Motorize Your DSLR Zoom Lens

This project by Do-It-Yourself directs you to develop a motorized zoom machine, which can be perfectly used for spiral star trails or for zooming the lens in and out. Further, the gear sizes and the lens gear can be altered accordingly to suit your cameras zoom lens. In this project, a Nikon D800 with a 14-24mm zoom lens is used as an example.

Servo City list of this project includes Gear Motor, Aluminum Clamping Motor Mount, Aluminum Channel, Square Screw plates, Zinc-Plated Alloy Steel Socket Head Cap Screw, Bore Set Screw Hub, Shafting & Tubing Spacers, OD Flanged Ball Bearing (Stainless Steel), DC Power Cable, Digital Manual Speed Controller, 12v Battery Tray, Female Crimp Terminals ad D-Shaft ad some essential tools.

Components Required for the DIY project (Image Courtesy: http://diyourself.ru)

A 9″ aluminum channel is connected to the 12″ aluminum channel with the help of a square screw plate and Zinc-Plated Alloy Steel Socket Head Cap Screws. The placing height of the 9″ channel is dependent on the camera model and lens. Next Ball Bearings, spacers, D-Shaft and Large Gear are inserted.

The 32 tooth 6mm Pinion gear is attached to the motor and 5 RPM Motor to rotate the lens extremely slow. The Aluminum clamping motor mount is attached to the 9″ channel to the large gear and then the motor is inserted.  Now, a motion control box is attached to the power supply. This is followed by a gear attached to your lens and the motor to the tripod.