The Light Cage has Landed!

The long-awaited macro photography light cage…

has finally arrived, and in this far-too-long video I will show you how to build one of your own.

I first came up with this concept several years ago and ever since building the first prototype I have been fiddling with improvements to make this the most flexible, versatile, and customizable platform for macro photography.

It consists of a large, heavy base section with a PVC cage at one end and a positionable camera sled and focus rail at the other. This makes positioning your camera a breeze and it also provides a very stable base from which to shoot deep focus stacks for incredible images.

The cage, before adding lighting, diffusers, or gels

The rig can handle even the heaviest DSLRs and mirrorless cameras and works just as well with macro lenses as it does with complex lens combinations, extension tubes, and even bellows.

In next week’s blog post I will demonstrate the many cool ways in which this platform can be used to create interesting and unique lighting alternatives. But first you need to build yourself one of these things. This video should help a lot.

Here are the parts list and cutting diagram:

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to shoot me a message, I’d be happy to help!