Tuesday 17 January 2012

At last ... a lamp to light my way

For most hobbyists, a work lamp would have been one of the first things in their to-get-list. For me, it was placed, wrongly I might add, way down the list as I splurged on paints and models instead. Then unexpected circumstances caught up with me, resulting in the budget for my miniature hobby to be slashed to a big fat zero. Currently, my budget is still nada, zilch, zip ... but I decided to make an exception for essential hobby tools. So finally I got the Ikea Work Lamp I had been eyeing for a long time. It cost RM45 (US$14) but its worth it.

 


Bulbs used with this lamp
Currently, I use two different bulbs, one for painting (15W/75W) and one for taking photos (20W/100W). Both were on sale at a local Tesco store for RM15.88 (US$5) each.


First pictures using the lamp
Took a couple of trial photos using the work lamp. One weird anomaly I encountered was frequency lines running across my camera display as I took the photos, not unlike what you would see if you tried taking a picture being displayed by a CRT TV. If you examine the photos below, you can just make out a series of faint shadowy lines running across the picture from top to bottom. Well, that's one problem that needs solving.

Photos still could use some improvement I guess. Placing of the light source as well as some tinkering with my camera-phone's limited settings might be the way to go. Any helpful comments would be appreciated. 



Moral of the story, learn from this nooby's mistake. You so need a lamp. It's the one thing you must not skimp on. Get it ... now.

7 comments:

  1. My guess, those shadowy lines is probably from the swirling shape of your lightbulb. Perhaps you can eliminate the lines by applying a filter to your lamp, say, by taping a white paper or cloth to it.

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    Replies
    1. Hmmm ... worth a try. Thanks a lot Vuel. =) Worth a second look as the moving frequency lines in my camera-phone could have been an optical illusion on my part if you are right.

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  2. maybe... just maybe.. you can save like.. 20 angpows on CNY to get a digicam =p it works way better than phone, seriously, I'm "borrowing" my office's development iPhone 3gs (ahem, for only once or twice, I'm well aware it's unethical) last time (errrr.. my berserkers period, you can refer to the photo quality), but end up spend like RM200 to get a lousy DC on one of those PC fair.. the quality is not top notch, but it works (plus, no hassle to smuggle the phone back just for takin a few photo =p). I would say, a DC that able to micro zoom is a must have too for miniature hobbyist =)

    ps: YEAH! going on CNY leave in less than 26 hours time =D and I brought this :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck-LXIMVw3M
    ME CHILDHOOD DREAM FULFILLED!

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  3. A Big Hello from your newest member.

    I recently came across your blog and orks and just started to follow you, as I think it's great, so we might have a couple of things in common as I too have a hobby blog you might like to follow to at

    uniteallaction.blogspot.com

    So feel free to drop me a comment and hopefully become a member, keep up the good work. And hopefully I'll hear from you soon.

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  4. Thats the same type of ikea lamp i got :)
    Take care of it and it'll last u a lifetime.
    Ive had mine since 2002...
    Uve got the right daylight cool bulps
    too. So it must br your camera phone.
    Really good investment there man!!!
    Trial n error n soon u'll be taking better pics;)

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  5. I doubt the spiral pattern on the bulb is the culprit- it's almost certainly the fact you're using a camera phone. You definitely need a proper digi camera if you want to take sharp pics. Nonetheless, it's an improvement!

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  6. @me/limp ... saw the youtube posting. I am speechless. That thing looks awesome! =)

    @uniteallaction ... nice to see a fellow ork symphatiser. Thanks for checking out my blog.

    @ Khairul and Deathkorps ... thanks a lot for the advice guys. =) A digital-SLR is definitely on my to-buy list once I get back on my feet again.

    ReplyDelete

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