Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Beginner's Questions => Topic started by: Ken Alexander on June 18, 2007, 01:15:13 pm

Title: What Kind of Light for Viewing Prints?
Post by: Ken Alexander on June 18, 2007, 01:15:13 pm

I live in a basement apartment and receive limited amounts of usable natural, outdoor light.  It didn't take long to notice the great difference between natural and artificial light when evaluating prints.  The thing to do would be to install some sort of full-spectrum light that would allow me to evaluate my prints under the right kind of light.

So, the question is; what do people use for this purpose?  I Googled "full spectrum lighting" and got lots of hits from companies that sell full-spectrum light therapy systems.  Those may work, but maybe full-spectrum for therapeutic purposes isn't the same as for evaluating prints.  I don't know.

Any suggestions on systems, especially if they won't bankrupt an amateur (not a pro), would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Ken

Title: What Kind of Light for Viewing Prints?
Post by: Tim Gray on June 18, 2007, 01:49:44 pm

I got a Solux clamp light that works very well, but can't seem to find the exact item on their website now.  

This light was particularly useful in working through the "my prints are too dark" syndrome a couple of years ago.

Title: What Kind of Light for Viewing Prints?
Post by: Dale_Cotton on June 18, 2007, 02:10:51 pm

In addition to the Solux, if you live in the US you might want to use some of these 30 Watt - Full Spectrum High Definition - Compact Fluorescent - 30W/SPRING/50K  (http://www.1000bulbs.com/products.php?cat=30-Watt-Compact-Fluorescents) as ambient lighting. I have one in an overhead gooseneck and am extremely happy using it for casual print viewing when the daylight's not there.

Title: What Kind of Light for Viewing Prints?
Post by: Jack Varney on June 18, 2007, 09:32:40 pm

I bought an N:Vision 19w, 5500K flourescent (SKU 772-429) at Lowes or Home Depot. It has worked very well and seems to have a consistent spectrum, at least for a flourescent. Light output is in the 60w to 75w incandescent range.

I also have some Solux lamps and sockets but have not had the opportunity to build a fixture to test them yet.

Title: What Kind of Light for Viewing Prints?
Post by: marcmccalmont on June 23, 2007, 02:54:13 am

http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/compa...cent_32_ctg.htm (http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/compact_fluorescent_32_ctg.htm)
Marc

Title: What Kind of Light for Viewing Prints?
Post by: Graham Welland on June 24, 2007, 07:13:04 pm

You might want to consider using OTT-Lite's too - these work pretty well for close up work. If you're serious, the other alternative is using something like a GTI viewing cabinet/booth.

Title: What Kind of Light for Viewing Prints?
Post by: chris moody on June 27, 2007, 08:38:10 pm

I'll second Tim's suggestion of the Solux clip light (available for those in the UK from www.outsidein.co.uk).