  By means of CCD photometry in three bands (Gunn g, r, i) we investigate the
existence of 12 candidate clusters extracted via a model independent peak
finding algorithm (\cite{memsait}) from DPOSS data. The derived color-magnitude
diagrams allow us to confirm the physical nature of 9 of the cluster
candidates, and to estimate their photometric redshifts. Of the other
candidates, one is a fortuitous detection of a true cluster at z~0.4, one is a
false detection and the last is undecidable on the basis of the available data.
The accuracy of the photometric redshifts is tested on an additional sample of
8 clusters with known spectroscopic redshifts. Photometric redshifts turn out
to be accurate within z~0.01 (interquartile range).
