Light Pad for flat frames

[Astro Noodles]

I'm going to buy a light pad to do my flats. I've noticed there are plenty on the internet for sale in the £30-40 range. Does anyone have any recommendation/advice?

[Clarkey]

I've got one of these.

AGPTEK Magnetic Tracing A4 LED Light Box Drawing Pad Dimmable Brightness, Physical Buttons Control, USB Power Cable for Animation, Designing, Stencilling X-ray Viewing/Sketching Diamond Painting : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

Use it for my ED80 and RC8 - it is just big enough for the 200mm. Even light and variable, but I did add a few layers of paper on top for the RC8. For the ZS61 you probably won't need to.

[AstroMuni]

14 hours ago, Astro Noodles said:

I'm going to buy a light pad to do my flats. I've noticed there are plenty on the internet for sale in the £30-40 range. Does anyone have any recommendation/advice?

If you have an ipad you could use that too, which is what I do. I just modify the power setup temporarily so that it doesnt dim after 30sec and open a blank word document

[Felias]

7 hours ago, AstroMuni said:

If you have an ipad you could use that too, which is what I do. I just modify the power setup temporarily so that it doesnt dim after 30sec and open a blank word document

+1. I use my Surface Pro over a white T-shirt wrapped around the dew shield. Instead of a word document I open the whiteboard, but that may be professional bias! 👨‍🏫

[rickwayne]

Yep, at least for my standards a tracing pad works just fine. I wish it were continuously-variable brightness instead of just three settings, and I also wish it could be switched on and off by my computer instead of needing a human finger on the button (which would allow me to automate flat-shooting entirely).

But for US$14, eh, I can deal.

Edited July 14, 2021 by rickwayne

[Andy R]

I bought this last year light weight,  dimable and reasonably priced hasn’t let me down and cheaper to replace than a tablet if dropped outside

 

Light Pad Copy Board, Drawing Light Pad A4 Ultra Thin Adjustable Brightness LED Light Board for Art Tracing https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GPRGKPY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_ZI4EyXeFf1PyI

[JP-S]

I bought a Chipal A3 drawing pad from aliexpress as the seller told me it's brightness was uniform and it had stepless dimming. I've just received it recently but unfortunately it appears to be not that uniform after all. It looks alright to the eye but in photos I can see a region along the top which is not quite as bright as the rest. I've haven't created any flats yet to test but I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable using it to that end.. It cost me the equivalent of 25 pound so maybe this price point is just too low to expect something up to the task.

 

[tooth_dr]

7 minutes ago, JP-S said:

I bought a Chipal A3 drawing pad from aliexpress as the seller told me it's brightness was uniform and it had stepless dimming. I've just received it recently but unfortunately it appears to be not that uniform after all. It looks alright to the eye but in photos I can see a region along the top which is not quite as bright as the rest. I've haven't created any flats yet to test but I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable using it to that end.. It cost me the equivalent of 25 pound so maybe this price point is just too low to expect something up to the task.

 

You might have been unlucky and got a dodgy one. I use something similar and added a piece of 3mm opaque acrylic to diffuse it, but it’s uniform in brightness 

[bottletopburly]

Check how it’s illuminated I bought one originally but was only lit one edge which looking at it may be what you have try finding one that’s illuminated two edges 

[JP-S]

8 minutes ago, bottletopburly said:

Check how it’s illuminated I bought one originally but was only lit one edge which looking at it may be what you have try finding one that’s illuminated two edges 

This is the hard part really as the LED layout is not often in the product description or at least it's often not clear. In this case I actually asked the seller specifically if it was just a strip down one side and they said it was not but that's aliexpress for you. It's also just possible that I got a dodgy unit or maybe it took some damage in transit as it took a look time to arrive and packaging from aliexpress is always a bit dodgy.

If anyone else wants to share specific brands and models that have worked for them that would probably be a good idea. I took a punt on this one as I struggled to find references to any model that people found sufficiently uniform for flats or at least any that were also available in my region for reasonable shipping costs. That AGPTEK one looks like it's available from Amazon aus so I'll probably spring for that next. Otherwise I might get a Huion as they're readily available and look like a quality product but are also relatively expensive.

[bottletopburly]

11 minutes ago, JP-S said:

This is the hard part really as the LED layout is not often in the product description or at least it's often not clear. In this case I actually asked the seller specifically if it was just a strip down one side and they said it was not but that's aliexpress for you. It's also just possible that I got a dodgy unit or maybe it took some damage in transit as it took a look time to arrive and packaging from aliexpress is always a bit dodgy.

If anyone else wants to share specific brands and models that have worked for them that would probably be a good idea. I took a punt on this one as I struggled to find references to any model that people found sufficiently uniform for flats or at least any that were also available in my region for reasonable shipping costs. That AGPTEK one looks like it's available from Amazon aus so I'll probably spring for that next. Otherwise I might get a Huion as they're readily available and look like a quality product but are also relatively expensive.

Yes that’s what you need a user to confirm a specific model/brand 👍 that uses multiple illuminated edges 

[david_taurus83]

If you want perfectly illuminated flats every time then splash the cash on an Artesky flats panel...

Or, just get one of those tracing pads as mentioned above. I got an A4 one for less than a tenner on ebay this week for my Redcat. Its too bright though even on its lowest setting so I've found 3 sheets of paper folded is needed to get flats of a couple of seconds for good even illumination. 

[tooth_dr]

This is what I'm using:

Aibecy A3 LED Light Box Drawing Tracing Tracer Copy Board Table Pad Panel | eBay

[Astro Noodles]

Thanks guys.

@Clarkey I have bought one of the AGPTEK ones off the internet. Would you share what settings you find best for the DSLR and pad? 

[Clarkey]

The panel itself I just use the lowest setting - you might need a sheet of paper or two to dim further but I did not need to with my ED80. I can't remember the DSLR settings as I use the astro camera for most imaging now. Normally I would use auto.