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Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Madison, WI

I was contacted a few weeks ago by a company named Brightech out of Los Angeles California who asked if I would review one of their magnifying lamps in exchange for the lamp of my choice. I agreed as long as my review could be open and honest. They had no problem with that. I decided than rather just unbox it, set it up and render judgement immediately… I would actually use the lamp for a prolonged period so whatever comments I had were based on a significant amount of experience. Thus, for the past month I’ve used the Brightech lamp almost exclusively for all of my painting. People who read my thread seemed to be satisfied with the quality, but just for the record, below is a photo of what I could remember from this period.



They offer a pretty broad selection of lamps, both floor and desk mounted and with a variety of magnifications and lighting arrangements. Most of the lamps targeted at hobbyists have a central, round, magnifying lens surrounded by LED lights. The intensity of the lights can be adjusted as well as the wavelength of light emitted. I… (of course) didn’t choose one of the lamps designed for painters, but instead chose a lamp that had a bit higher magnification and rectangular lens that’s really designed to help people read. While the intensity could be adjusted the wavelength couldn’t, but that was my choice after all. The main reason I chose this model was that it had the highest magnification (2.25x). Those who follow my painting thread thread know that I often complain about not being able to “see that small” when painting fine detail, I was hoping this lamp might fix that.

The model I used was the “LightView PRO XL LED Magnifier Desk Clamp Lamp”: https://brightechshop.com/collections/magnifier-lamps/products/lightview-xl-clamp" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://brightechshop.com/collections/magnifier-lamps/products/lightview-xl-clamp
Cost: $64.99
The general store for their lamps is at: https://brightechshop.com/ It can be a bit challenging to navigate, I've found that by using the links at the bottom you can get to what you need quickly and easily.

Now for a proper review.


Construction:
The lamp came very neatly packed in a box with plenty of padding. It arrived in-tact and undamaged and was in perfect working condition. I haven’t used a magnifying lamp in over a decade, so I was looking forward to the new experience and curious about how I would adapt to it as well as being curious about how the new set-up affected my painting. The lamp arm is steel and as a result, very heavy. This also makes it very sturdy. The clamp is a heavy plastic with a metal screw. This concerned me a bit at first, however after multiple times attaching, removing and re-attaching I had no problems at all and the clamp held fast and strong. The lamp hood is plastic, however all the parts fit together very tightly and the whole gives the impression of a very well made item.

The lamp head itself is very well made and comes with a flip-down cover to protect the lens. Simple controls… on/off switch and brightness.




Mobility:
The arm of the lamp mounts on the clamp by a large pin, allowing for a very secure yet freely moving attachment. The lamp moves easily yet the elbows of the mechanism are tight enough that it stays where you put it. There is a large knob at the point where the lamp head attaches to the arm that loosens the attachment point so the head can be re-positioned then tightened in place. The “lamp” spins freely on the attachment to the arm and swings up and down in an arc that is parallel with the direction the main arm is pointing. Thus the working position is to have the clamp directly behind where you will be working. I loved the fact that the whole thing could just swing up out of the way when you didn’t need the magnifier.

To clarify my description, here is a photo of my work-space after I had adjusted it to permanently accommodate the magnifying lamp. You can see the base of the lamp is attached directly behind my bench pin (which is where I work), however I can swing the lamp freely to provide ambient light for the left side of the bench when magnification is not needed.




Brightness:
Plenty. You’ve got a link to the official description of the lamp already so I’m not going to go into spec’s here. Suffice to say that the solid ring of LED lights provided ample illumination of any painting subject without any other light being needed. I did prefer to have the light cranked up to max brightness. Here’s a pic of the lamp with the lights cranked up. You can also see the clamp.




Magnification:
At 2.25x it really gives good magnification. You can manipulate where you hold both your head and the object in order to get things the way you like them. I also found that if I wore my reading glasses up on my head I could readily push the high-magnification lamp to the side… still using as a lamp, but allowing me to drop my reading glasses down for lower magnification work (like basing, etc.). Very slick.
It’s difficult to show you what things look like through the lens as the camera works differently from your eye. But here’s a couple of shots.





If I place my head and lamp for maximum magnification while still being able to work… I get something that looks like the Slaan (without the distortion). By fiddling with these distances, I can get a broader view or more depth-of-field.


Working Distance:
I rarely had any problems related to the working distance (i.e. the distance between the object I was painting and the lamp). For me the working distance was 6-8” (yes, I measured). This left plenty of room for my hands and the brush.




