Ease of Use, Performance: 24/25, Look & Feel: 24/25,
Features 22/25, How much I enjoy 24/25
Total: 94/100
Smith Victor is a professional photography lighting and accessories company with years of experience in both photo and video. Now with digital cameras so inexpensive and with the internet it is easier than ever to produce professional quality photos of those smaller objects.
Taking product shots for reviews, just what I do, or images needed to show off those great EBay items is easy. Using your own digital camera to highlight products for that small business to include on your website is simple and the Smith Victor Light Tents are perfect to prevent reflections and accentuate smaller products.
A good digital setup including a light tent from Smith Victor is the perfect solution whether you’re looking for a smaller version for jewelry or one for larger things like computer cases, laptops and other larger products. The digital photography breakthrough has also brought small studio professionalism into the hands of anyone with a little know how and talent and Smith Victor can help.
The Smith Victor Light Tent line is a handy and easy to use light tent series that diffuses light for better images and less reflections on shiny surfaces. The diffused light allows for better, softer lighted and sharper images when taking pictures of items that will fit into the 28 inch or other sized light tents. Of course the product or item needs to be smaller than the tent size in order to capture the entire product in your image. You want the camera to be closer to the light tent opening in order to fully capture the light effects and diffuse properties the tent is giving you. So you should figure on the tent that item will fit into easily and still give room to take the shot with space between the object and sides of the tent.
For the 28″ light tent I received for reviewing items such as a camera, mouse or smaller hand sized items are perfect. The tent is large enough to capture the entire image and not have any problems with being able to get the entire product in the frame. For objects a bit larger such as a printer, scanner or notebook computer this is a nice size to get images of parts of the product but probably not the entire product with all the detail and coverage you would want. You can take pictures of screens and such without the annoying glare you would have off the plastic or glass surface and still capture the quality of the product.
The Smith Victor Light Tent is perfect for capturing the detail of a product or item and still have a small studio without taking up precious space. The light tent folds up flat in a round shape by using some very springy steel frames inside the tent. The frame is made from spring steel that retains its shape of a box when left alone but you can fold it into three neat circles with a little practice.
The Smith Victor Light Tent details from their web site:
Help increase your Internet sales using Smith-Victor’s New Light Tents. Produce professional quality images with these inexpensive and simple to use Light Tents, designed to diffuse light and eliminate unwanted reflections and shadows. Works with any type of lightsource – photoflood, quartz halogen, strobe fluorescent, HMI and ambient daylight. Made of durable white diffusion material, the Light Tent is ideal for product shots, glassware and metal objects. It also has a removable front panel for ease of product positioning on inside and for camera lens positioning. One step pop-up design for ease of set-up. Folds flat to fit in case.
Using the light tent is easy; open it up from the storage pouch that zips closed and it unfolds into a box, the front has a large square opening perfect for easy maneuvering of products inside. You can also attach the front closure that hugs the camera for reflection free shots of those shiny and highly reflective products.
The Smith Victor Light Tents come with two fabric for placing underneath and behind your items, one black and one white, as well as the carry case and clips for holding up the fabric with Velcro on them. The light tent is easy to use and very portable, mine folds up into the one foot across pouch. Each size will of course have a different sized pouch.
Using the light tent is easy for any type of product shot, just open up the tent and place your fabric on the floor of the tent. I use a solid surface underneath such as a table to ensure a stable shoot. To maximize light I have the two lights from the Smith Victor Thrifty Lighting Kit that work so well for this type of work. Just position a light on each side of the tent and for brighter lighting point the lights directly at the sides, for a more diffuse light use the umbrellas.
You can also use room lighting or even sunlight as the diffuse material of the light tent will help soften the light for a more even lighting across your subject. The light tent will also get rid of harsh glares and reflections that are common on shiny metals and glass. Even shooting objects like a computer monitor can be easy by placing the monitor or laptop inside the light tent to avoid glares and reflection.
The 28 inch light tent is the perfect size for small to medium objects such as computer components, cameras and computer game/DVD boxes. The 28 inch size is just not quite big enough to give you room to take a picture of a laptop computer or computer case but the larger 48 inch should be. I like the 28 inch due to how it fits nicely in my office for taking the product shot and also fits nicely on a table top for easy waist height level of shooting.
The Smith Victor 28 inch light tent is perfect for amateur photographers just learning to take product shots, the EBayer who is looking to take those impressive sale shots sure to impress a prospective buyer or the professional looking for the perfect portable light tent. I highly recommend the Smith Victor Light Tent in any size for great product shots, there really is no better way in a small studio.
