Spiderlite...really cheap to make!

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

08/01/2008 12:52:50 PM · #1

Hey guys!

As some of you know, I've been tossing around the idea of buying an off camera strobe to use for portraits. A few days ago I stumbled upon a DIY Spiderlite. These are normally sold by Westcott for $415 NOT including the light bulbs! I was able to find all of the parts necessary to build it at Lowe's, and only paid $90 for everything including the bulbs.

The bulbs that I used are 26watt compact fluorescent (equal to 100watts in a normal bulb) 6500K (cool natural daylight). They came in packs of 3 for $10. The bulbs that Westcott uses are 27watt compact fluorescents and they sell them for $123 (for a pack of 5). Does anyone know if there is that much difference?? After turning on my DIY spiderlite, I really can't see a bulb being too much brighter, but maybe I'm wrong.

Here are some shots of it:

I had an old tripod sitting around that I turned into a light stand for the spiderlite. Overall it seems to work very well, though I have not had the chance to take any photos with it yet. My only worry is that it will catch on fire...I'm not so good at the whole wiring thing.

When I have some more time I'll probably try to make a softbox to go with it. Or I may just buy one, I'm not sure; it seems like making one might be more trouble than its worth.

slickchik

Olympus OM-D E-M1

08/01/2008 12:54:43 PM · #2

Well, this is cool...i might just have to make one of these myself. I am very good at putting stuff together but know nothing about wiring and electricity...

Is this easy to do?

Message edited by author 2008-08-01 12:56:16.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

08/01/2008 01:02:15 PM · #3

Originally posted by slickchik:

Well, this is cool...i might just have to make one of these myself. I am very good at putting stuff together but know nothing about wiring and electricity...

Is this easy to do?

It's very easy! I know absolutely nothing about wiring and was able to build the whole thing in probably 4 hours.

One thing that I would recommend is that when you buy the individual lamp holders, make sure the wires (there should be one black wire and one white wire) are at least 5 inches long. The longer the better really. The wires on the holders that I bought were pretty short so it made it difficult to get everything connected properly.

Other than that though, with the directions on the website it is all very simple.

vxpra

Pentax K100D

08/01/2008 01:22:35 PM · #4

I built a somewhat similar rig last year, although yours looks more professional than mine. I actually built mine for use in my light tent- which also looks more professional than my light rig. I constructed two five light sets (with the switches set up so I could do either do 5 lights on, 3 on or 2 on, looks like you did something similar -judging by the 3 switches on the back). And a seven light rig for the top of the light tent.

I've also used mine with AC slaves, now there's some bright light.

Message edited by author 2008-08-01 13:23:14.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

08/01/2008 01:46:21 PM · #5

Originally posted by vxpra:

Yea, two of the switches turn on diagonal lights and the third switch controls the center light. It would be nice to have a dimmer rather than just on/off, but I have no idea what that would entail.

bfox2

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

08/01/2008 01:50:01 PM · #6

Originally posted by CaseyAllen:

Originally posted by vxpra:
I built a somewhat similar rig last year, although yours looks more professional than mine. I actually built mine for use in my light tent- which also looks more professional than my light rig. I constructed two five light sets (with the switches set up so I could do either do 5 lights on, 3 on or 2 on, looks like you did something similar -judging by the 3 switches on the back). And a seven light rig for the top of the light tent.

I've also used mine with AC slaves, now there's some bright light.

Yea, two of the switches turn on diagonal lights and the third switch controls the center light. It would be nice to have a dimmer rather than just on/off, but I have no idea what that would entail.

I'm not sure if you can use a Dimmer w/ the compact fluorescent bulbs anyway? Someone else may know for certain, but I haven't had much luck with it.

zackdezon

Nikon D300

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

08/01/2008 01:50:21 PM · #7

So, what exactly does a spiderlite do?

vxpra

Pentax K100D

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

08/01/2008 01:55:21 PM · #8

Originally posted by bfox2:

Originally posted by CaseyAllen:

Originally posted by vxpra:
I built a somewhat similar rig last year, although yours looks more professional than mine. I actually built mine for use in my light tent- which also looks more professional than my light rig. I constructed two five light sets (with the switches set up so I could do either do 5 lights on, 3 on or 2 on, looks like you did something similar -judging by the 3 switches on the back). And a seven light rig for the top of the light tent.

I've also used mine with AC slaves, now there's some bright light.

Yea, two of the switches turn on diagonal lights and the third switch controls the center light. It would be nice to have a dimmer rather than just on/off, but I have no idea what that would entail.

I'm not sure if you can use a Dimmer w/ the compact fluorescent bulbs anyway? Someone else may know for certain, but I haven't had much luck with it.

Some of the "fancier" ones you can. The cheapo bulbs I bought you can't.

vxpra

Pentax K100D

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

08/01/2008 02:06:29 PM · #9

Originally posted by zackdezon:

So, what exactly does a spiderlite do?

The "real" spiderlite is studio lighting. Like I said I use mine for my light tent, I haven't had really good luck using mine away from the tent- too much light fall off.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

08/01/2008 02:09:31 PM · #10

Originally posted by zackdezon:

So, what exactly does a spiderlite do?

I'm no expert, but as far as I can figure out, it's pretty much a substitute for a strobe. The benefit is that it's always on, so you can see what the light looks like beforehand rather than taking the photo, checking the results then adjusting. Here is a video of a photographer using one (although it's pretty obvious that he is being paid to endorse the product).

swankFoto

Fujifilm X-E1

08/01/2008 03:44:13 PM · #11

It's a cool Hot Light ;)
Always on lights are also called Hot lights b/c they typically heat up and make the studio uncomfortable after awhile.
These kind of lights offer the benefits of hot lights without the heat (b/c of the CFLs)

Here is another DIY spiderlight - //alexcampagna.blogspot.com/

A downside of always on lighting is you cannot control ambient light independently from the main lights via shutter speed and aperture.

Message edited by author 2008-08-01 15:44:35.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

08/04/2008 12:25:06 PM · #12

So I got to do a little testing of the spiderlite yesterday. It seems to work very well and had plenty of power where I was shooting in the shade. I'm not sure if it would be strong enough to overpower direct sunlight. I definitely have some things to learn about lighting, but I'm excited to have the opportunity to experiment now!

Here are a couple of shots from the shoot:

The rest of the set can be found here.

zackdezon

Nikon D300

08/04/2008 01:23:39 PM · #13

I built mine on Saturday, used it to take my over-dramatic profile picture. Sweet stuff, hope to eventually outfit it with more powerful bulbs, though. And I need to buy a lightstand.

Casey, what did you use to power it in that outdoor shoot?

DarkRider

Nikon D300

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

08/04/2008 01:24:40 PM · #14

Are you using anything to help direct the light reflector/softbox/umbrella?
or are you just using them bare? Results look good, soft and even!