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I have to move my model building into the garage and there is no lighting availible other than a dinky little bulb that has about the same luminesence as a candle. I open the garage door but it hardly helps as the ambient light barely makes it into the garage due to the angle.

 

Is there a particular lamp I can buy? Is there a particular bulb that provides the best light for modeling? What do you light your workshops with? 

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I'm a huge fan of OTT Daylight hobby lamps. They make a variety of desk/table models and floor models which are fantastic and I have five that I use in my model room;

.3 for the bench and two for the spray booth.

It's important to use lamps and bulbs that use produce daylight (5000-5000 Kelvin) so you see the colors as they would appear in daylight (mid day). Most bulbs/lamps are too warm and yield a slight yellow cast to the eye.

The only negative I have for OTT Lamps are the cost of the bulb replacements which is a bit high.

Peter

 

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1 hour ago, Peterpools said:

I'm a huge fan of OTT Daylight hobby lamps. They make a variety of desk/table models and floor models which are fantastic and I have five that I use in my model room;

.3 for the bench and two for the spray booth.

It's important to use lamps and bulbs that use produce daylight (5000-5000 Kelvin) so you see the colors as they would appear in daylight (mid day). Most bulbs/lamps are too warm and yield a slight yellow cast to the eye.

The only negative I have for OTT Lamps are the cost of the bulb replacements which is a bit high.

Peter

 

 

Is 5000-5000 Kelvin a typo or a special type of bulb? I see 5000 Kelvin bulbs but not 5000-5000K bulb, if that's a different bulb from a 5000 K.

 

Also, if that is the case, would I get a similar lighting environment if I used a bunch of $16 desk lamp fitted with these daylight bulbs? I have to watch my spending, so I'm adamant to buy 3-5 $60-$100 lamps. 

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https://www.lightbulbs.com/blog/what-is-warm-dimming-led-lighting-technology

 

I'm on 7000ish with a neon tube straight above the bench, was planning to make some sort of pivoting bench light using a 70's era alarm sensor tube by strapping some leds inside but I think my father trashed or hidden it somewhere inside the cave

 

Cold light is the way to go,warm light is only good when you are relaxing your eyes and not even that good for reading

 

Luigi

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Sorry Guys

The correct daylight rating is: 5000-5500K, which is basically mid day daylight. I'm not saying you cant' just buy daylight bulbs which is the correct lighting. I'm just a fan of OTT lights and lamps for convenience and use. If you already have the lamp, then just buy the correct bulb

Peter

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My $.02 worth:

 

Your best bet for your garage is to go to your friendly big box store and find a cheapie 4-ft fluorescent light fixture. Then grab a couple (or  four if your fixture demands it) of GE's #F32T8-SPX65 bulbs, which are a  bright daylight 6500 Kelvin, or 6500K.  I have these in a den where I shoot all my modeling photos.

 

I also have an OTT magnifier light at my desktop, to shed direct light AND magnification on the work at hand, sometimes paired with a cheapie set of 6X reading glasses for a really closeup look.

 

2v2JnJregxfzdhW.jpg

 

Best regards,

 

Ed

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Daylight LED fixtures are readily available in big-box stores.

 

I have a Luxo lamp on my desk with a daylight LED bulb in it. In addition to excellent lighting, it isn't hot, which matters when I'm working in close with my Optivisor. I use a long daylight LED fixture in my garage where I do my painting.

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Absolutely correct, LED lighting does not produce heat. The only key to correct colors without WB adjustment or not using flash is to use a daylight bulb or LED, which is 5000-5500 K.

Peter

Edited by Peterpools
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49 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

Absolutely correct, LED lighting does not produce heat.

 

Absolutely incorrect.  LED lighting does indeed produce heat. 

 

Granted it is a lot less than fluorescent or incandescent lighting, but LED lighting devices do generate heat when operating.

 

.

