jaceravone

Whether you are looking for the perfect lighting source to look at your coins at your desk or take pictures of your coins, I think I may have found the perfect lighting source.

In a fit of frustration, I went to Lowe's to look for new lights for my coin desk. I originally had a 300w halogen that pointed up. Although it did great for illuminating the room, it did not for me while looking down at a coin. I tried several desk lamps with regular bulbs, but those were horrible. The lighting was never good enough to take pics and was usually not good I found at highlighting the whole coin. I usually resorted to taking my pics in the kitchen with two fluorescent lights above. The pics you see in my album were all taken this way.

The lights I found at Lowe's are manufactured by a company called Tensor - a division of Catalina Lighting. The line that I am looking at is called Vision Max and they are fluorescent lights. They boast Truer colors, brighter and whiter light, clearer, sharper contrast - Experience the Benefits of Natural Light. So far I am not disappointed. I began experimenting with the camera, but probably wont have results until later on this weekend. I still use my halogen light for overall brightness of the room, but the florescent lighting is perfect at my desk for examining coins close up.

you can find more of there stuff at www.catalinalighting.com. Looks like they are out of Canada. You could also probably go onto your local Lowe's web site and see what they have. You will not be disappointed. Thoughts, comments and reviews are welcomed.

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“Punishment is the way in which society expresses its denunciation of wrongdoing and, in order to maintain respect for law, it is essential that the punishment inflicted for grave crimes should adequately reflect the revulsion felt by the great majority of citizens for them.”

Lord Justice Denning of the Court of Appeals in the United Kingdom

HandsomeToad

I hope Stainless doesn't read this thread?

Ribbit

borgovan

Lots of the craft stores around where I live sell the Tensor, as well as plenty of other full-spectrum fluorescent bulbs.

I have used a Tensor Vision Max myself for quite some time. There's nothing comparable to a full-spectrum bulb.

diocletian

Thanks for the tip. I'll be looking for one of these lights this weekend. I've see Borgovan's coin photography and I can tell you there is none better.

HandsomeToad

BTW - I don't know the price of the one in the OP but I've been told this one is also awesome:

http://cgi.ebay.com/OTT-LITE-R-TrueC...QQcmdZViewItem

And they sell on Ebay for around 20 bucks.

Ribbit

Pocket Change

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're on a budget, you can go to walmart and get the "Plant growth" fluorescent bulbs that cost just a little more than regular ones. I believe they are supposed to give the full sprectrum of light, but don't have the fancy brand names.

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I don't know what I want, but I know how to get it

jaceravone

Sorry, should have mentioned price. The one I bought was priced a buck or two under $50. I bought the tall one so it wouldn't take up prime real estate on my desk. The light is attached to a flexible arm that bends so this is perfect for my situation. The light remains high enough off my desk so I don't bump into it, but can be lowered when I need more light to look at something.

All the other models ranged in price from about $23-50. They had some really nice desk top ones that would be almost half the price, if price is an issue. I went there to buy a replacement bulb for my halogen lamp and ended walking out of there with a whole new lamp. I had been frustrated for some time about my lack of light... now no more complaints.

__________________
“Punishment is the way in which society expresses its denunciation of wrongdoing and, in order to maintain respect for law, it is essential that the punishment inflicted for grave crimes should adequately reflect the revulsion felt by the great majority of citizens for them.”

Lord Justice Denning of the Court of Appeals in the United Kingdom

Drusus

Thanks for the info...I have been a bit frustrated with my own light set-up for sometime, I will give this a try and report back.

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Pecunia in arbotis non crescit

CW5000

Is the problem you are having with general viewing or for just the pics?
Haven't gone as far as needing specialized light yet

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jaceravone

Take a look here.. http://www.catalinalighting.com/fullspectrum.htm I really liked the one in the picture all the way to the right. I don't think their website contains the full product line, because I didn't see the one I purchased. Also, I went to the Lowes website and I was extremely disappointed that I could not find this product line. I don't know if this is a regional thing and that is why it isn't showing up on Lowes.com or it is a new product line and they just haven't been able to put the new products up? Anyway, I was hoping to post some links to the one I bought, but no luck. Maybe I will take pics this weekend and get them up.

__________________
“Punishment is the way in which society expresses its denunciation of wrongdoing and, in order to maintain respect for law, it is essential that the punishment inflicted for grave crimes should adequately reflect the revulsion felt by the great majority of citizens for them.”

Lord Justice Denning of the Court of Appeals in the United Kingdom

HandsomeToad

BTW Jac, do you realize that just before you started this thread, Stainless was . . . . ahhhhhh . . . . buzy?

http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=43187

I hope you realize the damage you've done?

Ribbit

jaceravone

I will neither confirm nor deny the use of the Jedi mind trick on him.

__________________
“Punishment is the way in which society expresses its denunciation of wrongdoing and, in order to maintain respect for law, it is essential that the punishment inflicted for grave crimes should adequately reflect the revulsion felt by the great majority of citizens for them.”

Lord Justice Denning of the Court of Appeals in the United Kingdom

HandsomeToad

Now I know how he got the way he iz!

With friends like you, who needs meds.

Ribbit

Cloudsweeper99

I'm a little surprised at the choice of fluorescent light. I'm never happy with it and if I work under fluroencent for a long time I get headaches.

jaceravone

It is definitely a different type of light to get used to. I have not had a chance to spend any real time using it so I can't say if I will get headaches, but from the little that I have used it, it has been a much improved light source compared to what I was using before.

__________________
“Punishment is the way in which society expresses its denunciation of wrongdoing and, in order to maintain respect for law, it is essential that the punishment inflicted for grave crimes should adequately reflect the revulsion felt by the great majority of citizens for them.”

Lord Justice Denning of the Court of Appeals in the United Kingdom