I got this pen today

[PithyProlix]

16 minutes ago, DvdRiet said:

 

I just happened to have two small led lights on flexible coils (those things you can point in any direction) that plug in to an outlet and I have rigged up a temporary (and very wonky) set-up by plugging them into outlet strips on either side of the box and holding those in place with some stacked books. 😅

 

The instructional video that I used to make mine simply said the most important thing was to have the same light on both sides so that you don't have different light colors on your subject. (Or three if you're doing overhead as well.) She had some simple desk lamps that she could clip to the sides of a small table she was using. She did recommend LED but mainly because it doesn't get as hot. You can also use it outdoors with sunlight. I also used the big lamp hanging over my desk pulled down close to the top of the box for my first experimental photos and that worked great as well.

 

My light box is just a simple square cardboard box turned on its side with square holes cut in three of the sides and a strip of white paper as a background taped up to the back (the closed bottom of the box) and taking photos through the front (the open top of the box with the top flap cut off). I've covered the three square holes (top and two sides) with some tracing paper I had lying around, but you can use any kind of translucent paper. You can also get creative with the background and use different colors of paper, a wooden cutting board, or whatever else would make a nice photo. The best part for me was that this one was SUPER EASY to make!!  

 

Thanks for the nice write up!

 

I just surfed around and it looks like, for less than $10 USD, there are various pre-fab light boxes that come with two LED light strips - here's an example. I think I'll just go the lazy route and order one ...

[DvdRiet]

3 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Thanks for the nice write up!

 

I just surfed around and it looks like, for less than $10 USD, there are various pre-fab light boxes that comes with two LED light strips - here's an example. I think I'll just go the lazy route and order one ...

 

Wow, that looks super handy!!

[OldTravelingShoe]

4 hours ago, DvdRiet said:

 

I just happened to have two small led lights on flexible coils (those things you can point in any direction) that plug in to an outlet and I have rigged up a temporary (and very wonky) set-up by plugging them into outlet strips on either side of the box and holding those in place with some stacked books. 😅

 

The instructional video that I used to make mine simply said the most important thing was to have the same light on both sides so that you don't have different light colors on your subject. (Or three if you're doing overhead as well.) She had some simple desk lamps that she could clip to the sides of a small table she was using. She did recommend LED but mainly because it doesn't get as hot. You can also use it outdoors with sunlight. I also used the big lamp hanging over my desk pulled down close to the top of the box for my first experimental photos and that worked great as well.

 

My light box is just a simple square cardboard box turned on its side with square holes cut in three of the sides and a strip of white paper as a background taped up to the back (the closed bottom of the box) and taking photos through the front (the open top of the box with the top flap cut off). I've covered the three square holes (top and two sides) with some tracing paper I had lying around, but you can use any kind of translucent paper. You can also get creative with the background and use different colors of paper, a wooden cutting board, or whatever else would make a nice photo. The best part for me was that this one was SUPER EASY to make!!  

 

Edit to add this secret behind-the-scenes photo of my very fancy-schmancy light box set-up! 

 

Very nice project, thanks for sharing, @DvdRiet! 

[HauntedMyst]

[Misfit]

I got a Lamy Al-Star Azure with 1.1mm italic nib today.  Also in the order was a bottle of GvFC Violet Blue ink. 

[AmandaW]

Edit. Oops wrong thread...  Um. No new pens today, but I did win one in an auction yesterday and will post a picture when it arrives. Eventually.

[AmandaW]

23 minutes ago, Misfit said:

I got a Lamy Al-Star Azure

 

That's a very pretty colour - to my eye so blue-grey it's grey. It was difficult to choose between it and the pink one. I'm still thinking about the pink one.

[Misfit]

52 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

 

That's a very pretty colour - to my eye so blue-grey it's grey. It was difficult to choose between it and the pink one. I'm still thinking about the pink one.

I think it should have been the one called Cosmic. It’s a hard color to photograph.

[OldTravelingShoe]

1 hour ago, Misfit said:

I think it should have been the one called Cosmic. It’s a hard color to photograph.

Appropriate name, then 😄

 

Very nice pen. Thanks for sharing and I feel inspired now to try the nib. Adding to the ever-longer list of to-dos. 

[inkstainedruth]

16 hours ago, AmandaW said:

 

That's a very pretty colour - to my eye so blue-grey it's grey. It was difficult to choose between it and the pink one. I'm still thinking about the pink one.

The photos of the Azure al-Star are all over the map.  And even in person it sort of picks up reflections of colors around it (but is basically a pale blue grey color).

It's weird because I don't get the same sort of reflections with either the Vibrant Pink al-Star or the (somewhat darker) grey of the Ruthenium LX....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

[Keyless Works]

I got the red one today.

[DvdRiet]

16 minutes ago, Keyless Works said:

I got the red one today.

Nice!!

[A Smug Dill]

On 4/14/2022 at 5:39 PM, PithyProlix said:

I just surfed around and it looks like, for less than $10 USD, there are various pre-fab light boxes that come with two LED light strips - here's an example.

On 4/14/2022 at 5:43 PM, DvdRiet said:

Wow, that looks super handy!!

