Build Your own Light Box
A light box, the bigger the better, is essential to
slide handling.
A light box is a must for laying out large numbers of slides for shows and other editing.
The
best way to tell whether a slide is sharp or not, is by viewing it on a lightbox with a X 8
loupe.
However, commercially produced lightboxes are expensive!
Especially larger ones. Fortunately, with a little knowledge, it is relatively easy and cheap to make your own.
How to make your own light box
 Old drawers are easy to come by,
line one with reflective foil. Get a piece of 3-5mm opal perspex cut to size. Put
an appropriate number of fluorescent fittings with colour corrected tubes inside, spaced a foot
apart. Drill holes for ventilation and bring a flex out, put a
plug on it and you have a light box at one-fifth commercial cost. You may not
be able to note the scale across the top and along the side from this
picture. The scale is for easy reference to calculate the number of slides on the
box.
Ideally, the fluorescent light fittings chosen should be
High Frequency type with colour 93 or 94 Triphosphor tubes. Alternatively, as
these fittings are expensive, conventional fittings with Northlite 55 or
Trucolour 38 tubes affords a good compromise. The number after the name is the
percentage of the visible spectrum that a tube emits, higher numbers being
better of course.
The number of lights required in your light-box
can be determined by metering with your camera. At 100ASA you should get F8 to
F11 at 125th with the lens pointing downward and
resting on the diffuser.
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