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- Feb 17, 1999
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There is a very nice collapsible/portable lighting box made by Cameron and distributed by Booth Photographic. They also have a couple of nice lights-- 5000K Daylight Flourescents with reflector, diffuser and bracket. They also offer a kit with a light stand.
the main website is www.boothphoto.com with navigational buttons to a US site and "contact" for finding dealers. Scroll to the bottom and put your state or one near you into the search field to locate the nearest distributor.
First scroll the main page till you find
"Cameron Digital Imager Cool Lights & Lighting Kits"
mouse over the image of the light and click
on the new page will be information of twp different lights. One is the three bulb version and likely will be about $140 US as I believe I just paid $160 this past weekend for my unit. The single light should be about half that price.
Prior to learning that this 3 bulb unit was available, I had been using the single bulb unit
which also includes the diffuser as seen in the kit combos
I'd recommend using both lights and the nice part about the arrangement is you have a natural 3:1 lighting ratio.
Check here http://www.boothphoto.com/category.jsp?categoryId=49
as Booth has changed it site and by scolling you will find the lights I use.
Back to the sites information and continue to scroll to see
"Cameron Digital Photo Box"
click on the image and note that there are 2 sizes. Make sure you locate the larger size as while the small one might be ok for folders, larger fixed blades just don't work.
The cost of this box in the US is likely to be in the $100 range as the one available this past weekend was about $120 Canadian.
Lets look at the construction of the box. This box is totally adjustable and folds down into a small space and has a carry bag. Note that there are attached but interchangeable backgrounds but unfortunately not one that is transluscent. For knives, the rear background is best if either transluscent or at least white (which is available) so the blade does not pick up the color of the background.
Because I like to have the front as seen in the photo I light from the top of the box with the light behind it and skimming the light across the diffuser. However, you can turn the box so that the opaque materials are on the bottom and you shoot thru an open hole and thus are able to lower the light and aim it thru the rear diffusion material.
By using the 3 bulb light in this way it is possible to use the single bulb to either side of the box for shadow fill or to better illuminate the darker handle material.
Certainly, users can also try to place lights to the sides to see if they get good results in that fashion.
If I recall correctly the bulbs are good for about 8-10000 hours so likely will last a lifetime for most users unless they break one. Replacement bulbs are available.
When making use of neutral "gray scale" background (recommended), the use of a 4 megapixel camera set to Auto will give excellent results.
Back to the main page of the Booth site.
I note that Booth has a new light also but have no idea of cost and I have not seen these functioning. The light is called
"Cameron Digital Imager Metal Halide 800"
full info can be obtained by clicking on http://www.boothphoto.com/product.jsp?productId=100255
I have just finished a few images but have to put them into the computer and will add them to the post so the results from this setup can me seen.
Ok. lets examine these images and the lighting used. Keep in mind, these images are direct from the Nikon 995 a 4 mega pixel camera, using AUTO setting with nothing done in image editing software except to create the multi images and crop the canvas. No USM, color correction or exposure correction was done on any of the components. Exposure generally is 1/8 sec at f 4.
this image is from the use of the original 26 watt Daylight Flourescent only on the lower image of the multiple. One of the 6500K 15 watt DFL bulbs I have used for a few years was used to create some shadow fill light on the upper image. This works well and is an option available. However, the light itself is $20 Can and you will need a bracket/support for the light onto a light stand.
Next is an image of the knife from both the obverse and the reverse without any fill light using the new 3 lamp unit.
we now add the fill light from the right hand side of each image. With Damascus, this can be done without difficulty and is often the best depending upon the handle material used. The knife selected for this demonstration was specifically chosen dues to its many shapes, file work, different colors and materials used--damascus blade, sheep horn, ivory, mokume and nickle silver.
The last image making use of the triple bulb light and the single 26 w fill light shows the middle knife to have no fill, the bottom to have fill from the right of the blade and the top knife to have fill from the handle side. On the latter, unfortunately, the ivory on the butt is washed out. Adjustments such as feathering the light could help this situation but as done shows the concept clearly regarding use of and placement of the fill light.
