DIY Cool Light (1875 Watts), Now what?

[justincase724]

Being an electrician for over a decade, I've seen these Spiderlights that go for many hundreds of dollars and have always thought that I can just make something similar myself for much, much less. The first one I made had a total of seven lamps, but it just seemed not bright enough for me, so I figured I'd go big for the second one. Here's what I ended up with. A total of twenty-five flourescent lamps, each rated at 75 watts output, 30 watts consumption, in a 12" x 12" base. That's a grand total of 1875 watts of light with an actual consumption of 750 watts (or 6.25 amps). I've got three switches on it, two have 600 watts tied to them, the third 675 watts.

Now, the only problems I have are the weight of the light (about 15 pounds), supporting the light, and building a soft box for the dang thing. I'm in the process of building a better support bracket for it, but if anyone has any ideas on a soft box (or any light modifiers), I would love to hear your suggestions.

I don't have any real photo's taken using this light yet because I need to come up with some kind of softbox or something. Hopefully someone here can help me with ideas.

1. The whole thing...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2212/3533045032_7c3fc2634c_o.jpg


2. One switch only, 675 watts output...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2092/3533044564_e942a499ce_o.jpg


3. All switches on, 1875 watts output...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3551/3532226587_f5d428ab1d_o.jpg


4. My daughter playing under the flourescent artificial sun...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2116/3532226879_5dd6dc4d50_o.jpg

[Kaya75]

That's awesome - well done :)

Try using a reflector instead - a soft box softens the light (or gives / softens shadows - whichever way yo want to look at it..) but your flo's are soft to start with - i'd imagine a reflector (could be some sheets of aluminium foil stuck to a board) and a set of barn doors / snoots would give your better control :) - your diy skills are way advanced enough for reflectors, snoots and soft boxes but i think you'd gain little with a soft box over a simple snoot / curtain set to control your 'spill'

Great work (do you ship to the uk? lol) :)

[Kaya75]

really great job - i like the bulb shots even :)

[justincase724]

Thank you for your suggestions, Kaya75. I had never thought of just making a set of barn doors or something simple for this. That'll actually be much easier than trying to make a softbox for this thing.

[drh681]

yeap, you already have what is essentially a 12 inch soft box.
barn doors will let you controll the "spill" of the light better.

[TMR Design]

I would forego the softbox and just get some white nylon ripstop and some PVC and make a diffusion panel. You'll get really soft, even light that will look beautiful on your subjects. Perhaps make a small panel about 36" x 36" and a large panel measuring about 36" or 48" wide and 6 or 7 feet tall. Those 2 panels will give you lots of flexibility.

You can use foam core or a reflector for fill or if you want to make a second light source you'll have main and fill and can then use a reflector for hair or accent lighting.

[justincase724]

Thank you for the additional ideas. I think I'm going to make some barn doors for it to start as the spill light off this thing is the biggest problem. I've never thought of it as "a 12 inch softbox". That give's me some more ideas for other lights that I can make. I had one that was a 6' tall strip with 8 or 9 lights on it. Maybe I'll make another one of those with a little more light output on it.

[Kyle is raaddd]

This is awesome! Great DIY work, and yes, I agree with getting something such as barn doors to help control the light spill more accurately.

Again, nice work!

[justincase724]

Thanks Kyle! You're raaddd! And welcome to POTN.

[drewr]

Love it. I'd like to see some photos taken with it.

[Kyle is raaddd]

Thankyou for the welcome :)
I rather like it here already.

[justincase724]

Love it. I'd like to see some photos taken with it.


Me too! I actually haven't had a chance to really use it yet... wait... I took this picture with it, but it was just a quick "turn it on a take a couple shots" thing. I've got a maternity shoot scheduled next month that I plan to use it on, but I'd like to know how best to use it before then. I'll try some get some more shots after I get the barn doors made.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/3615387661_7ba6b48f40_o.jpg

[Benji]

I would forego the softbox and just get some white nylon ripstop and some PVC and make a diffusion panel.

A diffusion panel in front of the light will soften the light that makes it through the panel but about 50% of the light will be wasted because the white panel will bounce the light backward and into the room. A silver lined softbox will redirect this wasted light forward through the front panel and onto the subject.

Unless you stole these bulbs you must have about $100.00 in bulbs alone.

Benji

[TMR Design]

Hi Benji,

I do realize there will be some wasted light but I was looking for a simple solution rather than having to custom design some sort of softbox for a large panel of fluorescent lights. I would also think that anyone using continuous light would be working very close to the subjects as opposed to the distances many will use for strobe lighting.