My Opinion:
I like it… and I’m not just saying that because it was free. I actually thought long and hard about buying one of the lamps that looked like it was more adapted to miniature painting based on my positive experience with this one. It’s a heavy, tough, durable lamp that makes me think it’s going to be around for a long time. It provides enough light that it functions as a painting lamp for the table, not just a painting lamp for its own magnifier. I guess the strongest endorsement I can give is that the PRO XL LED has earned a permanent spot on my painting desk, replacing a different light. Remember my earlier comment about not being able to see that small? I can see that small now. No excuses.

Lastly… if you’ve stuck with me this long there’s a bit of a bonus for you. The folks at Brightech were kind enough to give me a link to a discount on their lamps (not just this one). I checked it out and it looks like 15% off this particular lamp and 10% off any other model.
http://lp.brightechshop.com/dakka-review-magnifyinglamp-review-15off

It appears in the link that the cost of the lamp is higher than it should be on the web site... I've been assured that the cost when you order will be adjusted down to where it should be and then the discount will be applied.

Thanks for reading. Hope you find this useful.

Gits

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2018/07/18 15:48:13


Anvildude: "Honestly, it's kinda refreshing to see an Ork vehicle that doesn't look like a rainbow threw up on it."

Gitsplitta's Unified Painting Theory
 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Mostly, on my phone.

Great piece dude. Always hard to do a completely balanced review.

Theophony"... and there's strippers in terminator armor and lovecraftian shenanigans afoot."
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Anpu-adom: "being Geek is about Love. Some love broadly. Some love deeply. And then there are people like Graven.  
   
Made in gb
Gargantuan Great Squiggoth





Not where I should be

Great job, nice bit of kit too, fancy one of those now.




 
   
Made in us
Posts with Authority





SOLD.

I'm not kidding, I've been afraid to buy one.

Now, I know which one I'll get.

And my paint will STILL suck.

Mob Rule is not a rule. 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Sentient OverBear






Clearwater, FL

Thanks for the review! I was curious about these, as I've had magnifying lamps in the past where the magnifying lens had maddening imperfections in it, resulting in warped views.

Glad to hear these don't have the same problem!

DQ:70S++G+++M+B++I+Pw40k94+ID+++A++/sWD178R+++T(I)DM+++

Trust me, no matter what damage they have the potential to do, single-shot weapons always flatter to deceive in 40k.                                                                                                       Rule #1
- BBAP

 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Madison, WI

Obviously around the edges you're going to get distortion as that's the way lenses work... however in the working area around the center... no problems. Hardest thing for me to get used to was just having a big magnifier rather than the optivisor I'd been using for over a decade. Took a while but once I'd gotten used to it I was very comfortable using it. I really like the fact that I can just walk up to the table, grab the lamp and pull it up to my face (wherever I'm standing) and take a close look at whatever I'm holding. Obviously, no single system can do everything... but this gives me some options I've never had before & I really like it.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/06/21 03:09:27


Anvildude: "Honestly, it's kinda refreshing to see an Ork vehicle that doesn't look like a rainbow threw up on it."

Gitsplitta's Unified Painting Theory
 
   
Made in us
Daemonic Dreadnought





Eye of Terror

I, too, was contacted by Brightech asking if I would review one of their magnifying lamps. I agreed so long as the review could be open and honest. After a few weeks of using it, these are my observations.

As a premise, I have 14/20 eyesight. That means I am great at seeing things at a distance, but details - really small bits of models - are tough on my eyes. I require magnification to work at small sizes, and have traditionally relied on head-worn magnifying glasses. Using them has lots of downsides - headaches, shadows cast on the models, as well as the need to just walk away from them after an hour or two.

So part of my interest in this lamp was to see if it could replace the magnifying glasses I've traditionally relied on. The lamp I chose is the 2-in-1 which rests on a desk and extends via a long arm. There were other options that could be mounted onto a table, but I was really interested in something that fit with my workspace. Here's how I have it positioned:



As you can see, I have a separate painting station and airbrushing station. One of the other factors I was looking at is whether this lamp could work in both places.

Happily, it does well on both counts. Read below for more details.

First Impressions

The lamp is big. It's size makes it the largest physical object at my painting station. I have a 4x4 card table I use for painting, and the lamp would easily take up a quarter of that just sitting on the table. The base is curved, not flat, which means I don't have the option of setting things on the base when they're not in use. This could be dealt with by mounting the lamp to the table itself, but I had reasons for not wanting to do that. So the size is something to think about, but overall it's not a problem.