 

I've been using something like that, with a circular strip (i.e. a ring) of LED lights around the round opening in the box's ceiling instead of two straight strips, for the past year or so. They're serviceable and indeed handy, but (at least with mine) there are certain drawbacks:

1. The box panels are flimsy (in the name of being foldable and portable). The side panels on mine don't stay perfectly straight, just from the tiny bit of weight of the ceiling pressing down. That, and the way mine is erected, also means the floor may not stay perfectly flat (with or without using one of the supplied felt background drops/carpets); most of the time it won't matter, but if you're photographing a pen without using a pen holder, sometimes it's difficult to get the pen to stay put, with the nib scrollwork facing just the way you want it, instead of rolling towards the lowest point, and/or come to rest with the nib (being the heaviest component on the business end of the pen) facing down. 
2. Trying to shoot with my camera from directly above the subject is tricky, because the flap that usually seals the round opening in the ceiling is not hinged but simply folded back, and it keeps trying to return to a position where it would be obscuring the opening. Yes, the zoom lens would be in its way, and does a good enough job of preventing the flap from closing over the opening; but the amount of force the flap constantly exerts against the zoom lens is enough to push the lightweight and flimsy box out of perfect alignment or, in particular, upset the flatness and angle of the floor, such that the carefully placed pens may shift away from the desired orientation or positions.
3. The 18mm–135mm lens I use requires a certain minimum distance from the subject to focus at the 50mm mark (which is the minimum for macro mode), and that minimum distance ends up meaning the lens body is not low enough to block that flap (although an attached lens hood can), and the perimeter of the round opening obscures part of the frame.
4. The light from the ring of LEDs is not diffuse, and so when photographing pens with glossy finishes, I'd often capture undesirable reflections from the individual lights. Reflections also make photographing nib details quite difficult.

Because you guys have been talking about it and so the subject was (and the shortcomings of my ‘mini studio box’ were) fresh in my mind, I ended up buying a rather large, tripod-mounted ring light this weekend, the sort that seems primarily designed for lighting up one's face for video calling or filming talky presentations for posting on YouTube or TikTok. They'll all designed to illuminate the subject with soft, diffuse light, and the one I bought is nominally 14-inch (36cm outer diameter, 26cm inner diameter, and the lighted ring is 5cm wide), so shooting from above through the centre will not be a problem; and it's 36W appliance, not one of those that can be powered by a USB-A port (which maxes out at, what, 5W? 10W?), so it can get awfully bright when I need it to be. The rig — including a not-the-greatest tripod, which nevertheless does the job and manages not to topple over when the large ring light to positioned horizontally — cost me A$50 (so about US$37).

[Paul-in-SF]

This Edison Menlo with flattened ends, draw filler, in McKenzie Blue/Teal Color Shift, and with a 14K flex nib. The photo does not quite do the material justice. 

 

[Misfit]

@Paul-in-SF congratulations on your new Edison Menlo pen.  I bet it is gorgeous. 

[PithyProlix]

S. T. Dupont Montparnasse Chairman Ambre. "Laque de Chine" which is Chinese urushi. 18k nib that seems to be European XF, which is my preferred width. 

 

This was an amazing second hand find and I'm super happy with it. My first Dupont and likely not my last!

 

 

 

[Number99]

On 4/21/2022 at 7:52 AM, Paul-in-SF said:

This Edison Menlo with flattened ends, draw filler, in McKenzie Blue/Teal Color Shift, and with a 14K flex nib. The photo does not quite do the material justice. 

 

Good color.

 I also like teal blue very much.

 

 My pen is Jade Green, not Teal Blue.

 Hero849 (produced in 1995). The currently available model has been remodeled. It features an integrated nib.

 

 The pen below is Hero 100. From the appearance and the contents of the warranty, it was found that the product was from 1991 to 1999. I just ordered a disassembly tool because the nib has the exact date code on it. If it was before 1993 ...!

 The small photo is the "010" Orbit mark logo used only on the Hero 100.

Please pinch out and have a look.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Number99

[PithyProlix]

On 4/21/2022 at 5:52 AM, Paul-in-SF said:

This Edison Menlo with flattened ends, draw filler, in McKenzie Blue/Teal Color Shift, and with a 14K flex nib. The photo does not quite do the material justice. 

 

 

Amazing. 😍

[PithyProlix]

30 minutes ago, Number99 said:

 Hero849 (produced in 1995). The currently available model has been remodeled. It features an integrated nib.

 

I had no idea - I thought the only pens with integrated nibs were made by Pilot and Parker. That Hero 849 is a very interesting and nifty & attractive-looking pen.

[Number99]

7 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

I had no idea - I thought the only pens with integrated nibs were made by Pilot and Parker. That Hero 849 is a very interesting and nifty & attractive-looking pen.

A pen that you should never let go of. (Meaning your pen.)

 

 Integrated nib pens such as the 849 and 850 may have been Hero's challenge to a shrinking market.

 Rumor has it that Hero couldn't polish these nibs smaller than F.

 Contrary to its popularity, the integrated nib pen does not continue to be produced …

 

 

I made a mistake in the post I quoted.

 Actually I was going to reply to your previous post….

Edited April 22, 2022 by Number99