 

Edited by habu2
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I was suggesting the 6500K lights for GENERAL workshop illumination as per the question asked by Welsh. The F-84's in my post were photographed under this lighting, BUT with added 5000K fluorescent and/or led 5000K lights. The 6500K is a much better light,  for general reading, modeling etc., not necessarily for photography. Two different requirements....

 

Ed

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Not sure why it would be a better light for modeling. I use three lamps each with 5000-5500K bulbs and the light is right where it should be , especially when painting to keep the colors true.

I'll normally adjust the color temp (WB) in either Lightroom or Photoshop and find that even with the lamps I use, the RAW files are a bit cold and I bump them up to about 5600-5700K and the colors look truer. It's a slight difference but I'm very into photography as a hobby and when doing model photography, work hard at getting the colors as accurate as I can.

Peter

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I only use the 5000k lamps when doing the final photo shoot on the models. The rest of the time I do all my work in process shots under the 6500K room lighting on a white surface, and the proper white balance set in the camera. No correction is needed, as I occasionally check with a neutral grey card shot. The ONLY reason I use the 5000K lights on the final shots is to help eliminate the various directional shadows that would obviously exist from just the overhead bulbs.

 

I actually migrated from the 5000K tubes and trust me, the lighting is much better like working in a brightly sunlit room.

 

The difference might seem slight to others, but to my 74-1/2 year-old eyes, the difference is profound!

 

Ed

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Ed

70 and closing in on 71! I guess it's what works for each person. I just find once the WB reaches 6000 K there is a bit too much yellow in the mix. I do calibrate my iMac every two weeks with a Colormunki/Display to keep the colors as accurate as I can. For modeling it's way over kill but for photography, I find it a must.

Also not sure how a gray card would help with WB, as it is used to check exposure (18 percent reflectance gray )but has no relationship to WB.

Peter

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  I'm also a huge fan of OTT lights. My workbench has two of them each with a 5500K rated bulb. As Peter said, they're not cheap by any means, but I've had mine for several years and never had to replace either blub as yet.  I also wear a #5 Optivisor due to my failing eyesight.  

 

Technically, daylight is defined as 5500K, so the closer your lighting is to that standard, the truer you're seeing the color spectrum. 

 

Joel

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What I meant to indicate was that No color or other correction was needed with that setup, with the white balance set and the results checked occasionally with a grey card. Unless I'm trying to lighten or darken/ change exposure to better define a certain area of the pic, no adjustment is needed, color or otherwise! I use what I recommend to others, no speculation.

 

In any event, the original question was about best working light for the general hobby area, not about photography!

 

IMHO, the more light you have to work by, the better,  EVERY time.   Besides, few people shoot the pictures of their models under a bank of OTT lights, no matter how useful they are as bright lights with magnification.

 

Ed

 

 

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1 hour ago, TheRealMrEd said:

What I meant to indicate was that No color or other correction was needed with that setup, with the white balance set and the results checked occasionally with a grey card. Unless I'm trying to lighten or darken/ change exposure to better define a certain area of the pic, no adjustment is needed, color or otherwise! I use what I recommend to others, no speculation.

 

In any event, the original question was about best working light for the general hobby area, not about photography!

 

IMHO, the more light you have to work by, the better,  EVERY time.   Besides, few people shoot the pictures of their models under a bank of OTT lights, no matter how useful they are as bright lights with magnification.

 

Ed

 

 

Ed,

   I responded to your question about workbench lights. Using two OTT lights really lights up my workbench with "daylight" type light (5500k).   Seeing  colors in the proper light affords me the ability to correctly match colors to paint chips as viewed out in filtered daylight. 

 

  BTW, there are two different types of Gray cards. The lighter gray one is generally used for WB adjustment, while the darker Gray card is referred to as a # 18 Gray card, used to set exposure. The number 18 is a medium gray that is halfway between pure white and pure black on the light scale.  

 

Joel

Edited by Joel_W
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