Hopefully this information will be of use to makers and collectors wishing to create a simple and fairly inexpensive method of lighting the knives they sell and collect.
the main website is www.boothphoto.com with navigational buttons to a US site and "contact" for finding dealers. Scroll to the bottom and put your state or one near you into the search field to locate the nearest distributor.
First scroll the main page till you find
"Cameron Digital Imager Cool Lights & Lighting Kits"
mouse over the image of the light and click
on the new page will be information of twp different lights. One is the three bulb version and likely will be about $140 US as I believe I just paid $160 this past weekend for my unit. The single light should be about half that price.
Prior to learning that this 3 bulb unit was available, I had been using the single bulb unit
which also includes the diffuser as seen in the kit combos
I'd recommend using both lights and the nice part about the arrangement is you have a natural 3:1 lighting ratio.
Check here http://www.boothphoto.com/category.jsp?categoryId=49
as Booth has changed it site and by scolling you will find the lights I use.
Back to the sites information and continue to scroll to see
"Cameron Digital Photo Box"
click on the image and note that there are 2 sizes. Make sure you locate the larger size as while the small one might be ok for folders, larger fixed blades just don't work.
The cost of this box in the US is likely to be in the $100 range as the one available this past weekend was about $120 Canadian.
Lets look at the construction of the box. This box is totally adjustable and folds down into a small space and has a carry bag. Note that there are attached but interchangeable backgrounds but unfortunately not one that is transluscent. For knives, the rear background is best if either transluscent or at least white (which is available) so the blade does not pick up the color of the background.
Because I like to have the front as seen in the photo I light from the top of the box with the light behind it and skimming the light across the diffuser. However, you can turn the box so that the opaque materials are on the bottom and you shoot thru an open hole and thus are able to lower the light and aim it thru the rear diffusion material.
By using the 3 bulb light in this way it is possible to use the single bulb to either side of the box for shadow fill or to better illuminate the darker handle material.
Certainly, users can also try to place lights to the sides to see if they get good results in that fashion.
If I recall correctly the bulbs are good for about 8-10000 hours so likely will last a lifetime for most users unless they break one. Replacement bulbs are available.
When making use of neutral "gray scale" background (recommended), the use of a 4 megapixel camera set to Auto will give excellent results.
Back to the main page of the Booth site.
I note that Booth has a new light also but have no idea of cost and I have not seen these functioning. The light is called
"Cameron Digital Imager Metal Halide 800"
full info can be obtained by clicking on http://www.boothphoto.com/product.jsp?productId=100255
I have just finished a few images but have to put them into the computer and will add them to the post so the results from this setup can me seen.
Ok. lets examine these images and the lighting used. Keep in mind, these images are direct from the Nikon 995 a 4 mega pixel camera, using AUTO setting with nothing done in image editing software except to create the multi images and crop the canvas. No USM, color correction or exposure correction was done on any of the components. Exposure generally is 1/8 sec at f 4.
this image is from the use of the original 26 watt Daylight Flourescent only on the lower image of the multiple. One of the 6500K 15 watt DFL bulbs I have used for a few years was used to create some shadow fill light on the upper image. This works well and is an option available. However, the light itself is $20 Can and you will need a bracket/support for the light onto a light stand.
Next is an image of the knife from both the obverse and the reverse without any fill light using the new 3 lamp unit.
we now add the fill light from the right hand side of each image. With Damascus, this can be done without difficulty and is often the best depending upon the handle material used. The knife selected for this demonstration was specifically chosen dues to its many shapes, file work, different colors and materials used--damascus blade, sheep horn, ivory, mokume and nickle silver.
The last image making use of the triple bulb light and the single 26 w fill light shows the middle knife to have no fill, the bottom to have fill from the right of the blade and the top knife to have fill from the handle side. On the latter, unfortunately, the ivory on the butt is washed out. Adjustments such as feathering the light could help this situation but as done shows the concept clearly regarding use of and placement of the fill light.
Hopefully this information will be of use to makers and collectors wishing to create a simple and fairly inexpensive method of lighting the knives they sell and collect.
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