large format parts? for use in a digital camera camera enclosure

[ethics_gradient]

I think I remember hearing about reasonably priced automatic ones used for amateur astronomy (telescopes tracking stars in the night sky) being re-purposed for this kind of application.

[mattkime]

>>A pan and tilt head mounted on a 4 way focus rail like this, http://cgi.ebay.com/4way-Macro-focus...item414badb31a, will give you all the movements except vertical. Since you're only positioning it once, the vertical could be done with shims or blocks.

oooo! perfect!

[Lightbender]

Why not put a 4 way macro rail on top of a tripod with a geared column?

You get the left/right and forward/back movements from the rail. The tripod head gives you pan and tilt, and geared center column will give you controlled rise/fall.

One problem with this rig though is that your movements will not be center axis.
For yaw-free movements, you would need something with a fork, like a cambo camera, or an L shape, like a horseman LE. By using just the front standard on its rail, you can get pan/tilt and forward/back. Put that on a tripod with geared center column and wheels and you get all the movements you want.

[Bob Salomon]

Why not put a 4 way macro rail on top of a tripod with a geared column?

You get the left/right and forward/back movements from the rail. The tripod head gives you pan and tilt, and geared center column will give you controlled rise/fall.

One problem with this rig though is that your movements will not be center axis.
For yaw-free movements, you would need something with a fork, like a cambo camera, or an L shape, like a horseman LE. By using just the front standard on its rail, you can get pan/tilt and forward/back. Put that on a tripod with geared center column and wheels and you get all the movements you want.

You get yaw free movements when the tilt axis is below the swing axis. Doesn't matter if it is a base tilt or axis tilt, base, L or U support. All that matters is where the tilt and swing pivots are. Not the rise or shift controls.

What you are proposing is what Linhof used on their studio cameras for decades, direct displacements rather then indirect displacements. A level camera used with rise and shift movements rather then an inclined camera used with tilt and swing controls, is always yaw-free. The limiting factor is how large a circle the lens will cover.

[Bob Salomon]

A pan and tilt head mounted on a 4 way focus rail like this, http://cgi.ebay.com/4way-Macro-focus...item414badb31a, will give you all the movements except vertical. Since you're only positioning it once, the vertical could be done with shims or blocks.

I'd probably just mount the pan and tilt head on a piece of exterior grade plywood, position the camera, and screw it all down to the floor of the enclosure.

That would never support the weight or move far enough in any direction for large format. You would need something more like this:
http://www.novoflex.com/en/products/.../castel-cross/