Proof lights

[ullipops]

Can anybody recommend a low price lighting solution for evaluating proof prints? Using available or regular artificial lights doesn't seem like the way to go. I have a light box for negatives, wondered if that would be suitable?

 

[The Hat]

If you know your market and where your prints are going to be used or displayed then that’s what lighting you be simulating to view your print under, and a light box is not a suitable alternative..

 

[Paul Verizzo]

I'm liking some cheap cool white LED strips I bought for other reasons. Not perfect, but reasonably decent to daylight.

 

[berttheghost]

I'm liking some cheap cool white LED strips I bought for other reasons. Not perfect, but reasonably decent to daylight.

For a PROOF light??? Know this: virtually all so-called white LEDs sold for illumination purposes are BLUE LEDs coated with phosphors to fill in other colors. The cool white LEDS are blue LEDS with a yellow phosphor coat. No greens and no reds. Warm white LEDs use better phosphor coatings. The good ones do a fine job on the reds as well as the yellows but the greens are still VERY weak.

For some weak humor, I suppose that cheap LED lights would be good for 'fixing' some of those nasty color casts in B&W prints, especially those pesky greens and reds.

Proofing your prints under the same lighting as they are to be viewed is certainly compelling.

Daylight is often suggested for proofing but it is inconvenient and inconsistent. There is lots of hype out there about so-called 'full spectrum' lighting, especially fluorescent and LED. Full spectrum does NOT mean balanced spectrum.

There's really no good reason to look further than glowing tungsten unless you're trying to light a film stage. A halogen reading lamp should be fine. If that's too yellow, substitute a filtered halogen element like a SoLux. No need to pay for marketing hype then run in circles looking for missing colors.

 

[The Hat]

Proofing your prints under the same lighting as they are to be viewed is certainly compelling.

Daylight is often suggested for proofing but it is inconvenient and inconsistent. There is lots of hype out there about so-called 'full spectrum' lighting, especially fluorescent and LED. Full spectrum does NOT mean balanced spectrum.

When you proof in daylight you get the best of both worlds and it’s much easier to satisfy your fussy customers because they have exactly the same level of natural light as you do.

The mistake everybody tends to makes with daylight is to proof in sunlight, (Not direct) now that can vary wildly, but if you use constant cloud cover which we got a lot of here,then the light levels do remain extremely constant.

Using any electrical light from whatever source LED, Halogen or tube they change in time with usage in brightness, density and colour output, in fact they are the least constant..

 

[3dogs]

For a PROOF light??? Know this: virtually all so-called white LEDs sold for illumination purposes are BLUE LEDs coated with phosphors to fill in other colors. The cool white LEDS are blue LEDS with a yellow phosphor coat. No greens and no reds. Warm white LEDs use better phosphor coatings. The good ones do a fine job on the reds as well as the yellows but the greens are still VERY weak.

For some weak humor, I suppose that cheap LED lights would be good for 'fixing' some of those nasty color casts in B&W prints, especially those pesky greens and reds.

Proofing your prints under the same lighting as they are to be viewed is certainly compelling.

Daylight is often suggested for proofing but it is inconvenient and inconsistent. There is lots of hype out there about so-called 'full spectrum' lighting, especially fluorescent and LED. Full spectrum does NOT mean balanced spectrum.

There's really no good reason to look further than glowing tungsten unless you're trying to light a film stage. A halogen reading lamp should be fine. If that's too yellow, substitute a filtered halogen element like a SoLux. No need to pay for marketing hype then run in circles looking for missing colors.

Thanks for that.......lighting for the home user/hobby photographer is (in my opinion) in need of a segment on "myth busters" .........
There seem to be conflicting imperatives at play here. On one hand there is a veritable sunami driving us to conserve power ( brown outs in Belgium Criky! what next!??) and on the other we proof, then hang our handy work either at home or in an environment over which we have little or no control.
Here the main replacement lamp seems to be the spiral fluro, low voltage, low output. Mini screw fittings are in and transformer controlled ceiling fittings are out, due to a spike in house fires caused by insulation catching alight........dumb home owners, electricians and crap Regulations....layer upon layer of mitigation in place of good products, all in the name of "free enterprise"......hohummm!

So for the ceiling I am stuck with finding a mini screw configured lamp. Solux seems to have the nod so off to market we go....

Thanks, to both you and @RogerB

 

[Paul Verizzo]

@berttheghost: You caught me in an incomplete description of why I said that. My bad. My quick experiment with using the cheap LED strip was with B&W. In that, hugely better than incandescent. And the tests that I picked as best neutral survived the (indirect) light of day test.

The good news, 3dogs, is that our brain will trick us into thinking all is well after staring at a print for awhile. Regardless of lighting variations. Well, to a large extent anyway.