Smith-Victor 36" Pro-Duty Copy Stand

This is an excellent stand for my purposes. It is easy to assemble, easily adjustable, and most importantly, strong and solid. The arm securely holds a Nikon D7000 with heavy reproduction lens. Grid lines on the base help align the document or photo you want to reproduce.

I bought this stand to use with a 4x5 camera and Intrepid enlarging back--not for copying, but for projecting images for enlargement and controlled light for contact printing. I chose it because the stated capacity of 8 pounds. The unit is well built in most ways, and very cleverly has a spacer on the mount that can be removed for larger cameras, moving the camera closer to the support. Unfortunately, despite doing this, my 6-pound camera created so much flex in the mount that the back was not level. I was able to shim the connection between the camera and the mount to make it level and I will keep the stand, but this is essentially a hack. I am aware that this was not the stated use of this unit, and it might well be rigid enough to hold 8 pounds of SLR or mirrorless camera level as advertised, but folks considering the stand for use with a large format camera might like to have this information.

We have a lifetime of family photos that only exist in print or slide form. The Smith-Victor 36 Pro-Duty Copy Stand is allowing me to quickly and easily re-photograph both prints and slides (with a light pad) so that these family treasures can be shared and backed up against loss. The camera mount makes it quick to adjust so the camera back is parallel to the base, and the grid makes it easy to align the photos, whatever their size.

Copy stands are a specialized tool that many photographers might like to own but most will never need. If you still work in a darkroom you can always mount a camera on an enlarger stand which usually offers stability coupled with multiple alignment features and probably geared focus. Put that functionality in a dedicated copy stand and you will be in for 2k and up, and up, and up. Or you can buy a unit like the Smith-Victor 36 “ cheap and cheerful basic functionality. Apart from a few needlessly annoying niggles, and with some doable but significant modifications, this is actually pretty good value. First the niggles. All of the components seem to zero out fine except for the camera mount itself, which appears to have been manufactured a full degree off square to the column. Does it really cost more to make this key component right than to make it wrong? Then there is an overly mushy silicone thingy on the camera mount that compounds the alignment problem as the camera weight is added. The 8 lb. load specs that quotes are optimistic (the included instructions do not specify a load factor). A pro DSLR with a 105 AF macro will throw the alignment off by a couple of additional degrees.Two pounds is probably closer to the usable load limit. And then the camera attachment screw is a slippery fiddly .D ring affair that is endlessly frustrating to use “ knurled knob please. Now the modifications. As expected, up and down adjustment is via a simple clutch, so it is jerky and imprecise. Mounting a high quality focussing rail (meaning one that likely costs more than this stand does) is pretty much essential, especially if you plan on doing macro work or digitizing film. So if you do not already own one of these rails I would not buy this stand. Then take the squishy mounting pad off and replace with something solid. That will reduce camera shake considerably. Then make some shims and fiddle about until everything zeros out. I see that another reviewer of this product fashioned a wooden block for mounting the focussing rail directly onto the camera head. Great idea “ eventually I am sure I will do likewise. Final verdict - the unit is not an out-of-the-box solution “ more a DIY project. But once you have done all of the fiddling, you will have close to the functionality of a unit that would set you back 6-8 times the money. So provided you already own a solid focusing rail, this is a pretty good deal for anyone who, like me, may only require a copy stand on an occasional basis. Three rather than four stars simply because some of the DIY adjustments would have been less bother had a few of the components been better manufactured or thought out in the first place.

I would buy this again. However my needs may not match yours. I am using the stand to copy negatives with a Pentax 645Z. The results are superior to most scanners including drum scanners. The vertical post and clamp locking mechanism (the head) is very good. The base is OK but is not made of really stiff material; I believe it is composite chipboard. But should you want to substitute the base with 3/4 inch plywood, I suspect it would be really stiff. The problem is the two plastic components attached to the head: the extension and the camera mount. Both are made of flexible plastic. Then the actual surface where the camera is attached is covered with a ribbed, softish rubber pad that is really soft allowing the camera to flex or droop further compromising alignment. I used a laser alignment tool and shims to correct final alignment. Solution: remove the plastic components and replace with a wooded block, see photo. That really corrects any significant movement. Added to the block is the Kirk FR-2 Focusing Rail (outstanding focusing tool, # KIFR2WBAG).

Sturdy construction. Allows for the attachment of cameras with a standard tripod thread. Movement of camera platform on center column is smooth and positive. If anything, I wish the base plate was larger.