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10-27-2018, 07:56 AM   #1
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Light box for film viewing

I'm thinking of buying a light box to view my film and slides prior to scanning. Do I still need one with a 5000k light (color corrected lamp) inside or will a LED light be enough?

10-27-2018, 08:01 AM - 1 Like   #2
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Honestly I haven't a clue what our old light tables used. But I have seen people use tablet computers set to display a white blank page used for this.
10-27-2018, 08:27 AM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by UncleVanya Quote
Honestly I haven't a clue what our old light tables used. But I have seen people use tablet computers set to display a white blank page used for this.
Thanks Brad. I remember having been told in my early years of film photography that Kelvin was a must in reading/seeing film and slides. Now days, I thought maybe with the improvement of LED lighting, perhaps that would be good enough. I do not own a tablet so thus the reason for my question as I remember reading about others using the tablets set on a blank white page too.
10-27-2018, 09:37 AM   #4
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5000 K is a must for rendering color correctly for daylight, but is it needed? In my opinion, not really. I think you can get by with a light source that is less than 5000 K.

After saying that, you can get LEDs that are 5000 K. I recently bought some under cabinet lights that are LED and rated at 5000 K. My father also built a small light box using florescent under cabinet lights that were rated around 3500 K.

FYI, the under cabinet lights I bought, I got at walmart. They are 12 inches long and run around 10 dollars each.

10-27-2018, 10:24 AM   #5
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Thanks Dave. i'm going to check those out at Walmart. Do you remember the brand name perhaps?
10-27-2018, 10:53 AM   #6
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I advised a colleague to buy a LED ceiling light for exposed T ceilings for his slide collection. He bought a 600mm square light. It has a diffuser on it which was perfect. I’ve never seen someone so ecstatic as he was. Similar to this LED Thin Ceiling Light Panels, 2x2ft, Dimmable, 45W, 4000K White
10-27-2018, 10:56 AM   #7
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This method might not be adequate for professional use but I thought I would toss it out there anyhow as it might be useful for someone else reading the thread or as a method to consider in the field in a pinch.

I use my Mac laptop as my light box.

I open a text program to a blank white page then expand it to cover the entire screen. I tilt the screen to an an angle that will support the negative(s) or slide(s) if I am using it as a slide sorter. I use the f.lux application to interactively change the colour temperature if I want without having to completely recalibrate a display profile.

10-27-2018, 12:19 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by photolady95 Quote
Do I still need one with a 5000k light (color corrected lamp) inside or will a LED light be enough?
Sort of two different things. Kelvin is a way of measuring the color of light and has nothing to do with the type of bulb. You can get 5000K bulbs in LED, incandescent or CFL.

That said, these days LED is the way to go though they might be a bit more expensive. In this application it would be worth it as the heat generated is much lower.
10-27-2018, 02:22 PM - 1 Like   #9
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A film light table will come with daylight color temperature bulbs or LED lights if it's a real film light table. I'd go with a LED version given a choice.
10-27-2018, 02:31 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by photolady95 Quote
Thanks Dave. i'm going to check those out at Walmart. Do you remember the brand name perhaps?

The first couple I got said Lights of America, and the last couple I got said Hyper tough. They were the same thing for the most part. The ones I got are 12 inch linkable slimline LED lights. These are not battery powered.

If your local walmart doesn't have them, check Home Depot. I know Home Depot has led under cabinet lights. I just don't know if they have some rated at 5000 K.
10-27-2018, 03:45 PM   #11
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Thanks everyone for your help. I was looking on B&H at light boxes, some were LED, the one I saw that mentioned 5000k, I'm not sure it was LED but it wasn't that expensive in my opinion, around $59. But if I can get just the bulbs in LED and build my own box to accommodate them, that would be even better and not have to have the Kelvin would help too.
10-27-2018, 07:33 PM - 1 Like   #12
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More important than the Kelvin rating is the Color Rendering Index. Fortunately most LED sources now have CRIs that are pretty high (near 90 percent - true daylight has a CRI of 100%). Just avoid any sources that have CRIs below 75. The problem is that some colors can shift when viewed with low CRI sources, relative to what they should be. Many older florescent lighted boxes had issues because of this (florescent sources can have particularly bad CRIs).

Your eye adapts to Kelvin temperature much like auto-white level in a camera, so the actual K value is less important though if you are viewing slides in a low K environment (incandescent lighting), a high K (5000) light box might make slides look on the bluish side. Usually, however, a 3000 to 5000 K source works fine.
10-28-2018, 07:19 AM - 1 Like   #13
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Recently I needed to sort through a lot of old slides and some negatives too, because I was selecting images to scan for a book. My first inclination was to make a light box, but I quickly discovered that the cost of materials would likely be more than buying something like this <LED Light Box, click for details>

I got the A3 size which has a lighted surface of about 16.5" x 11.7" If you need something much bigger than that, the prices go up significantly, and making one might be more attractive. The one I bought is much lighter and thinner than anything I could have made, so it is easier to store when not in use.

The color temperature of my LED light box is not daylight balanced, and is too cool, but it doesn't really matter. If you are going to scan the slides, most are going to need color corrections in post processing anyway, right? All I care about when sorting is being able to tell if it's sharp (get a Loupe 7X-10X like <this one> - and if I have similar shots of the same subject, which one is the best one to scan. Color is not an issue until after I've scanned it.

Personally, I prefer a smooth, flat, horizontal surface so I can easily scoot the slides around while sorting. Be aware that some similar products apparently have a pattern of "dots" on the surface which you want to avoid because they will make close examination with a loupe difficult. (The one I got does not have the dot pattern.)
10-28-2018, 07:23 AM   #14
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Wow those are crazy cheap. The A4 size is half of the already reasonably priced a3.
10-28-2018, 07:46 AM   #15
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Thanks Runswithsizzers (btw, I love your user name, makes me laugh every time I see it) I put the A4 in my wish list. That one, as Brad said, was cheaper than the A3.
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