My long awaited $6.49 Light Box

[nilsatcraft]

I have been trying to talk my wife into letting me pick up some materials for making a light box for months now but it seems that every time I'm ready to go shopping, something comes up and the budget for 'extras' is gone. After waiting all this time, I ended up getting the frame for $3.49 on clearance and the fabric for $3.00. Technically I did buy the lamp on the left for $5.99 and some daylight bulbs for $2.00, so I guess you could say I paid closer to $15 for it all (I already had the lamp on the right).
The metal frame was sold as part of a collapsible storage box and came with a green fabric 'box' in it so I cut that out, dug out the sewing machine and sewed up this cube for it, which holds the frame up but can be slipped off so the whole thing can collapse flat. My sewing work leaves much to be desired but it worked out OK. The end results aren't perfect but they're not bad for a cheap-o kit. Comments and criticisms are welcome.

The super high tech setup

The resulting picture (a pen I turned and posted many months ago)

A close up example

 

[RussFairfield]

Good show. It looks like it does the job very nicely, and proves that we don't have to spend a lot of money for the lighting to take nice pictures.

What fabric are you using??

 

[JimGo]

Very nice! I like the fabric. On the close-ups, it gives the pictures a neat look.

 

[tipusnr]

Great job on a value-priced setup!

One question - what's a budget for extras?!?[]

 

[gerryr]

Looks very good, but I second Russ's question about the fabric. I bought a white sheet at Wally world and haven't been terribly pleased with it. Even with a double thickness, I get more specular highlights that I want. And what kind of daylight bulbs did you get for $2.00 each?

 

[nilsatcraft]

I'm really not sure what kind of fabric it is. I went to the fabric store, looked around for a pure white fabric that didn't cost much and seemed to difuse light properly. I found this stuff for $1/yd. It looks nearly identical to the curtains we have in our bedroom- a real sheer fabric. I already threw the receipt away, so I'm not sure what it was called. Sorry!

 

[Dario]

Great idea Nils! And great photos too!

I am (or should I say my wife []) working on a similar setup using a sheer fabric like those on curtains too! I am excited now.

I bought some Reveal bulbs...hope that is the same one you used since I really like your results.

 

[penhead]

Looks great Nils, but a naive (perhaps dumbb) question here from someone who can't even spell fotografy, but realllly needs to learn...where (and how) does your camera sit when you take those close ups....that may be answered in another thread, but hoping you don't mind answering []

 

[Dario]

John,

I assume he is using a tripod. You can get them pretty cheaply...there are table top mini tripods too. Check your Walmart photo section.

 

[nilsatcraft]

John- I almost always use a tripod but the pictures above were taken without one. My camera has macro mode and super macro mode (for pictures within several inches or less of the lens). Most pics are taken in macro mode and the camera is raised a little above the pen but a foot or so back from it. I have to play around a lot with positioning to get the focus within range but with good lighting, it's a lot easier. It's hard to see but in the first pen picture (the middle one) check out the ball shape on the bottom of the clip- you can see the top of our wooden chair and my hands holding the camera. The tripod I have is the cheap $18 one from Wal-Mart but it works fine.

Dario- I think the Reveals work well. I've got a 70 watt Reveal on the right and a 100 watt Daylight on the left- not balanced but they work.

 

[punkinn]

Well-done, Nils! Very nice shots too. You mentioned Super Macro... you wouldn't be using a Canon S2-IS wouldja? I do love mine.

Nancy

 

[penhead]

I have a tripod, but my actual question was meant to be 'where' is the cameral/tripod positioned in relationship to the pen..ie, do you take the picture from the front of the box into the open front side, I presume in retrospect that would be the only logical choice, but not sure how you I would focus the camera once its in postion and using macromode..ie, I suppose my head will fit into the opening of the box, at least far enough to see the focus site..and my arm too, to adjust the focus...?..Or is all that somehow done before it all goes into the box??

Sorry for all the naive questions []

 

[huntersilver]

Nice Job Nils,

looks great, the only thing I would add, is if you can iron out some
of the wrinkles would help with the pic.

Are you using a digital or 33mm with a macro.

Great looking pen too!

 

[Johnathan]

Great closeup. You can fine tune the various problem spots in the reflections in a good photo editor like Adobe. Please let us know what type of camera your using, I am really in need of a new one.[8D]

 

[Dario]

Johnathan,

Try looking at these:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_s2is%2Csony_dsch1%2Cpanasonic_dmcfz5%2Cpanasonic_dmcfz20&show=all

I got the cheapest of this lot--Panasonic DMC-FZ5 a year ago for $350.00 and extremely pleased with it. I imagine most of these may be priced below $400.00 now.

 

[nilsatcraft]

..my actual question was meant to be 'where' is the cameral/tripod positioned in relationship to the pen..

Penhead- Not naive questions at all. I'm no pro but for my pictures I keep the camera anywhere from 1-18 inches away from the subject, mostly depending on whether I'm using Macro or Super Macro mode. With Super Macro mode, the subject can literally be touching the lens and it can keep it in focus. I'm rarely 'in' the photo tent- mostly just near it, using my optical zoom. That way you never need to be too close. I use the autofocus where you push the shutter release halfway down to focus and that does a pretty good job.

Nancy and Jonathan- I love Canon cameras but the one I have is a Fuji Finepix S7000. I paid about $480 for it a couple of years ago. It's a 6.3megapixel with 6x optical zoom. Nowadays, they have the S9000 or S9500. These newer versions are way better and act almost exactly like a digital SLR. 9 Megapixels, better optical zoom, better ISO range, better aperture range, better manual zoom and focus rings, better everything. They cost less than what I paid for mine two years ago, too. If I were buying again today, I'd get the S9500. I've been really happy with mine, though.

The Fuji Finepix S7000 (my camera)

 

[Tea Clipper]

Nils,
You did a great job on your light box, and it sure is nice to be able to save on the $$ too! []
Good job!

 

[Randy_]

Nice job Nils!! Only thing you need to do now is remember to down size your pictures a little so folks don't have do a left/right scroll to see the pictures and read the messages.[^]

 

[rfreeouf]

Originally posted by Randy_
<br />Nice job Nils!! Only thing you need to do now is remember to down size your pictures a little so folks don't have do a left/right scroll to see the pictures and read the messages.[^]

Randy,

It could be the screen resolution on you have set and not the size of the pics Nils posted causing you to have to scroll.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by rfreeouf<br />Randy,

It could be the screen resolution on you have set and not the size of the pics Nils posted causing you to have to scroll.

No doubt you are correct. I use 800x600 which is not the most current standard; but one which lots of people still use. Going to a higher screen resolution gives me a display that I don't like. It causes everything to be compressed and hard to read???

Either lots of people still use the 800/600 resolution or at least size their pictures to accomodate this resolution as I only have problems with this scrolling issue with a small % of the pictures that are posted.

 

[Geo in Winnipeg]

IIRC as long as the picture is 640 or less wide you won't have to scroll. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

edit: I prefer the 800x600 screen resolution also. I find the 1024x768 is a bit too small for me.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by Geo in Winnipeg
<br />IIRC as long as the picture is 640 or less wide you won't have to scroll. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

edit: I prefer the 800x600 screen resolution also. I find the 1024x768 is a bit too small for me.

625 George!!

 

[Geo in Winnipeg]

Thanks Randy. I'll try 625 on the next picture I post.

 

[huntersilver]

Hi Nils, I was on the fence on purchasing a new
digital camera, and decided to go with the 9000S.
Thanks for your review!

 

[nilsatcraft]

Michael- I'm jealous. Be sure to post some pics here soon. That's a sweet camera.