reginald Selkirk says
It looks like a camera mount to me. With a rather long precision adjustable stage, oriented vertically in the photo. Hopefully that ball joint locks tight enough to be stable.
stroppy says
HA! I got one of those myself not long ago (not the tripod). Same model. Let us know how it works for you!
René says
No doubt, it is to enable spider porn movies (or pics).
René says
Or, should I add?, meleanogaster snuff movies?
PZ Myers says
You got it quickly! Yes, once I set it up on the lab bench, I’ll load it up with weights.
Reginald Selkirk says
If this is funded through Patreon; does it belong to you, and not the university?
Reginald Selkirk says
This looks like a similar product, but clearly a different brand:
Micro-positioning linear stage
PZ Myers says
Yes, it’s all mine. I get to take it with me into retirement!
Of course, that also means I get taxed on the Patreon income…
René says
I apologize to all black-belly creatures extant. Melanogaster.
Hey, my father was also shaky in his catholic latin. (As if Marinus has anything to do with Renatus).
PaulBC says
René@11 I read it as “megalonasties” anyway.
birgerjohansson says
If you are a serious astronomy nerd, and want to travel to bortle-1 territory you may also want to weigh down the telescope mount (unless you are looking at wide-angle objects, in which case shaking may be less of an issue).
birgerjohansson says
Next patreon-funded thing: that machine Lovecraft wrote about that lets you see the awful invisible things that share space with us and move right through us.
laurian says
It’s a jig to zero in the sights on your assault rifle?
/s
flange says
I think it’s a device for eating corn-on-the-cob in any position.
weylguy says
It’s either a 30-06 or a 5.56 rifle, either of which will be of use to Dr. Myers when a Supreme Court re-appointed Donald Trump comes back to office and announces the assassination of Minnesota liberals.
stroppy says
From the video I meant to post on the Stop it Australia spider thread, but didn’t because brain not work good.
Talk on the history of scientific illustration at the World Science Festival in Brisbane.
It’s just shy of an hour long, however at the 30:25 mark, the presenter, Geoff Thompson, discusses his macro photography setup, including a Mitutoyo objective attached to a 200mm telephoto lens, and shows samples of his work.
spinynorman8 says
Looks like you might try your hand at some focus stacking, like we discussed in an earlier thread. Have fun.