[justincase724]

Unless you stole these bulbs you must have about $100.00 in bulbs alone.

Nope, $37.50 in bulbs. Costco has a pack of 6 for something like $9 - and they're daylight balanced! If I had to pay the "normal" price of fluorescents (nearly $20 each from what I've seen), I never would've gone any further on this.

[Kaya75]

It realy is very nice idea - you could try using te different coloured bulbs i've started seeing too! easy to make a honey comb difussion panel too.

Is there any chance of a wiring diagram? mind i respect that your a trainined and served sparky with the experiance and testing kit to make this safe - i don't think my public liability covers DIY projects!! lol - i could get it PAC tested (kind of safty) check in the UK at work though i guess.. :)

[justincase724]

Yeah, I'll get you a wiring diagram as soon as I can. It's really easy... umm, I mean, electricity is dangerous.

[m3rdpwr]

Unless you stole these bulbs you must have about $100.00 in bulbs alone.

Benji

As long as you don't need color corrected bulbs and calibrate, you can get an 8 pack of them for like 8 bucks on sale on a regular basis. (Yes, I know the risks.)

Of course, day light bulbs are newer, and more expensive where I am...

-Me

[lazer-jock]

It realy is very nice idea - you could try using te different coloured bulbs i've started seeing too! easy to make a honey comb difussion panel too.


I'm having visions of blacklight bulbs dance in my head as we speak, but I haven't seem them available in wattages higher than 60W equivalent.

[justincase724]

Is there any chance of a wiring diagram?

Here's a quick wiring diagram, sort of. The other one I was putting together became too jumbled up and confusing, so instead I just showed the cable coming in (G=Ground, H=Hot, N=Neutral), going to the three switches (A, B, and C), and then labeld each lamp socket with it's corresponding switch. If you have any questions on it, let me know.


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2429/3632208931_112622f129_b.jpg

[SuperHuman21]

How has this head been treating you?

I was wondering how to make an effective softbox myself for my own custom light and find your's pretty professional looking. Ok, more like really professional. Anyway, was hoping someone could give a viable suggestion. Only thing I can think of right now is to drill a slanted hole in each corner for metal rods that'll hold the nylon. Not sure what to use for the sides of the box, maybe nylon mixed with aluminum foil, the nylon acting as a support for it?

I thought of using some simple flashing that you use on homes for the sides but they're not big enough and too expensive ATM.

[ponzy]

haha.... + 2 , this could be a good modeling lights for under $100 !

[isoMorphic]

You can get those 75w CFL pack's on Amazon and they have the 200w version for cheaper then most specialty stores.

http://www.amazon.com/Feit-Electric-Daylight-Compact-Fluorescent/dp/B002962SRG/
http://www.amazon.com/Feit-Electric-ESL40TN-Fluorescent-High-Wattage/dp/B001AZOV9K

[SuperHuman21]

Seem like good deals. I went ahead and got 12 bulbs from the fullspectrum guys. Gotta build my head still for them but the light looks a bit better so far from one of the bulbs. Hard to tell until you them side-by-side other bulbs.

[SuperHuman21]

Don't mean to be rude but would like another chance at getting some suggestions.

[TMR Design]

I'll be posting build pics of my DIY continuous fluorescent ring light within a week or so. The design is such that it adapts easily for use with an umbrella or can go behind a diffusion panel. As a ring light (or fill at camera position) it uses 12 100 Watt bulbs and as a main light with a modifier or panel it uses 12 300 Watt bulbs. Quantity of light is impressive and you can shoot at whatever settings you want while keeping the ISO low.

[JDubya]

I'll be posting build pics of my DIY continuous fluorescent ring light within a week or so. The design is such that it adapts easily for use with an umbrella or can go behind a diffusion panel. As a ring light (or fill at camera position) it uses 12 100 Watt bulbs and as a main light with a modifier or panel it uses 12 300 Watt bulbs. Quantity of light is impressive and you can shoot at whatever settings you want while keeping the ISO low.

I've thought about doing something like this as well. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

[TMR Design]

I've thought about doing something like this as well. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

I've already shot with the prototype. This was from the first shoot with the ring light.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/5069030313_0c42cb963a_z.jpg

[JDubya]

Very nice, Rob.

[SuperHuman21]

I'll be posting build pics of my DIY continuous fluorescent ring light within a week or so. The design is such that it adapts easily for use with an umbrella or can go behind a diffusion panel. As a ring light (or fill at camera position) it uses 12 100 Watt bulbs and as a main light with a modifier or panel it uses 12 300 Watt bulbs. Quantity of light is impressive and you can shoot at whatever settings you want while keeping the ISO low.

