What BULB do you guys use for taking pictures of automotive DIYs?

[Brent]

In a Toyota forum I write up automotive repair DIYs under lousy lighting conditions (like many people do).

Only I use a good camera (Nikon D5000) and good back lighting to augment the camera flash.

It's cheap. I buy 200 watt bulbs from ACE Hardware and put it in an aluminum light fixture with clamps so I can secure the light. I change the directdion of light constantly so a stand wouldn't work.

Problem is, I bust a bulb almost every time. When these bulbs are hot, they break the filament if you drop or move the light suddenly.

Is there a better high lumens bulb that is sturdier than the "regular" 200W bulbs from ACE?

[RBM]

If you want standard incandescent, you want a "rough service" lamp. They have a more durable filament and can withstand shock and vibration. Don't get a drip of water on one when it's hot though, it'll explode. Here is a link:

[Jeff The Drunk]

Have a look here

:

[notbob]

Works for me. I used three lights (150W incandescent) with same cheapo alum reflectors ($7 ea) for illuminating items for sale. No problems except for very shiny round black items like rifle scopes. Took a lot of angles and moving of lights. Otherwise, no problems with exposure.

Ya gotta be smarter than the tool.

nb

[Rich]

Enjoy them while you can, before the envirokooks ban incandescents.

[Stormin Mormon]

I don't use one, but it might fit the bill for you.

sale, ten bucks. Somewhat rugged.

The LED one with 45 LED or something. Much less satisfying. Throws a spot on the far wall, and doesn't light up the area.

Usually when I take pics, the camera flash does a good job.

[George Kerby]

Some of your friends, Rich? Ask Tim the Tool Man...

[WW]

I have some "PhotoFlood" lamps I used with old film movie cameras. They have their own reflector. WW

[jamesgangnc]

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Try some outdoor floods. Mioght be a bit hardier. Plus a flood may work without quiote so high a wattage.

[Brent]

Exactly! Each shot, I hold the light or clamp it to something and a lot of stuff on a car is dark black so it takes a LOT of light to get the contrast I need.

Where do you get your bulbs?

Do they break on you a lot?

[Brent]

In the intracacies of the engine, the camera flash can't throw the light we need into all the spaces we need for a good shot.

That's why it has to be hand held and clampable .

The incandescents in the aluminum reflector work fine; they just break a lot.

[Brent]

Are they rugged?

[Brent]

It DOES get pretty hot. Too hot to touch most of the time. But the light is good. While it lasts.

[J. Clarke]

May be more than you want to spend but a ring flash is made for this sort of thing. The Sigma EM-140 works fine for $379. If you need something more powerful the AlienBees ABR800 is 20 bucks more, but plugs into the wall and is larger and bulkier and without any automation. For close to double the price you can go with the Nikon R1C1 (apparently the D5000 flash doesn't work as commander--if it did you could use the R1 for not much more than the Sigma or Alien Bees) which gives you a little more control of shadows but is on a par with the Sigma for power.

Note by the way that the Sigma does _not_ work as a commander for anything but the EM500 (on Canon anyway--I don't know if the Nikon version has the same problem).

There is a bottom-feeder Chinese ringlight that is sold under the "Bower", "Phoenix", and other brands for around 100 bucks--apparently _if_ you get a good one they work fine but you may have to go through several of them to get a good one.

[DanP]

I was expecting this

DanP

[DanP]

You can buy a lot of light bulbs for that money.

DanP

[J. Clarke]

You can buy a lot of light bulbs for the price of a digital camera too. So what?

[J. Clarke]

126 200 watt bulbs from Lowes or 43 rough service 200 watt bulbs from bulbs.com. Or if you go with the Chinese knockoff then it's 13 rough service bulbs or 36 Lowes bulbs.

And that leaves aside the convenience factor. With the ring light you just point and shoot, no need to move lights for every shot.

[Robert Green]

Not quite an answer to your question, but I learned a technique for photographing engines and complex three-dimensional objects called light painting. You set the camera on a time exposure of about 4 seconds (a dark garage and a tripod or magnetic clamp are a must) and then use a powerful light and move it all around the area to be imaged.

I used to use tungsten bulbs, but I found that 100 LED showerhead flashlights are perfect for this work as the ones I have are almost the same color temp as daylight and emit broad, shadow free light for over an hour per charge with no cords. They clip into the same sort of clamps used in tungsten light reflectors, too.

You'll see an improvement right away. The dark shadows thrown by hoses, levers, rods and wires disappear because they are "filled in" as you move the light source around the area of interest. .

The 100 LED flashlights are also invaluable in microphotography - they are like miniature umbrella lights. They also run very cool compared to any incandescent light source.

-- Bobby G.

[Caesar Romano]

Try

in cheap 10" flood reflectors from Lowes, etc.

They are 6500K so you will get accurate color rendition. I use them for artistic photography and they work well.