Cheap 1$ Light tent / Light box
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Ever wanted to do product shots but don’t have the bucks to spend on a proper light tent? Why not build one yourself.
This lightbox will cost you less than 1 $ as it only uses 5 sheets of paper. After 15 minutes of folding and cutting you are set!
 Also, check out The IKEA hamper light tent if you need more space.
How to make it
You will need:
- 5 Sheets of A4 paper
- Transparent tape
- Some kind of Light
Glue will do instead of tape, but there is a risk it will wrinkle the paper.
Fold 3 papers according to the image below to the left and 2 like the image to the right. The right image below will be the lightbox sides, and the left will be on the top, bottom and back.
When all the papers have been folded it’s time to assemble it. This can be a bit tricky as the different sides are a bit unstable. Start by placing the bottom, and then place the sides as these are a bit more stable than the rest. Tape the sides on the bottom before installing the top, as it can be difficult to reach when the top is in place.
Putting it together is rather straight forward nevertheless here is a picture to show you how:
Using Backdrops
Backdrops can be used to make the inner back corner dissapear in photographs. This
makes the pictures look very focused on on the object.
Any A4 sized paper will do, just cut off a couple of centimeters on the side.
In this tutorial i have used a plain white sheet of A4 and one slightly blueish. Backdrops with reflective surface’s can make quite impresive images.
Light source
There is a upstream of ‘Daylight’ type bulbs. Any bulb with a color temperature of 5000K or higher will produce light perceived by most people as similar to daylight. The blue bulb in the middle gives a fair color temperature for its price. Its a Philips daylight 60W with a color temperature of 3000 K. Price is about 5 $.
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The lamp to the right is a tungsten halogen lamp used typically in halogens used in construction.Â
This halogen has a temperature of 2800 K. The light makes pictures yellowish and unless you have a corrective program in your camera to adjust this, i would not recommend this type.
To the left in the picture we have a standard cheap energy saver light bought from IKEA for about 5 - 10 $. There are better types of energy saver lamps with warmer color temperature. But i have decided not to include these as we are going for the cheapest choices.
You can also put lights on the sides of the box to further eliminate shadows cast by the object. When photographing reflective surfaces, it’s a good idea to darken the room where you are shooting, or just put a bed sheet over the box and stick the camera lens through.
Sample Photographs
Here are some sample shots made in the light tent. Top images are shot in the lightbox and bottom ones with the built in flash. All images are shot with a Nikon D70s DSLR.
LED Flashlight - In light tent energy saver lamp
LED Flashlight - Shot with built in flash
Nokia Cell phone - Shot in light box energy saver lamp
Nokia Cell phone - Shot with built in flash
Glass candle stand - Shot in lightbox energy saver lamp
Glass candle stand - Shot with standard flash
Electric Junk - Shot in lighttent with Philips daylight
Drinks - Shot in lighttent with Philips daylight
Strawberry - In light tent with tungsten halogen and light correction program
Wednesday, September 27th 2006 at 12:42 pm
Good tutorial, i’d like to see more of those cheap lamps. Where i live they do not sell those Philips.
Wednesday, September 27th 2006 at 4:37 pm
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Thursday, September 28th 2006 at 1:14 am
“Where i live they do not sell those Philips.”
GE also makes some daylight bulbs that are nice. Can’t remember the exact name.
Thursday, September 28th 2006 at 5:22 am
If you do a lil bigger version (depth an hight) you can use a flashgun, you bounce the light of the flashgun into the ceiling of the box (with the 2 lamps in both sides as you have elaborated your design) and you will have better lightining, you can find cheap lightguns
Great lightbox thanks for sharing!
Thursday, September 28th 2006 at 7:35 am
[...] The $1 Lightbox. This cheapo DIY lightbox could be useful if you do a lot of eBay photography, or even if you just want to get into doing some still life hobby stuff. Five sheets of paper, some tape and a daylight bulb. Which actually probably makes it more than $1.00, but we won’t quibble with a good idea. [...]
Thursday, September 28th 2006 at 5:29 pm
Thanks for all the feedback!
Catherine Kent, As okto says, any daylight bulb will do.
” If you do a lil bigger version (depth an hight) you can use a flashgun, you bounce the light of the flashgun into the ceiling of the box (with the 2 lamps in both sides as you have elaborated your design) and you will have better lightining, you can find cheap lightguns ”
Sure, the light from flashes is better than ordinary daylight bulbs. But i think it’s great with contignuous lightning that you can see how your image will be.
You have any good places to get surplus lightguns?
Thursday, September 28th 2006 at 8:44 pm
[...] Cheap 1$ Light tent / Light box Now I know what to do, if I get any free time this weekend. No Tags [...]
Friday, September 29th 2006 at 4:20 pm
[...] 1$ Light tent / Light box This lightbox will cost you less than 1 $ as it only uses 5 sheets of paper. After 15 minutes of folding and cutting you are set! (tags: howto lightbox photo photography tutorial DIY todo) [...]
Saturday, October 7th 2006 at 2:52 am
Iv’e found some daylight lamps, and folded my tent.
Its real nice lightning, but do you have any good places to find backdrops?
Monday, October 9th 2006 at 8:09 pm
[...] » Cheap 1$ Light tent / Light box : SoDoItYourself.com [...]
Tuesday, October 17th 2006 at 12:52 am
Cool beans!
I have a sort of “high end” (uh, cardboard) version of this on my site at
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html
But the construction method is not nearly as important as how you *use* it. You can do so much with these things. I got a letter two days ago from a guy who used one to do 50 catalog shots of bottles using one!
There’s a walk-through of a two-light, high-tech-looking shot of a digital camera here
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/08/on-assignment-shoot-your-shiny-new.html
for those interested in using a second light to light the background with no spill onto the subject.
Also, IKEA sells a folding hamper that makes a cool light tent, too. But I do not have a link on me.
Whatever you do, don’t waste $100 on the commercial version of these things.
Light on!
David Hobby
Strobist.com
Thursday, October 19th 2006 at 11:33 am
[...] So, after making this cheapo paper light tent i wanted something bigger. This lightbox has lots of space and folds neatly after use. [...]
Saturday, October 28th 2006 at 7:09 pm
Hello, tried it and it worked out really nice. Thanks for the tip!
Saturday, January 13th 2007 at 6:46 pm
I am still shaking from having to make my own tent in school. We had to make it out of seamless paper. What a pain! I do wish I had your handy instructions then. The ikea instructions are definitely worth trying if you want something bigger.
Monday, December 3rd 2007 at 8:46 pm
we are intristed for this nokia and the ather types,we want the price for 300-600pc,all the Nokia types that you have.
thankyou
Wednesday, January 30th 2008 at 6:29 pm
do you know any links for crafts?
Monday, July 7th 2008 at 7:35 am
almost any type of lamp will do, fluorescent or regular tungsten if you have a camera that allows you to set a manual white balance (most do) before you start taking pictures.
Saturday, July 19th 2008 at 5:56 pm
Thank you for your help.
Monday, January 19th 2009 at 10:12 pm
This is a reply to Catherine Kent’s question about backdrops. Scrapbook paper makes an excellent backdrop for smaller items, it comes in many colors, prints and styles and can be purchased by the sheet in the craft stores these days so you don’t have to buy an entire ook of the stuff. Fabric also works very well and can be purchased in any size for your larger items. Good Luck!
For Christine’s question about craft website’s, check out my handmade articles as well as the work of many other handcrafters at http://www.GypsyIntent.etsy.com