"Jim Thompson" wrote in
message ...
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

I have a "copy stand" which is for taking photos of photos; but I use it for
photos of PCBs. It has a camera mount which slides up and down. I bought a
camera with macro mode; but I think you get better depth of focus with the
camera further away on high zoom. If you have any perfectionist tendencies,
you can spend ages with lighting / shadows and squaring the camera up
perfectly to the object.