Sounds good. Really looking forward to it. I've been sick for over a week but hope to start on my build later down this week when my stuff ships and will adjust something if I get some ideas from your's.

[SuperHuman21]

Rob, how's the build coming along?

[TMR Design]

Rob, how's the build coming along?

I'm a few days away from having it complete. Just waiting for some paint and glue to dry and then final assembly.

[harcosparky]

So, where are the pics? :D

Like to see the 'under construction' photos, more than the finished product ... but that's just me.

[TMR Design]

The pics will follow. It's not complete.

I never post images of the build in-progess before the project is finished. I shot some pics as I was building it but won't post any images until it's complete.

[SuperHuman21]

Awesome. Looking forward to it. I finally got around to ordering all my stuff and should get to work on it by the time you post the images.

[sigma pi]

The pics will follow. It's not complete.

I never post images of the build in-progess before the project is finished. I shot some pics as I was building it but won't post any images until it's complete.
What a tease :p :lol:

[TMR Design]

It just makes more sense to post the images all at once. I don't really shoot the 'build' shots in great detail. Just enough to give you the idea, and then the final product shot.

I'm about a day away from posting. I've just had so much going on that what should have taken me a week ended up taking a month.

[SuperHuman21]

lol sigma.

Same exact things here Rob. Hope we both can get this stuff over with.

[TMR Design]

I actually just finished the final assembly, powered it up and all is well. I'm just going to let some of the glue and paint set for 24 hours or so and then I'll be posting images.

This ring light came out really great. The last mod that will make it accept an umbrella is going to wait. I have a few parts on order and I haven't finalized that aspect of the design but the ring light is great. 19,200 Lumens with the 100 Watt bulbs and 50,400 Lumens with the 300 Watt-ers. ;)

Yummy!

[SuperHuman21]

Nice. That's a lot. I've got half the lumens as you do and am starting to wonder if it's really enough with this tripod. I'll almost exclusively shoot at F/18 and really slow speeds that my tripod seems to blur quite nicely. We'll see.

EDIT: 33,600 lumens to be exact. With a large diffuser it'll be a lot weaker =\

[TMR Design]

That's why I also got the 300 Watt bulbs. I know that once I use an umbrella or any form of diffusion material I'm going to lose some light.

I'll be doing some testing over the next week and will then publish some working numbers.

[SuperHuman21]

Good thinking. Lol, I got excited about building this but skipped that part. Hopefully it won't be so bad and if anything I can get a better tripod to fix the blur that's not noticeable unless you crop a ton (bro likes it that way).

Sounds good.

[TMR Design]

Unless my shutter speeds are really fast, I make it a rule to shoot with a tripod or camera stand when shooting continuous lights. There's no question about the difference in sharpness, even when using VR (that's IS for Canon folks).

[SuperHuman21]

Indeed but when I shoot, off the top of my head at least, below 1/40 or so I see visible blur when it should be sharp. I think my tripod is too weak for my lens and camera. The head itself is the problem as it doesn't feel robust and it isn't removable so gotta get a new one I suppose if I run into such speeds. Probably will have to up the ISO a bit until then.

[TMR Design]

Hmmm. 1/40s, even on a tripod, can be a problem. Have you tried mirror lockup and a remote shutter release?

[SuperHuman21]

Really? I thought the tripod would allow it to be sharp way below that if it's a solid tripod. I always use a remote so my hand wouldn't reflect in the stones or jewelry and I can do a mirror lockup on my camera but haven't done it in forever. Hmm...that's how little I've used it. I'll have to test that again. Thanks.

[TMR Design]

Really? I thought the tripod would allow it to be sharp way below that if it's a solid tripod. I always use a remote so my hand wouldn't reflect in the stones or jewelry and I can do a mirror lockup on my camera but haven't done it in forever. Hmm...that's how little I've used it. I'll have to test that again. Thanks.

Yes, if it's a solid tripod, but when the pod is not all that solid then mirror lockup and remote release helps.

[SuperHuman21]

Ok, just making sure we're on the same page. Cool, I'll be testing the mirror trick tomorrow. My legs are aching too much from lack of sleep lately, oops.

[SuperHuman21]

I would forego the softbox and just get some white nylon ripstop and some PVC and make a diffusion panel.

This is what I'll be doing as I was thinking of a softbox but that's just not feasible really.