The base is heavy, appropriately so. The lamp itself weighs a fair bit, so the base needs to have some weight to it. The base has a set of metal rods that extend out an equal width to prevent it from slipping. It's clear some thought went into the base and making sure it's not going to tip over (a problem I've had with other lamps.) Also, the base sits firmly on the surface, there's a coating there to prevent it from sliding around. This was an overall positive for me, but it did affect how I was going to use it. The base is not something that's going to slide, so I had to think about how to make it move when I wanted it to.

I ended up placing the base on a shelf next to my desk and putting it on top of a book. This is a pretty solid setup, it allows me to slide the lamp when I need to but never unintentionally. Here's a detailed pic of the placement.



The extra space on the book gives me a natural area to store dry stuff like cards, triangles, stencils and the like.

Range of Motion

Since the lamp sits on a shelf, the range of motion matters.

The arm of the lamp extends about 3 feet in distance, up to an angle that drops below the base. I'm able to get the magnifier in place for when I'm working at a table that actually sits below the shelf.

I'm also able to elevate the lamp above shoulder level to get some extra light when I'm airbrushing or painting. After a few weeks working with it, this feels very natural. There's time my overhead LED lights create shadows on some recessed area and the light from the lamp is strong enough to wash them out. This is not a use I would have thought about with other lamps, they usually sit in front and above.

So that's a bonus. But the real benefit to this setup is being able to use the lamp between my painting stations. The paint station is a little further away and slightly higher from the shelf than the airbrush station. I can slide the based between the two and the arm cranes to the appropriate place for each with minimal effort. The arm is easy to position and holds it's position (although I'm curious about whether it will slip over time.)

Illumination

The big reason to get this lamp is the illumination. It's cleverly designed to give you control over the warmth and brightness of the light without overwhelming you with a number of options. I've previously used Phillips Hue bulbs, which provide very precise controls and presets that are hard to remember. The simplified design of the controls on this lamp are "just right" for most painters.

There's an on-off switch and a pair of warm / cool controls on the lamp, as demonstrated in this photo.



On the desk, you can see the Sons of Horus army I started into as a test with the lamp (along with my ongoing Grey Knights project.) Pointing this out because green is one of those colors that's really affected by color temperature. The way you perceive the color on the model has a lot to do with the ambient light in the room and how cool / warm / bright / dark it is. It's possible to get a lot of fluctuation when working with this kind of sea-green, and that's been a real problem for me. I've had to repaint models from time to time because they look so different once they're on the tabletop.

The default settings were slightly cooler than I would have wanted. After doing a few test models, I was able to shift the settings on the lamp to get to a color / brightness setting consistent with that of my overhead lights. This made it a lot simpler working in my spray booth and eliminated a "proof" step that was part of my painting routine. I didn't need to step away as much to check if the models looked right, it was easy to see when colors were off and adjust while I sat there.

So I'm really satisfied with the illumination settings. I write down those settings on a card for each different army I work on. One of the things about Grey Knights is the metallics, I use a lower brightness and a cooler temperature for them to give me a more accurate visual understanding of the silvers and blue shadows as I'm painting. I use a warmer and brighter setting for the green Sons of Horus vehicles. It's easy to count the number of clicks on the controls and know precisely how the light is set when I start into a painting sessions.

Magnification

As I said at the start of this article, I wanted to know how this lamp could help me with my needs for better magnification. Wearing magnifying glasses mounted to my head is burdensome and makes painting details a chore. Anything that lets me work without the encumbrance is a big deal.

The results are mostly positive. Here's a photo of the magnifying lens.



I'm not a photographer, so this was the best pic I could get through the lens. But, as you can see, the magnification is pretty powerful. It exposes details while illuminating them at the same time. The light washes out a lot of shadows that would normally be coming down on the model, and this is very useful.

What I tend to do is go over a model with paint once without the magnifier and pull it in for edge highlighting and pin washes. This just lets me know exactly where the colors are going and how they are showing up on the model. Overall, this increases the efficiency of my paint sessions. I'm finding I get work done a little faster each time mostly because I can process what's going on with the model with fewer passes. Also, I see problems when they're just starting, which lets me adjust much sooner than I would have before.

