The Lightblock Project

stevelmx5

stevelmx5

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Steve
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I haven't shot any (paid) portraits this year having been too busy to fit any in. However, as I'm shooting mainly MF film I've been working on an idea to add to my portfolio that's a bit more unique than standard digital prints.

I'm still just at the rough mock up stage but I had the idea of doing a shoot either entirely on film or a mix of film/digital but then, after scanning them, offer individual negatives as a completely unique image as there will always only be one copy of the negative. Rather than just give the negatives in a sleeve, I've put together a 'personal' lightbox which presents a single negative (currently any size up to 6x6) with a matching black surround. The lightbox stands up by itself and uses LEDs so does not get hot and is very cheap to run. I see it as a unique bedside photo/night light that can be left on all of the time.

Just thought I'd get everyone's thoughts before I make a better quality version.

This is the lightbox without the black front surround (the red line was a rough guide for the frame)

View attachment 11631

View attachment 11632

View attachment 11633

The negative I've used (a slide obviously otherwise it would look pretty odd in inverted colours!) was just what I had to hand. I've also started to build in a USB charger function so that phones can be charged directly from the lightbox.

Cheers
Steve
 
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That looks very effective and if its dual purpose as a phone charger I can see it being a winner. How many people use their phones as an alarm nowadays? Quite a lot I think and if they can charge it up at the same time, bonus.

Andy
 
Cheers guys. The idea of combining the charger with the photo frame/night light was because I'm normally battling with limited plug sockets so to combine this and the charger under one seems like the best plan.
 
It's a great idea but I'd want an option to turn off the lamp while still charging my phone, otherwise it might keep me up all night.

Would you need to get some sort of fire safety certificate for it?
 
Strappy said:
It's a great idea but I'd want an option to turn off the lamp while still charging my phone, otherwise it might keep me up all night.

Would you need to get some sort of fire safety certificate for it?
Click to expand...

Fair comment regarding the light. I see it as a dual purpose night light for a childs room which would be on all night and a dimmable/switched light for a main bedroom. I'm looking into a couple of switching options including basic on/off toggle and also the option of the front black surround being the switch itself in some way such as twisting it to turn off. I'd make sure that the lightbox and powered female usb were powered independently so both could be used separately.

I imagine there will be regulations for chargers/nightlights so that's my next step after getting it working :0)

Cheers
Steve
 
very cool I say and Slide Fillum of course :)
 
You have made me think about a cracking idea as well with this thread.

What about a long thin frame about a inch thick that mounts about 10 in a row all back lit?

WOW
 
This a cracking idea Steve, put me down for a couple when you get production started.
 
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Thanks Mr Bump, I'll give you a shout if I branch out from 6x6 slides ;0)

Cheers Nick, much appreciated. I'm a way off selling any yet but I'll give you a shout when I've got a final version to test.

Cheer
Steve
 
Ok, looking for some quick feedback before photo lightbox version 2 :0)

I'm looking at a couple of options to allow for more or larger single negatives (up to 6x9) and have got these at the moment;

1) More industrial styling, solid metal, freestanding with no wall mount option. The acrylic would either be a single rectangular piece or 2 smaller square pieces and then a magnetic sheet on top to hold the slides in place and provide the frame.

View attachment 11693
View attachment 11694

2) Classic picture frame style. Wood/glass combination with freestanding and wall mounting possible. Would look 'softer' on a bedside whilst providing the same acrylic size (single rectangle) for up to 6x9 single negative or multiple smaller negatives. Would be a glass overlay with frame insert above acrylic.

View attachment 11695

Personally, I think the classic picture frame would have a wider appeal but the industrial metal option is a bit different. Both will have the same usb charge function but the metal case could potentially have a touch dimmer function built in.

All feedback appreciated :0)

Cheers
Steve
 
I can see there being a market for both options. Sorry, that doesn't help much, does it.

One thought, could you integrate a digital alarm clock to complete the bedside light option? Or is that taking the idea too far away from what you intended?
 
Thanks Strappy. I've picked up the deep photo frame for now so will work on that option as I've already had a couple of people asking about wall mounting.

I could potentially include a small digital clock but it would eat in to the lightbox size and I'm not sure whether people would just use an alarm clock app on their phone (which is being charged by the light box). I'll factor in a phone stand attached to the side as a dual purpose device which then puts the phone screen in eye line.

Cheers
Steve
 
I was thinking deep photo frame myself but the desk mounted version also looks great.
 
