Vantage Point

I’ve seen this link at PiPho Forum, a do-it-yourself lighbox/light tent. Light tents are used for product shoots, this softens the harsh lights in a studio.

I check on the web for any available light tents, I just wanna see the going rates of the product, the price starts at US$79, whew! parang ang mahal naman! So I decided to make my own based on this link & this is my own version of a DIY Light tent.


I went to the nearest hardware to check for the things I need, I made a shortlist of the materials & tools needed:

1. 2pcs 1/2″ x 10 feet PVC pipe cut using hack saw to produce (A) 2pcs. @ 23″, (B) 2pcs. @ 16″, & (C) 4pcs. @ 14″ - PhP100.00 (PhP50.00 each)
2. 4pcs 1/2″ Tee (D) - PhP51.00 (PhP12.75 each)
3. 4pcs 1/2″ caps (E) - PhP27.80 (PhP6.95 each)
4. 4pcs 1/2″ Street Elbow (F) - PhP45.50 (PhP22.75 each)
5. 3pcs twist-tie (G) - free
6. Cartolina for backdrop -
7. white cloth (bedsheet) as diffuser - no cost

For the tools, I only used a pencil, a ruler & a hacksaw blade. My total bill? PhP329.80! Way cheaper than the $79 of commercially available light tent.

Gluing is an option, I opted not to glue it since I don’t have enough space to store the assembled frame. Instead of using a screw to hold the back-draft (cartolina), I used twist-tie wires from old electronic items.

Now the test, I used the rule of thumb 1/focal lenght, in this case the focal lenght is at 75mm, I set the exposure at 1/30″ & setting the aperture to it’s maximum at f5.6. For the lights, I used 1 normal flourescent type reading light & an SB800 speedlight, I took advantage of Nikon’s Creative Lighting System where the flash was set on remote & was triggered by the built-in flash of the camera.

After all the hard work, I can say that I’m quite happy of the result, although some more adjustments are needed to enhance the quality of lighting, a 2nd flash might do the trick.

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