Academic Imaging Associates
Digital Imaging, Technology & Services
For Libraries, Archives, Museums & Scientific Institutions
North Light Copy Light
To date, lighting fine art, rare documents and artifacts is a compromise between curatorial concerns and photographic quality. Tungsten light is focusable and strong, but throws off an unacceptable amount of heat. As a matter of fact, 94% of the energy released from quartz halogen lamps is HEAT. A 1000 watt Tungsten lamp produces only 60 watts (6%) useable light.
Given the expense of purchasing and maintaining HMI lighting and the high amount of UV they emit, manufacturers of digital camera backs began to recommend fluorescent lighting as a viable alternative to tungsten. But that, too, has its tradeoffs. It takes 8 bulbs in a reflective fixture (we measured against KinoFlo) to supply only 166 foot-candles of light at 5 feet. The light is diffuse and cannot be focused, and the large footprint creates glare problems for those who have to work with them.
Low energy lighting HID fixtures offer a very attractive alternative to tungsten and fluorescents at an affordable price. They last 10,000 plus hours, have no appreciable UV, emit little if any heat, and actually use less electric than tungsten, fluorescent and HMI lighting.
HID Lights
- Emit negligible heat and are actually touchable after hours of illumination.
- Provide 3 times more visible and useable light than tungsten. One North Light Copy Light 150 W fixture has almost the same output LPW (lumens per watt) as a standard 750W quartz lamp .
- Bulbs last 12,000 hours compared to tungsten’s 750 hours.
- Provide easy focus ability
- Use 90% less electrical energy than Tungsten.
- Vastly reduce air conditioning bills.
- Provide a comfortable, natural, extremely low UV and low IR light for artwork and photographers alike.
HID Lights are the only lights which can actually pay for themselves by cutting electrical bills and lowering air conditioning requirements.
North Light Copy Lights of 3 different fixtures rated by wattage:
| North Light 300 | North Light 600 | North Light 900 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 150W HID Lamps | 4 150 HID Lamps | 6 150 HID Lamps |
Each 150W HID lamp throws off approximately the equivalent of 1 750W tungsten lamp.
| North Light 300 | North Light 600 | North Light 900 |
|---|---|---|
| 1500W tungsten | 3,000W tungsten | 4,500W tungsten |
Each lamp is rated at 4.2K and can be simply filtered. Barndoors , and polarizing kits are available as options.
North Light Copy Lights are heavy and require a professional, extra heavy stand (we recommend Mathews Baby Jr., and require an optional right angle bracket to tilt down, which also comes with a swivel adapter.
