Another home made Lightbox

bardster

bardster

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Would appreciate some comments on my homemade lightbox.

The frame is aluminium angle from homebase, the sides and angled back are opal perspex. The base is white perspex as is the lid (only there to stop the lights blinding you)

The bulb holders came from ebay and have a standard light fitting for the stands or manfrotto light clamps. The bulbs are daylight balanced 85W fluorescents, also from ebay. I also have a third light I can use at the side or front. Also a couple of pieces of A4 sized mirror perspex for bouncing in highlights.

lightbox.jpg

lightbox2.jpg


the base/backgrounds are just coloured paper.

and here's a pic using it. No adjustments have been made apart from cropping.
ingram.jpg


so... Thoughts?
 
It looks great :)

No harsh shadows and if it's had no white balance adjustments, it's worked a treat.

I'd like to see more images of it :)

How long do the bulbs take to stabilise?
Sometimes the energy saving type bulbs have a soft start and can take a few mins before they give out the correct light.
 
Pure hobbyist brilliance!

.... also a very clever set up. i am taking notes. :cautious:

:D
 
Quality workmanship! :)
 
digitalfailure said:
It looks great :)

No harsh shadows and if it's had no white balance adjustments, it's worked a treat.

I'd like to see more images of it :)

How long do the bulbs take to stabilise?
Sometimes the energy saving type bulbs have a soft start and can take a few mins before they give out the correct light.
Click to expand...

I'll sort some out tomorrow ;) i had not noticed any delay with the bulbs but they tend to have been on for a least five minutes before I start shooting. Because they run cool it doesnt matter how long they are on for. and even tho they are equivalent to 400w they run at 85w so no huge power consumption either.
Its not the cheapest solution in the world but it works for me.
The holders and bulbs are about £25 each, the mini stands £15 each or you can use clamps, about £25 for 5 acrylic sheets 500mmx500mm and maybe another £10 for the angle. So just over £100 will get you a pretty good lightbox.
 
Well here we go then, bit more detail on the light box.

lightbox1.jpg

the angled back is held in place by aluminium angle stuck to the sides with double sided tape.


Here's a shot of the back showing the lightholders mounted on superclamps
I also have mini stands for them.
lightbox-back.jpg


and from the front
lightbox-front.jpg


and with the top on to shield your eyes
lightbox-lid.jpg


a shot of the corner detail showing how its all held togetether
corner detail.jpg


as you can see the corner bracket is stuck to the perspex sheet with double sided tape and then bolted to the cross pieces.
and some of the card i use as backgrounds
backgrounds.jpg
 
SO here's a few shots taken using the box. Only thing I have done is set a custom WB and resized them.
EDC.jpg

garlic.jpg

spoons.jpg
 
Nice light box fantastic results., and nice cutlery too, Chris reeves and Gene Ingram, nice;) must ask what else have you got?
 
What a BRILLIANT set-up (scuze the pun)

I'm a hobbiest knife-maker as well as making native american style wooden flutes and have been looking for a way to photo record them before they sell.

Is the perspex any particular sort / thickness? I know from a project I did years ago that there are lots of different sorts of perspex that let varying amounts of light through. I wondered if the thickness makes any difference? If it is too thin maybe you would see the lights as hot-spots?

Thanks for sharing this, it is 100% what I have been looking for and will double up for studio macro work (bugs etc). :clap:
 
wildtracks said:
What a BRILLIANT set-up (scuze the pun)

I'm a hobbiest knife-maker as well as making native american style wooden flutes and have been looking for a way to photo record them before they sell.

Is the perspex any particular sort / thickness? I know from a project I did years ago that there are lots of different sorts of perspex that let varying amounts of light through. I wondered if the thickness makes any difference? If it is too thin maybe you would see the lights as hot-spots?

Thanks for sharing this, it is 100% what I have been looking for and will double up for studio macro work (bugs etc). :clap:
Click to expand...


the perspex is 3mm opal NOT white. white seems to be too opaque I have used 5mm opal as well but again it blocks slightly too much. Clear works well for some applications but you do get hot spots. A layer of tissue paper can act as a nice diffuser tho. 3mm works well without hotspots as long as the lights are an inch or so away.

As a hobbiest knife maker you too may be interested in another forum I frequent, www.britishblades.com/forums We would love to see some of your work over there!
 
In danger of going off topic here, but I know britishblades well.

I have made lightboxes in the past using 3mm opal. That is what I have in the loft! I used them to backlight my artwork. Mine were 2" deep wallmounted slim boxes used for exhibition.

I was amazed at how expensive the proper stuff is compared to cheap as chips plastic sheeting you get in your local DIY store.

You have inspired to make something similar. I'll post images once I have knocked something together. Perhaps I'll photo a few bits of cutlery to show the results...
 
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