• Members 2577 posts
    May 3, 2026, 5:45 a.m.

    I bought a collapsible cheap Chinese "tat" light tent which is a pain in the butt. I decided I could do better, and for the grand sum of €17 I bought and had cut to size white translucent plastic squares to make a little light tent for high magnification macro. I think I am going to make a bigger version at a useful size and consign the one I bought to the bin. It took half an hour to put together, with the right glue that the plastic materials dealer sold me.

    I need to get some better fabric for the front. But it works

    BDS_3854_2.jpg

    BDS_3859_2.jpg

    260mm x260mm squares cut for the top and bottom and three 250mm squares for the walls I used masking tape to hold it together whilst I glued it together. I used 3mm PVC, maybe 2mm might have been better.

    Here are some examples shot in the little light tent I made in PVC. These are stacked shots using my AiS 55 Macro, with focusing adjusted by hand. The tent is too small for whole pencil shots with the Z105 Macro. Thus the plan for the 400mm cube.

    2026-04-26 08-16-05 (C,S4)_1.jpg

    2026-04-26 08-26-59 (A,R8,S4)_1.jpg

    2026-04-26 08-29-02 (A,R8,S4)_1.jpg

    2026-04-26 08-31-41 (A,R8,S4)_1.jpg

    2026-04-26 08-35-21 (A,R8,S4)_7.jpg

    Amazon will sell you a light tent for a few € with built in LED lights, but a little digging revealed that the top lighting they all come with is not the best way to light small objects. Most DIY stuff on the web uses cardboard boxes and other tatty solutions.

    2026-04-26 08-35-21 (A,R8,S4)_7.jpg

    JPG, 185.2 KB, uploaded by NCV on May 3, 2026.

    2026-04-26 08-31-41 (A,R8,S4)_1.jpg

    JPG, 222.6 KB, uploaded by NCV on May 3, 2026.

    2026-04-26 08-29-02 (A,R8,S4)_1.jpg

    JPG, 153.3 KB, uploaded by NCV on May 3, 2026.

    2026-04-26 08-26-59 (A,R8,S4)_1.jpg

    JPG, 129.7 KB, uploaded by NCV on May 3, 2026.

    2026-04-26 08-16-05 (C,S4)_1.jpg

    JPG, 124.2 KB, uploaded by NCV on May 3, 2026.

    BDS_3859_2.jpg

    JPG, 353.3 KB, uploaded by NCV on May 3, 2026.

    BDS_3854_2.jpg

    JPG, 292.4 KB, uploaded by NCV on May 3, 2026.

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