The Samtian 16" Light Box
The 16″ Samtian Light Box is a highly portable unit that offers great value for its price. It comes with two bi-color LED light strips that adjust from 3200K to 5500K; six backgrounds (white, black, gray, blue, red, and peach/gold). The box features a textured silver interior and folds flat for compact storage.
Samtian did provide me with this light box for review, but they had no input as to how I reviewed the light box, what I would photograph, or my final rating. As with any product review I do, this is my honest opinion about working with the item.
What's In The Box?
The Samtian Photo Light Box os a folding self contained unit. Initially, I had issues putting it together, eventually I gave in and (gasp!) looked at the instructions. Once I saw which side was the bottom and which was the front, It all made sense. This rigid-sided box has no case or bag, it simply folds up on itself and is self-storing.
The interior is a highly reflective silver material with a moderate texture, the outside is durable black canvas. It sets up extremely easily (despite my initial struggles) and provides a very sturdy base for products.
This light box comes with six different PVC backgrounds: Black, Gray, Blue, Red, White, and a Gold/Peach. These colors work well with a variety of subject matter. Because the backgrounds are PVC, they have a bit of sheen and can cause some unwanted highlights in the background. This is especially true of the black background.
Working with the Samtian Light Box
I found it very easy to get great results with this light box. For most of the photos, the light pattern was very smooth and even. The significant exception was the photo of the Lladro photographer statue. It’s almost as tall as the inside of the box, so the top of the figurine was getting much more light than the bottom.
All the background colors are shown in the photo gallery below:
Conclusion:
I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the images I got with this simple and inexpensive light box. The 16″ site may be a little too small for most photographers, but with minor retouch work, the background can easily be extended.
If you’re looking for a light box, you should consider the Samtian.
