trandy
Needs a Life!
Posts: 3,274 
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Post by trandy on Sept 4, 2014 12:00:44 GMT -8
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sdoocms
Is a Permanent Fixture
Carl
Posts: 5,296
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Post by sdoocms on Sept 4, 2014 12:24:18 GMT -8
Don't waste your money. I have one very similar. I spent $40.00 on it. The issue is the lights are not bright enough. If you were to take a step further and buy some strobe lights then it might work better. Here is one example of what I was able to do using the light box with and without the lights. I use a skylight and two tall windows for my light on most of my pictures. This was taken with the two supplied lights.  This was taken with the windows as lighting. Both were taken with a Nikon D3200 witch I regret buying.  With a few pieces of old lumber and an old white sheet you can get basically the same results. By the way I took a lot of pictures with that box and still had issues with glare. |
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Post by igniferroque on Sept 4, 2014 12:38:39 GMT -8
I'd just make sure you have a good tripod and I'd build the rest yourself. If you want to use incandescent lights you'll need to make sure you understand your camera's white balance settings.
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Post by thianwong on Sept 4, 2014 12:55:18 GMT -8
Those simple lightboxes are fun to experiment with lighting but can boring. You should go online and read free photography sites! I have a full set of pro lighting but for portraiture only. All my watch shots are done near the curtained balcony window using window light. I put a chair next to the window, add any material I want (clothing or briefcase etc) and the put my P&S Canon G15 into macro mode. I can use any white paper (usually the back of my guitar music book!) as a reflector. All shots are hand held at about 1/8 sec/f5.6 ......small cameras can be handheld a bit lower of shutterspeeds. Usually out of 10 shots, 2 are decent. THEN, I always use Photoshop to manipulate the shot. The first shot is taken on the balcony. I watch for reflections and angle of watch to the sun. This kind of shot is called an installation or documentary style. The second shot is called a creative or interpretive shot..  IMG_0002 by blingmeister, on Flickr  Dagaz by blingmeister, on Flickr |
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Thomas
WIS
Nun Gut
Posts: 1,480
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Post by Thomas on Sept 4, 2014 13:34:13 GMT -8
A key improvement for me is that "camera shroud" you see on the left, a black piece of cardboard with a hole the size of my lens cut into it. I put it around my lens and it prevents much glare and the reflections of the camera and my fingers in the face (the crystal really) of the watch. The only downside is it can make silver hands and indices look black if you are not careful. The other side is white, which can help with the silver hands and indices, but you have to be careful not to get a reflection of the black lens glass in the crystal, like a big black half moon! And I don't have a light box, but I use three or four "elbow lamps" with frosted plastic wrap over the lamp opening to reduce glare, and I arrange them around the object I am photographing. Also a big, wide piece of white cardboard on the tripod below the camera to get some light reflected back from that direction, where it is normally hard to get a light source. - Thomas |
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Post by toxicavenger on Sept 4, 2014 13:34:54 GMT -8
One of the guys on another forum uses the lighting from his laptop, just sit it up on it's side and start taking pics.
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Post by Groundhog66 on Sept 4, 2014 14:24:12 GMT -8
I have one similar to that, and as previously mentioned, the lights are very inadequate. Perhaps just find a decent lightbox, and buy the lights separately. Thomas has a great idea with the camera shroud as well, I've been meaning to do that.
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Post by catkicker on Sept 4, 2014 15:12:01 GMT -8
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2014 15:27:06 GMT -8
My econo light box...  Works great; when I remember to get it out and use it  This is my macro stand instead of using a tripod...  |
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normdiaz
Is a Permanent Fixture
Posts: 6,643
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Post by normdiaz on Sept 4, 2014 15:29:44 GMT -8
And for tripods that can be used in a variety of situations/positions:
joby.com/ |
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Post by Benchdweller on Sept 5, 2014 4:53:14 GMT -8
One of the guys on another forum uses the lighting from his laptop, just sit it up on it's side and start taking pics. There was a guy on TZ-UK doing this with the watch on a beanie hat under the laptop. Some of his pictures were stunning and he had a great collection of vintage Heuer's which are always nice to look at. |
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dasher
Timekeeper
Waiting on 6:00 pm
Posts: 966
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Post by dasher on Sept 5, 2014 7:02:57 GMT -8
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Post by tantalus on Sept 5, 2014 8:43:18 GMT -8
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trandy
Needs a Life!
Posts: 3,274
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Post by trandy on Sept 5, 2014 9:17:58 GMT -8
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Post by toxicavenger on Sept 5, 2014 9:55:06 GMT -8
One of the guys on another forum uses the lighting from his laptop, just sit it up on it's side and start taking pics. There was a guy on TZ-UK doing this with the watch on a beanie hat under the laptop. Some of his pictures were stunning and he had a great collection of vintage Heuer's which are always nice to look at. Your right, that is who I am talking about. His name is Stewart and he has a amazing collection of Heuer's!  |
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