I would like to buy a lightbox for viewing slides of 135 size. Please let me have your advice. Thanks.

-- T.C.Chung (imsomewhere@yahoo.com), December 24, 2001

Answers

You can pick up fairly inexpensive lightboxes at any high(er)-end camera boutique. the price goes up predictably by namebrand and size, not to mention orientation e.g., sorting slide viewer. Be prepared to spend $65.00 to $250.00.

Cheers

-- Nauman Saghir (MephistophelesSys@msn.com), December 26, 2001.

save your money and build one. I took an old cd holder (wooden box type) screwed a porc. edison socket into the bottom and bought one of those round flourescent edison based bulbs. Add a piece of frosted glass to the top and your in buisness. $

-- mike hadley (mahadley@maine.rr.com), December 29, 2001.

. . . . and then add the cost of all those bits and pieces, and the time spent, and you're better off to buy one. It takes some design trial and error to get the light distribution uniform. Logan makes a reasonably priced 8x10 (or so) desktop lightbox that will hold 20 or so slides. Somewhat fancier (but no more functional) ones are made by Gagne, if you want a polished wooden box, or brushed aluminum. For sorting a large number of slides, I use a Knox Monitor Viewer/Sorter which, like the others, has a fluorescent light and true color temperature.

For more $, if you need something portable, or that stores in a small space, you can get a thinline fluorescent panel now. I have a Cabin (Mamiya) model, that measures about 4 x 5. They also make larger sizes. Not exactly cheap, but competitive with the pricier box-type.

Happy viewing and editing,

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), December 30, 2001.

I have a little battery powered 4x5 unit that I keep in my gear for showing folks my slides. I've been avoiding buying a larger one because once I'm in a new house (next year) I'll be building a coffee table lightbox.

I have an old oak coffee table I inherited from an old roommate that is in deasperate need of refinishing. Rather than toss it or refinish it now, I'll be cutting out a lightbox hole. (My son wants a fishtank instead. LoL)

There are two things to keep in mind if you build a lightbox of any size: Color and color.

Fluorescent tubes are available in different color temperatures (read as Degrees Kelvin. Daylight is generally considered to be 5000k, or five thousand degrees kelvin.) and also different CRI's or Color Rendering Index. Higher the better. 100 is considered perfect, but you can't get that in a fluorescent tube (but incandescent lights have a 100 cri by their nature, but their color temp is too warm, like 3000k.) Visit a pet shop and get tubes of 5000k or 5500k and a CRI of at least 92. You can probably get them cheaper if you search, but you can be certain they have the right tubes at the better pet stores. (Check out Compact Fluorescent lighting too... Expensive but awesome.)

The second color issue is the color of your plexi. Most milk white plexi is a bit cool. Not generally an issue, but if you want perfection, you may be disappointed. Check with a glass shop for perfect white milk plexi. It *is* available.

Last thing to consider is picking up a used x-ray lightbox! Great color temp and CRI in most of them, and they're generally very big! :- )

-- Don Tuleja (durocshark@photo.net), December 31, 2001.