Light Boxes- what do people use?

[Jao]

I think I want a light box, many years ago I had an A3 Kroy light box. It was a giant beast an although good it took up a. Lot of space. I'd like something smaller and probably less expensive.

I have more than 30 years of negs and slides that I plan to start sorting and filing properly.

So my question is what do folk here use?

I have seen some LED panels on a certain auction site, not sure if these will be bright enough though.

Others experiences would be valuable to hear.

 

[Strapps]

One of these, purchased after a recommendation in another thread and I've forgotten who by (sorry!). I bought a 10x loupe at the same time and it's fine for everything I need it for, though I won't use the metal clips it came with in case they scratch the glass - masking tape on the end of the film strip does the job nicely.

 

[AshleyC]

i was just about to post up something about this subject.

I just downloaded a lighbox app for my tablet. All it does is show a blank white screen but on a 10" tablet it works brilliantly.

I was thinking of getting one of these slimline led light boxes

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MiniSun-Mod...8&qid=1407599933&sr=8-1&keywords=led+lightbox

but the tablet app does the job perfectly. its a little small for a 6 strip of 35mm negs but they fit on diagonally and it saves me £40

 

[StephenM]

Not a light box, but a Rowi slide sorting desk. It's designed to hold 40 35mm slides, and wouldn't really work with larger sizes. But the only slides I have are 35mm ones; and I've had the desk for years (probably from the 70s or 80s).

 

[Jao]

One of these, purchased after a recommendation in another thread and I've forgotten who by (sorry!). I bought a 10x loupe at the same time and it's fine for everything I need it for, though I won't use the metal clips it came with in case they scratch the glass - masking tape on the end of the film strip does the job nicely.

Dean, thanks for the information, I had looked at these flat panels and wondered if any one was using them as light tables, getting a decent Lupe is good advice too.

i was just about to post up something about this subject.

I just downloaded a lighbox app for my tablet. All it does is show a blank white screen but on a 10" tablet it works brilliantly.

I was thinking of getting one of these slimline led light boxes

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MiniSun-Modern-Ultra-Slim-Design-LightPad/dp/B00AYXNR5S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407599933&sr=8-1&keywords=led lightbox

but the tablet app does the job perfectly. its a little small for a 6 strip of 35mm negs but they fit on diagonally and it saves me £40

Thanks Ash, I did download a free app but it seems quite dim even with my ipad at full 'light volume', I'd be keen to know which app you are using and I'll see if there is an IOS version

Not a light box, but a Rowi slide sorting desk. It's designed to hold 40 35mm slides, and wouldn't really work with larger sizes. But the only slides I have are 35mm ones; and I've had the desk for years (probably from the 70s or 80s).

Thanks Stephen, I do remember the 35mm illuminated slide sorter, I think Kaiser did a version too? I shoot a fair bit of 120 so I think the other options might be better, bot your reference to the Rowi sorter gave me a real 'blast from the past!'

 

[AshleyC]

its just called "Lightbox" from Seanr Software. It was just the first on the shop list.

 

[Jao]

Thanks Ash, That is different to the one I have, I'll have a search for it

 

[steveo_mcg]

I use the light table on the iPad. It can be set to put grid lines up for different sizes of slide.

 

[RaglanSurf]

its just called "Lightbox" from Seanr Software. It was just the first on the shop list.

I must be having a Hooley moment, there's nothing showing called light box from seanr in the App Store .

 

[AshleyC]

this is on a android tablet. Since its just a white screen im sure anything would do the job just as well?

 

[droj]

It's not too hard to make your own. A sheet of opal acrylic (aka 'Perspex') forms the table and grade 040 (that's 40% transmissive) works well at balancing diffusion and transmission. The table can be fixed as the top of a box structure that contains the light sources, and can be as big as you like. If you're on a budget and colour temperature isn't critical (it probably isn't for general purposes), you can use fluorescent tube fittings - either full-size, or the slimline under-cupboard sort to keep the box shallower.

It's also possible to get led strip lights that are 6,500 deg K rated - slimmer than the fluorescents but cost a lot more. They do run nice and cool though. The main problem with this DIY strategy is getting an even light distribution over the panel, and spacing the lamps close together helps, as does installing parabolic-section reflectors behind them (these can be formed from stainless steel sheet - reclaimable free from scrap washing machines or w-h-y.

And yes, an essential is say an 8x loupe.

 

[stevelmx5]

I use the LED lightbox I've built for my slide frame to quickly check results. I took this shot with my iPhone (Fuji Reala) and inverted it in CS6;

View attachment 18000

I saved the steps as an action so I can quickly convert negatives although there used to be an ipad app that did the same. For comparison, this is the negative scanned on my V500;

View attachment 18001

This is the Lightbox with 5v power source;

View attachment 18002

Cheers
Steve