Light tent for indoor macro

Once I get my camera, any indoors will be done in our kitchen. I was browsing around Amazon for light boxes & found some light tents. They look very interesting, allowing a nice mini studio without much cost. Are there any specialist retailers that have a better choice of this sort of thing?

I don't want the lights or tripod, just the tent & backgrounds.

I don't know how many hits you're getting on Amazon but Adorama shows 42 hits on the search term "light tent". Another good source is B&H Photo Video.

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Just make sure the sizes are big enough for your needs. Sometimes they look big on a picture but the size isn't big enough for subject to background distance. There are also quite a few youtube videos on how to make your own.

@Marcel I will pay attention to the size, thanks.
[MENTION=13090]Horoscope Fish[/MENTION] bearing in mind that I live on a small island in the middle of the Irish sea, my only realistic sources are mail order from the UK. US sources will be subject to high carriage charges & possible import duties.

There are many inexpensive light tents on Ebay. From the US, I do see US sources, but you may see something different. I don't know how shipping would be affected, but if from China, probably not at all.

Not too small is good advice, but you may want one with a front baffle. The purpose of such tents is to prevent reflections of room objects in shiny subjects. Instead, the point is, the featureless white walls are reflected, less a problem, not recognizable. The worst of these is usually the reflection of the camera (and the dark front opening, and you), so a smooth white front panel with a slot for the lens can be a good thing.

Lighting is not really the purpose. I just mean, you can do as well with any diffused lights, like umbrellas, and if you have that, the tent really doesn't offer an advantage except for the reflections. And if no tent, then no size limitations.

Good point Wayne, thanks.

I did see tents with small front openings & I wondered the reason for this.

Idea is something like this. But Ebay is much less expensive.

That's interesting, thanks.

I did see those type of tents on Amazon, but did not understand the purpose of the lens opening - at that time.

If you are not shooting glasses or bottles, I don't think a tent is quite necessary. Attached are two images I shot for eBay and they are just done with two speedlights (a SB700 and a Vivitar 285HV) and umbrellas. The seamless background is a 2ft x 4ft white plastic sheet.

Thanks.

There may be some sparkly stuff I will be shooting. My wife makes Fabergé type eggs, often covered in crystals.

Gorf said:

Once I get my camera, any indoors will be done in our kitchen. I was browsing around Amazon for light boxes & found some light tents. They look very interesting, allowing a nice mini studio without much cost. Are there any specialist retailers that have a better choice of this sort of thing?

I don't want the lights or tripod, just the tent & backgrounds.

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I have one of these size is 600x600 mm you gan get smaller ones. I find it very good came with 3 backdrops white, red and blue. folds down flat, needs a base to sit it on as has no floor. I use mine sitting on a large box on a table in order to rise it to a good working level. hope this helps

That's useful Phil, thanks.