Lamp and bulb for a light tent?

Be peace and happiness upon you!

Dear People,

I am thinking of creating a light tent for product and macro
photography.

What I want to know is what type of light lamp and bulb I should go
for. I am from Pakistan and would appreciate it if you would just
describe the characteristics of the lamp and bulbs and not the name of
the companies so that I could choose from what is already available
here.

BTW, I am following this guide to built my Light tent.

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent

I think its good enough but still wanted your opinion.

Thanks

Fahad

Fahad wrote:

I am thinking of creating a light tent for product and macro
photography.

What I want to know is what type of light lamp and bulb I should go
for. I am from Pakistan and would appreciate it if you would just
describe the characteristics of the lamp and bulbs and not the name of
the companies so that I could choose from what is already available
here.

There are two concerns in choosing the lights -- brightness, and color
temperature. (I'm not going to write a treatise on color temp. now; if
you don't already know about it, ask and I or somebody will say m ore.)

It's fairly important that all the bulbs have the *same* color
temperature. By setting a custom white balance you can adapt to any
*one* color temp., but if the bulbs aren't the same you'll get color
casts in one part of the picture or another.

Incandescent and halogen bulbs will be easier to work with (but hotter)
than any kind of fluorescent. And the variations between models/brands
of fluorescent bulbs is very wide, *and* you can't tell much about how
they'll photograph just from how they look to your eye. However, the
*right* fluorescent bulbs will photograph okay these days (they've
gotten a lot better in the last 20 years).

Brightness is easier; and you're lighting a fairly small areas, which
makes that easier.

BTW, I am following this guide to built my Light tent.

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent

I think its good enough but still wanted your opinion.

Looks reasonable to me.

Fahad wrote:
Be peace and happiness upon you!

Dear People,

I am thinking of creating a light tent for product and macro
photography.

What I want to know is what type of light lamp and bulb I should go
for. I am from Pakistan and would appreciate it if you would just
describe the characteristics of the lamp and bulbs and not the name of
the companies so that I could choose from what is already available
here.

BTW, I am following this guide to built my Light tent.

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent

I think its good enough but still wanted your opinion.

Thanks

Fahad

The optimum situation is to have lights with the correct color
temperature.
Spiral Fluorescent lights are now available with color temperatures of
5500K and 6500K. Both are acceptable since they both closely approximate
the color temperature of Sunlight.
They are rated to last 10,000 Hours and a 25 Watt light will provide
the illumination of a 100 Watt incandescent light. Therefore the setup
will be much cooler and easier to work with.
These are not your garden variety spiral lights, you may have to check
around to find them. I purchased mine online but I have seen them
recently at stores that specialize in light bulbs and fixtures.
They are usually called "Full Spectrum" lights
There are compact, desk lamps called "OTT-Lite" that use full spectrum
bulbs and are VERY handy. I use them for reading and other precision
tasks requiring correct color rendition.
AFAIK, they are sold world wide.
Bob Williams