Thanks, I'll keep both in mind. I've found a very small digital clock module that could be mounted behind the acrylic and above the negatives so it displays through. Might have to pick one up and do some testing :0)
 
stevelmx5 said:
I could potentially include a small digital clock but it would eat in to the lightbox size and I'm not sure whether people would just use an alarm clock app on their phone (which is being charged by the light box). I'll factor in a phone stand attached to the side as a dual purpose device which then puts the phone screen in eye line.
Click to expand...

:banghead:

I don't know why I didn't think of the phone alarm, particularly as that's what I use to wake up each morning ... :confused:

Guess I'm stuck in the past, back when digital watches were still thought to be a neat idea. :(
 
I like this idea :)

Thoughts:

- Not keen on the metal version myself, but would use the traditional frame type.

- I'm not convinced the wall version needs the USB charger; who wants cables hanging down their walls to charge a phone? I think if it's not on your bedside table, it loses its need for USB.

- Similarly, how will you power the wall version? I wouldn't buy one if it had to be plugged in to the mains, again because cables could ruin the effect. Battery powered?

- While I get that an inverted negative wouldn't work with MF, I think a version to display a 35mm negative strip or two could work very well. However as I understand it you want to use this as a way to offer a unique option for images you've taken and are selling, so maybe 35mm doesn't work so well; that'd be more of an off the shelf thing for people to mount their own negs.
 
Thanks for taking the time with feedback.

I agree that the metal casing will be an individual taste. I'm currently focussing on the classic picture frame style before anything else.

My initial plan was the bedside/desk standing unit so being powered from a plug wouldn't be an issue but I see why that wouldn't be wanted for a wall mounted version. If I use 5v LEDs I could power it off a 9v PP3 or 3 AA's but I'm not sure how slick it would be having to take it off the wall and replace batteries as required. Might be better with a mobile phone type battery and inductive charging so the frame could be sat on a desk based charger rather than replacing batteries. Again, I'll focus on the original bedside based cabled version and then look to retrofit a battery system afterwards.

With regards to 35mm negatives, that wouldn't be a problem. I'm designing the unit so the acrylic section is one single piece and then any mask can be used according to the negatives being used (like on a flatbed scanner). That way, you can swap and change negatives according to favourites or what you've recently shot. I initially concentrated on 120 because I like large negatives but also haven't got any E6 slide film in 35mm!

Cheers
Steve
 
I can send you some 35mm Slide Film neg strips.
 
View attachment 11725

Rough sizing showing 2 6x6 negatives in a 6"x4" deep frame. The glass will be rebated into the other side of the frame and bonded in so no clips and there will be LEDs behind the white acrylic with a black or any other coloured frame around the negatives :0)
 
wow.

simply wow

Not sure how I missed this thread. But I want one.

Have to say, this looks like the perfect kind of product/project for kickstarter crowd source funding
 
Thanks Steve, that's a really nice compliment :0).

As soon as I've got something nearer completion I'll take some proper product shots showing better detail. I've still got to add the usb charge function so have been reading up on the Apple requirements!

Cheers
Steve
 
stevelmx5 said:
I've just seen that there was a link to your old thread in 2013. I promise I didn't see your earlier thread and take the credit! I guess great minds just think alike :0)
Click to expand...

Hehe, it's quite alright you're actually progressing with your one. I'm more of an ideas man...
 
think it needs a stand off distance.
most of the results on youtube show em being used to start fires however :s
 
Thanks :0)

I'm in need some electronics assistance. As part of the 'delicacy' of iDevice charging, I'm adding a 2v supply to each of the USB data pins so the simplest option is to use resistors from the 5v line. However, I'm having trouble finding the resistors I need in the usual locations (Maplin/RS etc) and was hoping someone here might be able to advise/help. I'm looking for 2 of each of the following resistors or their equivalent;

1/8W 1% 75K resistor
Violet Green Black Red Brown
This part may also appear as a Brown-body 7502F DALE resistor



1/8W 1% 49.9K resistor
Yellow White White Red Brown



Any help would be appreciated because at the moment I'm only looking for 2 of each as part of my testing rather than a reel of 200 of them!

Cheers
Steve
 
Maplin will sell the correct resistance rating, but the power rating for all their metal film resistors is 0.6w but they are the same physical size as a 1/4w resistor. I think you'll struggle to get 1/8w resistors in a size which you could hand solder and if you could you would probably cook them!

This is the chicken: http://www.maplin.co.uk/search?text=75k+resistor&x=0&y=0

I don't know if you'll get one which is exactly 49.9k but resistors have a bit of a margin of error so something around that rating will be fine.
 
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