DIY Strip box Now with my version :).

kiteninja

kiteninja

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Morgan Lee
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Right here is my plan but haveing a few problems getting materials cheap enough,

I want to make some Strip boxes but they need to be very shallow as room doesn't permit the use of normal Strip boxes 1 either side leaves me with enough space to photograph a Bamboo no room for a model lol.

My idea is a bit similar but alot cruder then a Hensel Lightbar my thinking was a box made from aluminium around 200 wide, 200mm deep, 1000mm High with a S-fit speed ring welded on the bottom to fit my flash too, inside would be painted white then use some Highly reflective Aluminium sheet like you get in Strip lights its kind of crinkled rolled to a curve in the back with a thick piece of frosted acrylic on the front then add barn doors.

Problem - How do I get the most even light?
Would I be best suited to using 2 lights 1 top 1 bottom?
 
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I've never tried it but the obvious problem is getting the light to spread out adequately, especially as you're making them very shallow - which is a bit of a contradiction.

So yes, I'm guessing that it can't be done well with one flash, you'll need at least two to get even light distribution. Results might not be too bad with just one though if you have a partial reflective panel on the inner diffuser, as per Bowens.

BTW, you don't need crinkled alluminium foil - matt white is fine, the light is slightly softer and only about 1/5th stop of light is lost - Chimera have been making softboxes with white interiors for years.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I've never tried it but the obvious problem is getting the light to spread out adequately, especially as you're making them very shallow - which is a bit of a contradiction.

So yes, I'm guessing that it can't be done well with one flash, you'll need at least two to get even light distribution. Results might not be too bad with just one though if you have a partial reflective panel on the inner diffuser, as per Bowens.

BTW, you don't need crinkled alluminium foil - matt white is fine, the light is slightly softer and only about 1/5th stop of light is lost - Chimera have been making softboxes with white interiors for years.
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That helps :) I can get the inside painted Matt white which would be easier, I can make them slighly deeper say 300/400mm but at the moment.
Head plus softbox is around 800mm which is far too much even on the little background stands which have a very small footprint (damn my small space :().

Would makeing them as deep as I can help with light distribution & wider?
 
Just a thought, if you have plenty of power available from your flash, could you run a semi-opaque tube up the length of the box with the flash inserted into one of the ends – the result may be a bit like a halogen strip light (although you will still get some light fall off down the tube obviously) it’s going to cost quite a few stops of light though I would imagine.
 
kiteninja said:
That helps :) I can get the inside painted Matt white which would be easier, I can make them slighly deeper say 300/400mm but at the moment.
Head plus softbox is around 800mm which is far too much even on the little background stands which have a very small footprint (damn my small space :().

Would makeing them as deep as I can help with light distribution & wider?
Click to expand...
Yes, the deeper the better - the light needs to bounce around A LOT for the distribution of the light to be even.

That's why Lencarta softboxes are all pretty deep and it's also why the cheapies sold on Fleabay and many websites simply don't work.

AFAIK the only shallow ones that work are the expensive ones that have a semi-reflective patch in the centre of the inner diffuser, an idea that someone in the USA developed and which can be found on the Bowens Wafer in the UK.

FYI, the Lencarta folding strip softbox is 140cm long and 40cm deep (measured to the outer diffuser) so it's reasonable to assume that it could be just 20cm deep if you made it with two flash heads instead of 1
 
irelanst said:
Just a thought, if you have plenty of power available from your flash, could you run a semi-opaque tube up the length of the box with the flash inserted into one of the ends – the result may be a bit like a halogen strip light (although you will still get some light fall off down the tube obviously) it’s going to cost quite a few stops of light though I would imagine.
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Only problem with that is I investigated some tube to do this and it was pretty damn expensive.


@Garry, I will start construction this week and see how it pans out :) could be a good little project :) time to look for a cheap swival mount to go on a lightstand :)
 
That look s pretty good :) i think I'll nock one of those up instead :) as i've got some 4" ali tube at work that I can salvage for this worth a go :), weld on an end cap and an s-fit ring on the bottom :).


Morgan.
 
