use a light box?

[back alley]

to review your negs?

i hate having to hold up a sheet of negs and then hold a loupe to it to view.
does anyone use a light box for this?
i would like one but i'm not handy enough to make a good one and any i have seen for sale are either pretty poor or too expensive for me.

what do you do?

joe

[rogue_designer]

I have an 11x14" sheet of white transluscent plexi that I put on a table top easel with a desk lamp behind it - I use binder clips and a movable clip on straight-edge to hold negs while I break out the loupe.

Before that I used a $19 premade under counter kitchen florescent light with a color corrected bulb - it was just the right size for a half roll of 120 uncut.

Neither is particularly elegant - but a lot cheaper than getting a proper light table. I'd rather spend the money on film. :)

[Rafael]

I use a light box. I bought it quite a few years ago so I can't remember how much I payed. It's a Futura by Logan. It's nothing special but I find it to be invaluable. I just can't look critically at negatives without that even lighting. I know that some people tape their negatives to their computer screens and use a blank white screen for light. Apparently, it works quite well.

[photogdave]

I use a Porta-Trace light box with an 8"x10" viewing area. They're about $100 CDN brand new.

[Flyfisher Tom]

I use a lightbox for slides (nothing beats it in my opinion).

For negatives, I generally just scan it and view in PS.

Bought mine new at B&H a few years ago, wasn't more than $200 if I remember correctly.

[Jamie123]

I have also been thinking about buying a lightbox for viewing 6x6 slides.

What does one have to look out for when buying a lightbox? Should those using batteries be avoided?

[peter_n]

I use a Porta-Trace Model 1012. It has a 10" x 12" viewing area. Excellent lightbox. I also use a Peak 8x loupe, around US$30.

[ClaremontPhoto]

I have a Jessops light box. It wasn't expensive, maybe it was about £20 or so fifteen years ago. And an Agfa loupe.

[VictorM.]

I use a lightbox left over from my studio days. It's a big help for sorting and sleeving negs.

[swoop]

I couldn't do without my lightbox. I have a small 11x14 that usues batteries so I can just sit around and review negatives.

[x-ray]

I use a color control box and think sinar sold it for a whild. I con't know what i would do without it. Go on evilbay and look at x-ray viewere. You should be able to get an 11x17 for thirty or so dollars or possibly cheaper. There's little to no market for them today. I bought a new gov. surplus safelight with a 4x8 white plex backlit viewer built in for twenty five bucks and it mounts on the wall. It probably cost the gov. a couple of hundred bucks.

[David Goldfarb]

I have a thin Logan 8x10" lightpad that I got from B&H, and I think it cost around $60 at the time. It's not as nice as a Cabin or Just Normlicht, but it's quite functional.

[photodog]

A cheap substitute would be a under the counter fluorecent light fixture commonly found in hardware stores for $20. It's not color accurate but good for black and white.

[Crasis]

Joe. Go to thrift stores, or toy shops. Buy a tracing table. They have a florescent light under a white hazed plastic.

They are for children to trace drawings with so there's more than sufficient light. I got one for 5$ CAD. What the ****.. 200$ for a box with a light in it? Jeez.

[David Goldfarb]

The more expensive boxes have more uniform light distribution and 5000K lamps, and are thinner. Aside from being better for judging color transparencies, you can also use them with a copy stand and another camera (film or digital) for duping transparencies or negatives in any format up to the size of the light box.

[rbiemer]

My cheap but limited solution:
A big sheet of white paper taped to my window. I then tape the very edge of negs I want to look at to that. It only works during the daytime, though.
For general sorting and non-critical looking, I have a no name slide viewer.
Rob

[w3rk5]

I think I'll be making one shortly. I'm just gonna use an under cabinet light fixture, some wood to build a box around the unit and some white (opaque) plexiglass. I'll work on it sometime this week.

[colyn]

I use a 30 x 36 inch light box for viewing slides and negs.

[Buze]

I have a 6x9 or so one, paid £17 at 7daysshop. Works wonder, and I even use it for "studio" shots as a very convenient softbox...

[Jerevan]

It's one of those things I need to get, but it's far down on the list. I used one at the darkroom I use to hire, it was in something like A3 size. Really nice to be able to get a whole sheet up and still have space left. The tracing tables are a good idea, as long as you only do B/W as I do. Much estate for little money. Gotta get my priorities re-arranged, I think!