Bencher vs. Kaiser Copystand

<p>I'm looking at buying a copystand that can take up to about 9 pounds: Graphic Super, Bronica GS-1 with bellows, Polaroid 600SE with macro back, etc. About the only companies making reasonably beefy stands in the sub-$1,000 market seem to be Bencher (Copymate 2/3 HC with manufacturer rating of 5-8 lbs) and Kaiser (RS1 with RA-1 arm with manufacturer rating of 8.8 lbs). They are both good stands and are each about $500 new w/o lights. Between these two makes, does anyone have any insight into which one is more heavy duty (i.e. can reliably take more weight)? I may get a heavier camera at some point, so I want the beefiest model I can find.</p>

<p>Kaiser. And Kaiser has far mor lighting options, column height options, baseboar size options and camera arm options. So it can grow and change as your needs change. Add the wall mount option and the two different book easels it can always do exactly what you will need it to do. And, no tools are required to set it up or take it down!</p>

<p>I thought I left a note here ? You can purchase cheap monitor stand ($40) on Amazon that acts just like a stand...though it's without lights. It takes little shimming, etc., but I'm sure the rig could hold more than 20lbs. It slides up and down on the post and you can pan left and right.<br>

Les</p>

 

<p>"I thought I left a note here ? You can purchase cheap monitor stand ($40) on Amazon that acts just like a stand."<br>

Not for real copy work. A good copy stand is designed so that the camera and the base board/subject remain perpendicular at all column heights and that the camera arm can not twist from the perpendicular position, unless intentionally for shooting a large original on a wall. While the monitor stand may be perfectly capable of moving a monitor up and down or swinging it left to right a monitor's positioning is far, far less critical then a camera's position to the subject when copying.<br>

If the camera is not perpendicular to the original then the reproduction's shape will be distorted and may not be critically sharp edge to edge and corner to corner.<br>

Additionally a good copy stand will have aids to assist in good copying technique and to make repetitive jobs much easier, calibrated columns in mm/cm and or inches so it is easy to repeat a required camera height or to compute a new height for a different reproduction ratio. A gridded base board for proper positioning and centering of the copy as well as a ruled scale to also aid set-up.<br>

Lastly a good copy stand should be able to accept a choice of lighting types; tungsten, quartz halogen, screw-in flash units, high frequency as well as standard type high CRI daylight flourescent or UV lights and have arms and reflectors that are easily adjustable for height, angle and distance. The copy stand lights should also accept polarizers as well as diffusors if required for the copy work being done.<br>

None of this would be remotely possible with a monitor stand.</p>

<p>"I thought I left a note here ? You can purchase cheap monitor stand ($40) on Amazon that acts just like a stand."<br>

Not for real copy work. A good copy stand is designed so that the camera and the base board/subject remain perpendicular at all column heights and that the camera arm can not twist from the perpendicular position, unless intentionally for shooting a large original on a wall. While the monitor stand may be perfectly capable of moving a monitor up and down or swinging it left to right a monitor's positioning is far, far less critical then a camera's position to the subject when copying.<br>

If the camera is not perpendicular to the original then the reproduction's shape will be distorted and may not be critically sharp edge to edge and corner to corner.<br>

Additionally a good copy stand will have aids to assist in good copying technique and to make repetitive jobs much easier, calibrated columns in mm/cm and or inches so it is easy to repeat a required camera height or to compute a new height for a different reproduction ratio. A gridded base board for proper positioning and centering of the copy as well as a ruled scale to also aid set-up.<br>

Lastly a good copy stand should be able to accept a choice of lighting types; tungsten, quartz halogen, screw-in flash units, high frequency as well as standard type high CRI daylight flourescent or UV lights and have arms and reflectors that are easily adjustable for height, angle and distance. The copy stand lights should also accept polarizers as well as diffusors if required for the copy work being done.<br>

None of this would be remotely possible with a monitor stand.</p>