Garry Edwards said:
You'd need a mask running along each side - as it is, that 'softbox' will spill light everywhere
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How big would you say they need to be I've made some 75mm Barn doors for either side of the opening basicly fixed at an angle see if they work.
 
kiteninja said:
How big would you say they need to be I've made some 75mm Barn doors for either side of the opening basicly fixed at an angle see if they work.
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That should do. The Lencarta softboxes are recessed by about that amount,and they work fine.
 
The DIY Sabre Strip referred to above:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lbphotowinnipeg/5847199713/

is mine.

I just did some tests.
Firstly, as mentioned above by GarryEdwards, they do spill light everywhere so if you need to concentrate the light, some "barn door" strips would be needed. I hadn't thought of that so thank you GE. I will try it.

As far as spreading the light evenly down the length of the strip, I tried all zoom beam settings from 17mm to 70mm. I found a very nice even spread of light for the whole length at the 24mm setting. As the beam went up from 24mm the spread of light became more concentated (ie less even) with increasing fall-off out from the centre.

I use a Nikon speedlight inside the strip and on Maunual mode the settings that produced the most even exposure for the length of the strip were Zoom: 24mm at f1.4. From there the manual settings went up and down evenly as expected with 1/16 power = f8 at 4'. Everything else follows the inverse square law as expected.

Here is my last test image on a wall about 4' x 6'. The Sabre Strip and the camera are 6 ft. from the wall.

6173751944_8fcd28ac09.jpg


Overall it's about 1 stop underexposed.

Hope this helps.

Has anyone made a similar strip with a white interior? How does it work? I'd like to try it on v.1.2
 
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Well folks here is V2.0 :) v1.0 didn't work I welded the Sfit ring straight too the tube which warped a bit then cracked in the oven or when the painters dropped it.

This mark 2 is much stronger and testing it before sending it for paint, White inside & black outsides all matt powder I might enamel it to take more heat if it needs it.


Lightstrip by Kiteninja (Morgan Lee), on Flickr

Lightstrip-3 by Kiteninja (Morgan Lee), on Flickr

Lightstrip-2 by Kiteninja (Morgan Lee), on Flickr

Lightstrip-5 by Kiteninja (Morgan Lee), on Flickr

Lightstrip-6 by Kiteninja (Morgan Lee), on Flickr

Lightstrip-4 by Kiteninja (Morgan Lee), on Flickr


Its fairly consistent across the length, apart from the start where its around a stop darker so i think when I get the diffusion material on it if i double it up at the other end to try and even it out :).
 
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Gosh. Very pretty.

I assume the flaps are hinged so you can adjust them?

When can I buy one? :)
 
very pretty! worth turning it upside down? with the modelling light on heat rises. are they the R's or the Pro with fans?
 
scottthehat said:
how heavy is it. I will find some scales but I would say about 1-2KGs at a guess will tell exactly on monday when i can weigh it at work.
how hot does it get. I don't know I'm guessing fairly toasty if you have the modeling light all the time.
you could have the option of an adjustablr foot on the bottom to aid with the weight. This is an option yes but that would put it right on the floor and it is only 1m in total height with a 750mm opening I can put a thread on the bottom if people want to use a tiny tripod or something, I've also looked at the option of adding a spigot on the side so you can mount it to a lightstand.
also is it not worth leaving the inside as it is, and just painting the outside black. Some one else has pointed that out I will experiment with it I did also get a sheet of Mirror polish Ali in which I might glue in lid to aid reflection and also at the start near the flash head as that seems to be the darkest area.
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JonathanRyan said:
Gosh. Very pretty.

I assume the flaps are hinged so you can adjust them?

When can I buy one? :)
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They are not hinged at the moment this could be an option I've used Velcro to fix them on there only made form .7mm Alumium so i could make a few varying angles as a set if needed or you could flip them over to get a really thin column of light, I will have a think about hinged version but I think it might be a bit awkard to make.


As for purchasing :) I will have to let you know if I get enough interest & it works fine I might nock a few more up :)
 
Test worked fine :), its definately brighter at the bottom then the top, after about 6" in it was very consistant but did spill a little and also the reflectice barn doors didn't help lol, its going to get a coat of matt black this week and I'm going to work on a more perminant diffusion layer for the front other then that very chuffed with how it came out.

I'll upload the shots tonight :).
 
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