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DIY Light Tent

Started by bones615, November 07, 2009, 12:41:10 PM

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bones615

Just spent a couple of hours building a collapsable light tent from an old pillow case & some scraps of wood in the garage. It works well but is on the small side so if it gets a lot of use I will upscale it using a thinner material & add some velcro to the flap (maybe even sand down the rough edges). Any other ideas for improvement welcomed.

Simon



bones615

Plan B, just been looking on Ebay & these things are surprisingly cheap to buy, but bearing in mind I dont have any lights just the flash on & off camera how big a tent would be sensible? looking at 20" but there is also a 32" for less than £20.

Simon

Oldboy

Quote from: bones615 on November 10, 2009, 09:45:59 PM
Plan B, just been looking on Ebay & these things are surprisingly cheap to buy, but bearing in mind I dont have any lights just the flash on & off camera how big a tent would be sensible? looking at 20" but there is also a 32" for less than £20.

Simon

I'd buy the bigger one and use spot lights or the industrial lights you can buy for about £5.  See link below. :tup:

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9372505&fh_view_size=10&fh_start_index=30&fh_eds=%3f&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372013%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372029%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372112%7d&fh_refview=lister&ts=1257890622898&isSearch=false&fl=1

skellum

#3
With my electrician head on for a moment I should warn you that such lights get extremely hot and should not be used anywhere near materials like cotton pillow cases or small light boxes.  They are designed for outdoor use only and 500 watts will be way over the top for indoor lighting anyway .  It was a similar light that started the fire at Windsor Castle all those years ago. ( a bit like holding a magnifying glass to paper in bright sunshine )

End of public health warning.... :) :).......  :legit:

I think the desired effect your after in a light box could be done with a standard desk / spot light  used as your model lamp and your flash to take out the shadows but I think Johnathan would know more about lighting in light boxes than I do........ :legit:

Hinfrance

I've decided to push the boat out and have just spent £22.98 on an 80cm cube lightbox (more than half of which was postage, curse the channel).

It's got to be better than the cardboard box and tracing paper I am using at the moment, which is collapsing a bit to be honest. So that's for the bin. But I'll still have my various desk lamps to point into it.

Dave, I  do use halogen work lamps 150w or 300w. They certainly do get hot, but keeping them the recommended 1 metre away from anything flammable has worked so far . . .
Howard  My CC Gallery
My Flickr
The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil. H.L Mencken.

jinky

Been looking at these myself H. Can you give a link to the one you went for if it is any good. Seen a few different models for around £16 and not sure how sturdy / foldable they are. Could be another Christmas present for myself methinks!

Hinfrance

Another eBay disaster there jinky I'm afraid. My eBay shipping address is here in France, but my PayPal address is an accommodation address in the UK because like many so called international companies PayPal's system is actually very parochial. It just can't accept that I can have a UK bank account account and not actually be resident in the UK - it is physically impossible for me to add my actual address to my PayPal account.

Anyway, the crux of it is that the UK company I ordered the light tent from has a policy that they will only despatch orders to the PayPal address, although they didn't say so on their shop page. They told me after they'd accepted my payment for international shipping and already posted it to, basically, nowhere in the UK. So I've been doubly ripped off. Should have known better than to deal with people from Manchester. Despite the fact they are in breach of contract they won't refund, so I have had to raise a dispute with PayPal - fat chance of success, but there you are.

So, if you manage to get a decent light tent, do let me know, there's a decent chap  ;)

In future I shall stick to Chinese eBay people -my experience with them has been 100%; they are honest, courteous and fast.
Howard  My CC Gallery
My Flickr
The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil. H.L Mencken.

jinky

Sorry to hear that H. If there is anyway that I can help by them maybe shipping to me and me sending it on I will do so. They cannot take your money and refuse to ship - surely even ebay/paypal can sort out that one. If it looks a good one and you send a link I can order one and offer to do the postal job - then again if they are dodgy maybe I should avoid. If I avoid a Manchester one I should be OK then - although I am sure that is exactly where the one I was looking at is :-\

Hinfrance

You're in the UK jinky, shouldn't cause you any problems.

They have shipped, but to an address where parcels won't be received. It'll possibly get sent back to them or more likely binned or nicked.
Howard  My CC Gallery
My Flickr
The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil. H.L Mencken.

jimthetrain

I bought one of these from maplins about two years ago. Can't remember the exact price but i'm sure it was less than £20. Folds up as below.
BOOZE!!! Helping ugly people have sex.

Oldboy

Quote from: jimthetrain on November 14, 2009, 03:24:39 PM
I bought one of these from maplins about two years ago. Can't remember the exact price but i'm sure it was less than £20. Folds up as below.


I've got on of those and it cost £9.99.

jimthetrain

Quote from: Oldboy on November 14, 2009, 06:45:08 PM
Quote from: jimthetrain on November 14, 2009, 03:24:39 PM
I bought one of these from maplins about two years ago. Can't remember the exact price but i'm sure it was less than £20. Folds up as below.


I've got on of those and it cost £9.99.

That's right. They were on half price offer. I remember now. :tup:
BOOZE!!! Helping ugly people have sex.

Hinfrance

Despite having said it was going to be posted elsewhere, my light tent turned up today - so this could be in WMFGT as well.

Here is a test shot from it, rather pleased with it. Simple flash head on either side of the tent:

Howard  My CC Gallery
My Flickr
The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil. H.L Mencken.

Graham

   Looks as though it does the job.
   Glad it turned up. (Have faith!).
             Graham. :)
Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. 

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Simon

I have an off camera flash and an LED camping lamp for £30.00 very useful it has been. Nice and bright and built in battery makes it a good portable tool..
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