Scott Nelson asked for opinions and stories on making lightboxes... Just got to tell you about my own (stupid) adventure here...
When I wanted I lightbox, I figured it would need to be BIG so that I could view many slides at once. For composing series, for example. It also occurred to me that the only real option on lightsource was Daylight type fluorescent tubes. They are cheap, easy to replace, and have a good ratio to light over heat. They come in discrete lenghts, though, so I had to decide the lenght of the tubes first, and then the size of the lightbox. Good thinking, eh? Problem is; I ended up with a "bigger is better" philosophy. So now I have a lightbox that has an effective light area of 110x60 cm. Illuminated by 6 36W fluorescent tubes. It's too bright to use with ambient light around normal bulb intensity. It's great in a well-lit room with sunlight trough the window, but that's not a valid excuse in my corner of the world, weather considered... Another thing I did that was definately not smart: I chose plexiglass for the viewing surface. Plexiglass is slightly cheaper, softer and distribute the light more even than do glass. But it also scratch easily. And scratches in plexiglass attract dust and dirt much more than do scratches in ordinary glass. So after a few accidents I realised that I had to make a cover for it whenever it's not in use. In total, the lightbox became a rather expensive experience in material costs. However, I'm still below the price of a ready-made lightbox with the same dimensions. Even with my "clever" choises... Best, Jostein ########################################### This message has been scanned by F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange. For more information, connect to http://www.F-Secure.com/ - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
