LightPad 930 LX

I bought this primarily for building a film negative "scanner" using my Sony A65V digital camera for digitizing old film negatives. The camera will be held above the light box pointing straight down from a home-built wooden frame that will stand next to this light box. I also purchased two sheets of optically clear acrylic, one square foot each with one sheet being 1/4" thick and the second sheet being 1/8" thick from McMaster-Carr (stock number 8560K354 and 8560K239 respectively) along with a "Super-soft Silicone Rubber 1/32" Thick, 1/2" Width, 10' Length, 30a Durometer" strip (stock number 8622K51). I'll apply the silicone rubber strip along the perimeter of the light box then set the 1/4" acrylic sheet on top to protect the light box surface from scratches and damage. A film negative will then be placed on top of the 1/4" acrylic sheet and then the 1/8" acrylic sheet will be placed on top of the film to keep it flat. I'll post my results here after I've completed the project. Now I'll comment on the light bed. As the other reviewers have said it is a nice even lighting across the entire work area - critical for photography. It seems to be a natural "cool" white rather than a "warm" white but have no idea what the color temperature is since it is not specified. But comparing it to two types of LED flood lights in our home it seems to be very close to the cool white which does not have the warm yellowish tinge. Should be good for true color reproduction in my photographs. It is bright but that's a relative term - obviously it not bright like the 11 Watt LED flood lights in our kitchen - but it is MUCH brighter than the brightness of a good LED monitor showing an all-white screen. It is nice and thin but yet feels very sturdy. So far I have no complaints and I'll follow this up once I've had my photography setup finished and have evaluated the results.

I have had my 12"x9" Lightpad for about a year now and I love it! Its bright enough to see through thicker paper, like card stock or watercolor paper, but not a harsh light that hurts your eyes. Its the perfect size for all my projects(I usually work with 8 1/2 x 11 or slightly larger paper) but it also works fine for larger projects, its slimness makes it easy to slide projects around on it as long as you have a table large enough for your project. Its thin enough to slip onto a bookshelf for storage and the slimness of it also makes working with it very comfortable, no more holding your arms and hands at aquard angles! The pouch it comes with is great for keeping it clean and protected. I'm usually very frugal and I make do with the things I have, but even though I only use mine a few times a month, this lightpad was well worth the investment. A great tool to have for any artist, especially since it comes in multiple sizes!

So far, so good. Powered up right out of the box with a nice even light. Plenty bright for my purpose, which is to look at slides and negatives for ID and flaws, etc. I am not sure what the color temperature is but if I'm taking a scan into Lightroom or similar software that gets adjusted anyhow. It has a nice cloth cover-bag and is a good size for portability. The LED lighting runs very cool and also allows the unit to be fairly thin. Build quality is good, not perfect, but good enough to not make me drop a star. Saves me from trying to build my own box, for which trying to find components was getting to be a pain. Happy to be able to find this unit and save myself a lot of trouble, and maybe even some $$$$ as it was beginning to look like I would spend more building my own box.

This is not rechargeable, it must be plugged into power supply and there is no stand so it is not very easy to use. It costs twice as much as lightboxes that are larger and dimmable that also have adjustable stands. There are inch and mm measurements on the entire perimeter, something not shown in the photos and very distracting. I do not recommend this item. The company does not make it easy to return.

I'm a graphic artist-illustrator, and a fair amount of my work involves hand-tracing from photos and sketches. For years, I've been getting by with an oversize and cumbersome professional light table, and a compact lightbox that was poorly made and provided dim, uneven lighting. Since I transitioned to a home office and most of my illustration is now sized for letter-sized flatbed scanner, these solutions became wholly unsatisfactory. Until recently, the compact flourescent light boxes on the market were unsatisfactory - dim, flickery, uneven lighting and cheap plastic construction. Enter Art-O-Graph's LightPad series of compact, thin, lightweight lightboxes. About twice as expensive as their previous compact flourescent counterparts, the sturdy, quality aluminum construction and bright, even, steady long-life LED lighting is worth the extra cost - and the A930, sized perfectly for letter-sized photos and paper and desktop flatbed scanners, remains affordable, squeaking-in at under $100 through most vendors. About the only gripe I have is that the warranty is only one year, in contrast to the 3 year warranty on Art-O-Graph's inferior flourescent models. But with the reliability of modern LED lighting, this may be a nonissue.

I bought the lightpad to view and sort negatives and slides. It is just perfect for this purpose. 9 x 12 inch lighted area is a good size - 6 film strips fit easily. Very smooth surface, so the film does not get scratched when moved around carefully. Bright light and it stays cool. This is important to prevent the film from warping. Unfortunately after only a few times of plugging the power cable into the socket at the side of the lightpad a contact inside the socket broke off. I returned the lightpad to Amazon and ordered a new one (same size). Refund was issued promptly after the return was received. I could not request a replacement because it was not sold by Amazon. The new lightpad arrived quickly (the prize had even fallen a few dollars since I bought the first one) and so far it is working very well. No problems with the power socket. Even the cable on the power supply is about 2 ft longer than the first one. Overall I love the product and highly recommend it. If it wasn't for the defective socket on the first one I would give it 5 stars.

As far as light boxes go, this one has almost everything going for it. It's light, slim, exactly the advertised size, almost painfully bright (brighter than the pro light tables we use in animation classes at school), and feels pretty rugged. The velour slip case is a nice touch, and the power supply is very small, which is handy. The lighting is very white, and almost perfectly even, and given that it's LED-lit should last longer than the case it's in. I have a tilted stand for my laptop that I carry with me, and when I need to use this light table instead I just stick it on that and go. It's almost the same length and width as a 15" laptop so the fit is perfect. I've wanted a light box for years, but they've always been too big, too heavy, and too expensive. This solves all of that, and overall I couldn't be happier.

Just terrific! Bright and lightweight. Years ago, my husband built me a lightbox (about 12" x 20") out of particle board, a fluorescent light, 2 panes of window glass and a sheet of tissue paper. Very solid and about 20 pounds. Obviously I'm comparing this to a larger homemade model, but the 12" x 9" LightPad weighs less than the two panes of glass on my old model. THIN, smooth and sleek, a delight to work with and so easy to carry and to store. An unexpected "feature" compared to my old glass-top box: a slight static charge. Bond paper sticks to the surface, no drafting tape required for quickie renderings (tho of course I tape for precision work). In contrast to the photo, the LightPad lies flat unless propped up somehow. Mine now lives atop a bed tray with tilt top. The light is bright enough to trace through 2 sheets of 2-ply Bristol Board.