My holiday project teaser: Design & build a light TENT... lookin for feedback.

[cutsman]

I will have almost two weeks off work over the holidays so I've decided to spend some of that time on designing and building a lightbox.

The image below is my initial design. It will be approx. 24" x 24" (is this size adequate?) and constructed from transparent 1" tubing (maybe acrylic, PVC, or butyrate..?), held with PVC tube fittings. I'm sure some of you have either used lightboxes or even built your own... so I'd like to get some constructive criticism on my preliminary design in regards to its ability to serve its function as a lightbox.

Most notably, there is a gap on the sides between the backdrop cloth and the sides of the box. Would there be an issue with having the gaps there? I'm thinking it probably wont make a difference since the lamps would never be positioned such that the light enters the box directly through these gaps... of course, I've never used a lightbox before, so I could be way off.

Anyways, any input would be greatly appreciated. I will be designing this on CAD, and am considering putting together some drawings, BOM's, etc and making it available to those of you who would be interested in making this yourself.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[otter]

I've never used a light box before either so I can't give you much input, but I'll be curious to see what you actually come up with and how well it works.

 

[Clix Pix]

I think I'd make it a bit larger, in order to give yourself more flexibility in using it. Looks like a good project and one which will serve you well for many types of tabletop shots, product shots, etc.... Actually, the correct term is "light tent," not "light box." In the old days a light box was used for reviewing slides and negatives.

 

[cutsman]

I've never used a light box before either so I can't give you much input, but I'll be curious to see what you actually come up with and how well it works.

For those interested, I'll definitely be posting more about this as it progresses... hopefully in a couple weeks, I will have it built and I can post some shots.

I think I'd make it a bit larger, in order to give yourself more flexibility in using it. Looks like a good project and one which will serve you well for many types of tabletop shots, product shots, etc.... Actually, the correct term is "light tent," not "light box." In the old days a light box was used for reviewing slides and negatives.

Hehe, my bad... light tent. I've just seen it referred to as a light box on numerous occasions on the internet. I trust that you're right though... Light tent it is!

As for the size, I'll consider making it a little larger...30" x 30" perhaps. I don't have a lot of room to store it when not in use, so size is a factor for me... I plan on designing it with a folding mechanism when not in use... if that goes well, 30 x 30 should be doable.

I also got some feedback from a couple people on dpreview forums saying that the gaps in the back may be a problem when shooting highly reflective subjects. Anyone with input on this? Thanks!