Lighbox panel for table inspecting and cutting of negatives

[koraks]

I suspect the mat you recommended somewhat diffuses the light, which would make it work very nicely with the kind of light panels suggested by some of us

 

[Bill Burk]

I have six light boxes of various vintage. But I still cut my negatives in the air looking at a 100 watt bare bulb in the distance.

Even when I do get out the light box to look at negatives, it feels awkward. Do I take the negative sleeves out of the notebook or turn the pages and slip the light between the pages?

I’m fascinated by the idea of a light box, but I just don’t know how to make them work for me.

I even mounted an x-ray viewer (which I put 5,000 K fluorescent bulbs in), on the shelf under my cabinet of slides… and hardly ever used it. It’s mounted on the wall behind my sink now, behind the vacuum easel, behind the black curtain… even worse than ever before.

 

[tahomaphoto]

For some reason, not everyone can see some Amazon.ca listings.
Here is a screenshot:
View attachment 327086

Ohh, looks good!

 

[Rick A]

I used something similar to this when I shot 35mm, mostly for slides but works for cutting strips.

Kaiser "Diacut 1" 2115 AC Illuminated 35mm Film Cutter

 

[cmacd123]

The one I use is marketed as a tracing panel.
It is USB powered.
It works well, and is similar to this:

I received one this week, Amazon sent it from Vancouver to Hamilton to Montreal and finally to me in stittsville.
the panel is noce and bright, but the little dots are about 5 mm apart. so I am not sure how much diffusion it would need to view film. 3 brightness levels the highest draws about .4 Amp at 5Volts.

it might work OK as a tracing surface using tracing paper.

 

[cmacd123]

I suspect I will continue using my Port-A-Trace. I did stock up on the special Hitachi Floresent lamps it uses when I saw a photo store clearing them out.. (Newer model is LED based)

 

[blee1996]

I use a Kaiser slim LED panel, which serves dual purpose. It is color correct for viewing color slides, as well as a backlight for cutting film. It is not cheap, but I consider it a long term investment.

In terms of cutter, I found the new Martin from Amazon not a great product. The wheels are made from questionable material, and often it slips and cannot grip the negatives for smooth transportation. I used it a couple times and never use it again.

For 135 I currently use a Polaroid 35mm slide mounter, about $10 from eBay new old stock. This has a sprocket driven mechanism and is precise in advancing the frames. The cutter is also good quality.

For 120 I just use a scissor, which is more than sufficient.

 

[MattKing]

the little dots are about 5 mm apart

I'm guessing that you meant to post that they are 0.5 mm apart.
It is unfortunate that your panel has such a course pattern. I need to use a magnifier to clearly see the pattern in mine.

 

[koraks]

I'm guessing that you meant to post that they are 0.5 mm apart.

No, I think @cmacd123 probably really means 5mm. It's similar to mine, look here:

To solve the issue, I just place a piece of milky plexiglass on top of it for diffusion; I think it's 1.5mm thickness and does the job:

 

[snusmumriken]

I have always inspected b/w negatives by holding them up to the light, but recently I bought this tracing tablet and am very pleased with it. It is slim, lightweight, evenly lit, and will run off mains, USB, or a pen-sized power stick. The only downside is that it is plastic and presumably easily scratched.

As regards cutting, I am paranoid about minimising dust and scratches. So I never put negatives down anywhere except in their sleeves or in a negative carrier. I cut my (35mm) film into strips while still hanging, using scissors and with a good back light, and they go straight into a sleeve. I would not put negatives on any light table unless they are in a sleeve.

 

[Don_ih]

I use an LED panel like Matt suggested - not a polka-dot one like Koraks seems to have. There is a pattern in the matrix but it's not readily noticeable.

I wipe it off with an alcohol-moistened kimwipe before putting any negatives on it. I cut negatives with scissors. I have a little cutter for slides - has a built-in light - but I don't have a clue where that thing could be. I'd never use it, anyway.

I also have a fluorescent-tube light table that got so many negative printfile sheets piled on it, I abandoned it. It's too big to hold up behind a hanging 4x5 negative - an operation which keeps stuff from piling up on top of the LED panel.

 

[cmacd123]

yes, the one I bought, following Matt's Link looks like to one Korcks posted. for 12 bucks Canadian I will probably find a use for it, but the grid of far too coarse for any Photographic uses. I wonder if the supplier had more than one version and they got lumped together?

 

[MattKing]

My apologies Charles.
It looks like that link I shared is quite a bit different than the one I bought in 2016!
I wish I had gone deeper into the images - this is the very last one, and it doesn't look at all like how mine wors:

 

[Don_ih]

My apologies Charles.
It looks like that link I shared is quite a bit different than the one I bought in 2016!
I wish I had gone deeper into the images - this is the very last one, and it doesn't look at all like how mine wors:
View attachment 332404

It's exceptional for macrame.

 

[cmacd123]

It looks like that link I shared is quite a bit different than the one I bought in 2016!

No worry. I am thinking it might work as my Video Light for ZOOM. And these days it is the price of ONE roll of Film.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I have one of the clear translucent ones for cutting.

Dahle - 10660-12584 Vantage 10680 Self-Healing Cutting Mat, 9"x12", 1/2" Grid, 5 Layers for Max Healing, Perfect for Crafts & Sewing, Clear​

I use this mat over my Kaiser Slimlite 2453 which has a nominal Kelvin of daylight 5000K. I tested it with my NEC monitor puck and the photo below shows the readings at different areas of the light panel in both battery and AC mode. So this is also a good unit to check slide colors.

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