Nodal Slide by Acratech for Accurate Panorama Photography

This is the top notch focus rail. The preset stops work precisely and the scales are engraved on multiple sides for easy viewing. Can't do much better than that.

I've always liked Acratech products, but have equally always been warry of the price. This particular item was dropped and lost for around 7 months. I didn;t know where it had been lost, until the other day when I realized I had dropped it under a car tire, and had been driving over it for those seven months. It come out unscathed, unbent, unscratched. Acratech is truly bomb proof [well at least car, gravel, mud, weather etc proof].

Without doing an exhaustive search, I think this may be the most expensive nodal slide you can buy. That said, you won't find a better made or more precise slide from any vendor. Many reviewers have expounded on the many great qualities of this slide, but I would like to point out just a couple of areas where this slide could be improved: (1) The adjustable stops are a nice feature, but are locked in place with a 7/64" hex. This is not a wrench size you'll find on any photographic "multi-tool" and so, if you think the stops will have to be changed in the field, carrying the supplied 7/64" wrench is a must. Making the lock screws fit a more standard 2.5mm wrench would be nice, or on a slide this expensive, at least a slot to store the 7/64" wrench. Further, the useable travel of one stop is limited by the Arca-Swiss mount. It will slide under the mount, but then there's no way to lock it without totally removing the mount. (2) A great feature of this rail, which many other rails do not have, and which I consider essential for a nodal slide, is the ability to rotate the Arca-Swiss mount 90-degrees. This is done by loosening the mount screw with either a straight-blade or 5/32" wrench (included). A nice improvement would be to provide that screw with a flip-down finger grip so that the mount could be adjusted without the use of tools. Expensive, yes, but if you want the best quality and performance possible, Acratech products are the way to go.

I purchased this nodal slide to work with the Acratech Panoramic Head (1165) and they work well together. I watched the Acratech video on achieving the "non-parallex point" and then tested all my lenses at all the focal lengths I planned on using and all my panoramas are coming out perfectly in Lightroom. There are no wasted pixels using this setup. Note: I am shooting with a Sony A7RII and Sony Zoom lenses.

I just have received the Rail. Then spent the time necessary to calibrate the rail with my lenses. I have not yet used it in the field so my "review" has to be limited to build,feel,look and SO far - functionality. I will say I have the GV2 Ball Head, and the L bracket which I have used heavily for several years and they are superb - build,function,precision and looks.

Like every other Acratech product I have ordered, this is precision machined and really exceptional quality. Keep up the great work Scott! Love your company and will continue to highly recommend your products.

Very impressed at the use of the Nodal Slide and how easy it is to place on the Acratech Ball Head. The two quick indicator stops can set your focal length nodal point adjustment saves time when in the field. Set up is quick, easy and accurate. I would recommend this product if you are doing panorama photography with close in objects.

I use this not as a nodal rail but as a focusing "assist" rail for macros and macro focus stacking. My camera has an in-camera focus bracketing and focus stacking feature so the precision mechanism of the traditional quality focusing rail is no longer required except for the most exacting scientific work. In-camera focus bracketing is done in seconds rather than minutes and in theory, has the perspective advantage of keeping the camera to subject distance constant.