Hi guys,

I always liked modeling under natural light better than using artificial light. It is never a problem during the summer when the days are long, but now... I go to work in the morning and return home late in the evening... many times I don't even see the daylight. I heard there are light bulbs that "simulate" natural light. Any of you use them? Are those hard to find? Expensive? How good they are in making "daylight"?

Mario.

Do a google for either Full Spectrum or daylight bulbs, in the UK they are easy to get hold of and cost about 2 to 3 times the price of a normal light bulb but are still only about £2.50 each for a standard bulb and you can get them as normal light bulbs, halogen or even fluorescent bulbs.

Andy

My wife does alot of Cross-stitch and uses numerous! daylight lamps for that. I pinched some kind of flip up daylight thingy - so take a look a sewing/x-stitching shops or sites as they are laden with these things.

CB

Thanks guys... I thought they would be much more expensive... and much harder to find.

Do you use full spectrum bulbs while modeling?

Cheers,
Mario

Use all the time .....great --no peripheral flashing --or neon cycling flicker ---got on both my benches
About £3 can vary
ate
BARV
(GOSMG)

I bought a think called an Ott light designed for craft work, it is superb and does not cause eye strain. The prices seem to be reasonable and you can find details and suppliers by searching on the web. It is a flip up device to switch it on as has been mentioned earlier.

http://www.bachmann.co.uk/ott.php4?prod_selected=ott

John

In Australia these bulbs are called "energy saving" or "compact fluorescent" bulbs, and are available cheaply at any supermarket. They plug into a standard table lamp or overhead light fitting. The ones rated at a colour temperature of about 6500K are an excellent match for daylight.

The only catch is that the manufacturers tend to exaggerate how much light they give out, so for model work I recommend at least one 20 watt bulb.

Damn, 20 watts would be better than sitting under my 100 watt now. I think I need to get me one of those Ott lights, keep hearing about them but have never tried one.

Maurice,

I was somewhat suspicious of the claims initially as it seems to good to be true, but even with the blue daylight bulbs, I used to find eyestrain was becoming a problem as the eyes are getting older. I found mine in a stationary shop as a special offer which was 2/3rds the retail and thought what the heck.

I allow the Ott light about 10 minutes to warm up, like any energy saving bulb and it is really is fabulous, colours look real, no more finding that things suddenly look too light in daylight and I can work for hours.
The other thing I have always found that ordinary incandesant bulbs, to cause relection off spectacles at times, which my Ott light does not cause.

John

After much searching I got mine here - about the cheapest in the UK - http://www.lamps2udirect.com/pages/browse-More-Lamps2udirect.php/Daylight-Bulbs-And-Tubes/Daylight---6400k-Helix-Bulbs/50/6

I have 3 x 30W (150w equivalent each) above my desk - they rock. They are also excellent at picture taking time

The Ott lights are great.. I've been using a desktop model for about 3 years now and I'm still on the origanal bulb.... For modeling you can't beat it..

In Fact my wife like the daylight light so much we now have a floor lamp model in the living room for when she reads..

If you can find daylight bulbs, get them--they're great. Even better, try to find energy-saver daylight bulbs.

I use two Ikea clamp-on desk lamps with compact fluorescent (also called energy-saving) daylight (a.k.a. full spectrum) bulbs from Home Depot. The whole setup only uses 66 watts (23W per bulb, each equivalent to a 90W standard bulb), pumps out 2,400 lumens, and cost just $28 or so (each lamp was $10 and the bulb 2-pack was $8, if I remember correctly). The lamps give off enough light to greatly reduce my eye strain, banish pesky shadows, and make colors look more accurate. One added bonus--the lamps don't get very hot, especially when compared to normal bulbs. The energy-saving bulbs do need to warm up a bit before reaching their maximum light output, however. Less than a minute does it for mine.

That said, my wife doesn't like them since they really light up the room I use. I admit that the door and windows end up looking like something out of an alien abduction movie, with powerful, eerie light beams shooting out into the darkness and whatnot.

Thanks guys for your help... I'm looking for the bulbs here, but didn't have much luck so far.




:-)

Mario