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Thread: Condenser lens in a snoot?

  1. #1
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Just curious if anyone has ever heard of using a condenser lens of any sort in a snoot to increase light output in the given area? I've been searching, but can't find much.
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  2. #2
    Gary Beasley's Avatar
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    Re: Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Ive seen images of theater spots with fresnel lenses and barndoors, effect is probably not much different. Have you got the pieces to try it out? Theres no wrong or right here, just get the effect you want.

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    Re: Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Yes... A single condenser lens from, I believe, an Omega D2 for photomacrography. Area illuminated was less than 1 square inch. Light source was a diffused Dynalite flash head. Was shooting with a Nikon Multiphot and shooting 4x5 Chromes back then. Depth of field opted over resolution since published image was 1:1. Was photographing a heavily pitted metal part. Worked for that one job/shoot, but was a pain to set up. Was the only way that I could get the lighting to accentuate the pitting as the client wanted. In the end the 4x5 chromes were a major format overkill, but that's what the client wanted.

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    Re: Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Cool!
    I love "thinking outside the box" solutions...
    The "let's try it!" approach.

  5. #5
    C. D. Keth's Avatar
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    Re: Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Look up a “source 4” fixture. It’s essentially that. You can put patterns in the lamp itself and focus them to get hard or soft edges.


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  6. #6
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Quote Originally Posted by C. D. Keth View Post
    Look up a “source 4” fixture. It’s essentially that. You can put patterns in the lamp itself and focus them to get hard or soft edges.
    Yes, I saw those in my searches. Seems like they are more projectors of whatever patterned slide disc you put in. The lens is focused on the disk and you'd lose light. I'm looking to condense/amplify the light, so the lens would be focused on the light source.
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  7. #7
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Greg and Gary: Yes, I likely have some experimenting to do. I'll make up a test body for the snoot ant try various lenses (condenser, Fresnel, plain old magnifying glass...) at various spacings, and see what they do for readings on an incident meter. Just looking for a place to start, and wondering if I'm reinventing a lesser version of something that's already out there...
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  8. #8
    C. D. Keth's Avatar
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    Re: Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Sawyer View Post
    Yes, I saw those in my searches. Seems like they are more projectors of whatever patterned slide disc you put in. The lens is focused on the disk and you'd lose light. I'm looking to condense/amplify the light, so the lens would be focused on the light source.
    You don’t have to use the lamp with a pattern in place.


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  9. #9
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Quote Originally Posted by C. D. Keth View Post
    You don’t have to use the lamp with a pattern in place.
    Even without a disk, that lens in that position will cut the light level significantly. To get the most light, you'd have to remove the lens. And then you're back to a conventional empty snoot. And I'm looking for a snoot-full... of light!
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  10. #10
    C. D. Keth's Avatar
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    Re: Condenser lens in a snoot?

    Focusing your available light with a source-4 or a fresnel lens is the best way to get what you want.


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