Does anyone use a Lightbox?

[mmomega]

Does anyone have or use a small lightbox for photographing items?
By small I am meaning in the less than 3 foot square size.

I am curious if anyone purchased some of the pre-made kits that breakdown, come with LED's, have a decent interior for product photos even if just as a hobby.
How is lighting?
Do you suggest any modifications?
Do you suggest creating your own?
Your experience please.

 

[Clix Pix]

There may a slight issue of terminology here......

I use a Lightbox -- which in the old film days was used for reviewing slides or film frames (usually with a Peak 8x loupe) in order to decide which frames were worth throwing under the enlarger and then into the developing trays for actual printing. These days? I have from time to time over the past year used it for actually shooting some subjects from underneath or for creating other interesting effects. Great for getting wonderful details out of leaves, for example!

I also have a Light Tent, which sounds to me as though it is actually what you've described in your post above, and it is made of translucent white material, with a couple of entry ways for putting the small subject in and also for inserting the camera lens in.....one can close off the entry points as needed. It comes with a couple of inserts which can be used as backdrops or underneath the subject. The lighting can and usually is meant to come from outside the tent and the tent material itself acts as a nice diffuser, so no hot spots on the subject, which is important in product photography in particular.

It has been a number of years since I first bought and used this light tent and to be honest, nowadays in the era of digital photography I have not felt as much of a need for it, and the few times I have tried using it again for one reason or another I found it to be more of a hindrance than a help in what I was trying to achieve. I don't know, since I have not looked into these over the past several years, what the current design of them is and what all is included in the kit. Mine came with a rather large lamp that provided the necessary lighting, although I often used something else instead. Interesting, I do now rather frequently employ that same lamp when setting up some tabletop or macro shots, but the light tent remains unused in the other room.....

 

[steveash]

These tend to produce a very soft flat light which comes from all angles. Useful for churning out EBay/e-commerce images but not great for interesting/creative work without modifications. In most cases a roll of white paper or plastic and a flash will be more effective and allow more creative control.

 

[tizeye]

I have one, typically used for ebay photos that meets the 3 foot cube. It is compact and folds up to a small round disc and I can store the entire set up in one of those cloth shopping/grocery bags. What takes up space is the lighting, which makes it bulky, but it is nice having constant light though. Also, that 3 foot suddenly requires at least 5 foot to accommodate the lighting on each side, and potentially an optional 3rd one clamped up top, which I don't have but would be nice.

Since I also routinely do multiple off-camera flashes, a far cheaper alternative is purchasing 4 white foam poster board ($1 each at the Dollar Store), tape appropriate edges where 2 sides, back, and bottom become foldable for storage. Two remote flashes bounce off wall and possible a third "hair light" as referred to in portrait set up, lighting from the top. I keep it collapsed in my storage unit which has no electrical outlets. It is easy to set up and bounce off the opposite wall/storage unit.

While both are for small/medium objects. A general one to accommodate all sizes is to drape a cloth over something providing back and base appropriate to the size of the object. It could be a box on a table for small, draped over sofa or chairback to floor for medium, to full portrait backdrop for large. Then either bounce lighting, pull out umbrellas or other diffusers, to even constant lighting as those setting typically have electrical power available. Flash is a more portable set up.

 

[Ray2]

For non-critical use I load a white image on my iPad. Lighting is uneven in the corners.

 

[Clix Pix]

Yes, most of the time I use foam core as background for subjects: I have them in both black and white, and they work nicely for that purpose and to block out anything in the actual background which would be distracting. I often use my dining table for shooting small subjects and creating a backdrop is important there. I have various items to stand the subject on or to add interest to the shot: mirrors, plexiglass panels, large glass blocks, square floor tiles, etc., and I use several types of constant lighting, including small or large LED panels. Storage can be an issue for this stuff, and I keep most of it in my second bedroom.

 

[glenthompson]

In one photo class I took, the instructor gave us all simple light boxes made from stretcher frames and diffusing fabric. Clamp on lights completed the setup for a cheap solution. I have since bought a Foldio3 from Orangemonkieon a Indiegogo deal. It folds up nicely. They have 3 sizes depending on your needs. Add some crumpled foil reflectors and you can get good lighting effects.