For example: I was shading some purity seals the other day and the wash was getting down into the crevaces of the Grey Knights Power Armor. This wouldn't have been obvious to the naked eye, and I probably would not have spotted it without the light from the lamp. It kept the details consistent all over the model.

I do a lot of freehand work and find the level of magnification is excessive for this purpose. A couple times, I found myself doing really detailed, magnified work that was not really visible to the naked eye. Likewise, the level of magnification takes some getting used to. It's a lot stronger than my magnifying glasses and my hands don't always know how close they are putting the brush to the model. For a few days, I spent a lot of time just trying to grasp the differences.

In the end, I found I was going back to the magnifying lenses from time to time, simply because the lens is not as powerful. If there's one fault I have with this lamp, it's the fact the magnification is not adjustable. For the price and the other conveniences, that's a problem I can live with. But it would be a lot more valuable if there was a way to adjust.

Summary

This lamp addresses problems I have with magnification in general. I've been able to use it to replace several other items in my painting arsenal and have an overall positive impression.

Using is has made my painting process noticeably more efficient in a short period of time. The fact it can easily move between paint stations is a big bonus. I like the modern design of the thing and how well it fit into my current setup.

It is a lamp. The designers implemented color and temperature controls in a thoughtful way that appeals to me. I realize other people may be looking for more precise controls, but the convenience of the simplified setup is not something to be overlooked.

The one downside is that, after a couple weeks of working with it, there are times the magnification seems like too much. Moving my head back, adjusting my painting posture to accommodate the lamp isn't something I'm prepared to do. But this only affects some of the trickiest detail problems I have with painting, and it's not a huge drawback. I have a feeling I will learn to work with it better over time.

Solid A.

   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Madison, WI

Nice review techsoldaten. It's interesting to see other versions of their lamps reviewed. If you aren't used to using this kind of lamp... finding the right place to mount it so it can be used properly is really important... and can be challenging as well.

Anvildude: "Honestly, it's kinda refreshing to see an Ork vehicle that doesn't look like a rainbow threw up on it."

Gitsplitta's Unified Painting Theory
 
   
Made in us
Daemonic Dreadnought





Eye of Terror

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Nice review techsoldaten. It's interesting to see other versions of their lamps reviewed. If you aren't used to using this kind of lamp... finding the right place to mount it so it can be used properly is really important... and can be challenging as well.


Thank you.

Before this, I had 2 desk-mounted LED lamps. They vied for space in the area above my paint station and were rarely useful in the spray booth. I was kind of dying for a lamp that went on the shelf and could move back and forth.

I didn't think this lamp would prove to be as useful as it has been. Not saying it's changed my life, but I get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time. Those Sons of Horus vehicles you see in my post, all of those were done in 2 weeks. I still need to do edge highlighting and weathering on all of them, but they look pretty good as is. Without the lamp, I would not have done as many. Not sure if it's the enthusiasm for a new toy or the better lighting, everything just feels simpler.

   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Madison, WI

I hsd a similar experience.

Anvildude: "Honestly, it's kinda refreshing to see an Ork vehicle that doesn't look like a rainbow threw up on it."

Gitsplitta's Unified Painting Theory
 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

Another review here.
Link to product page

I went with the 2-in-one myself. I’ve had bad experiences with clamp lamps in the past. If your desk is the right style to take the clamp, they work fine. If not, you end up trying to get it to grip on too narrow an edge, or in a bad spot, etc. Prior to Brighttech, I was using a floor lamp with a side fixture, plus the built in under the hood of my workspace. This was probably the worst lighting set up I’ve endured. My last two spots had adequate side/back lighting, so I wasn’t working in partial shadows. But the new lamp fixed that.

First stop: table lamp mode.

My workbench is roughly 2’ by 4’, and the lamp can easily cover all of that from a central position.
The base is heavy. Plus side is that it sits solidly, I don’t need to worry about it sliding around as I swing the lamp about. I’d worry if my space was a rolling printer stand or cheep card table (which it has been in the past). For my table, a non-issue.
The base is not small. The base itself is roughly half a square foot. The metal brace sticks out farther, but that’s still mostly useable space. Pro for stability, con for cramped areas. For me, again not a big deal.

The arm sometimes took a little tweaking to get right where I wanted it. About average compared to other swing arm lamps I’ve used. There is a little wiggle where it attaches to the base. All fairly normal stuff. I wasn’t expecting clockwork precision, but it works well.

Second form: floor lamp.

Here there is an issue. My workbench is on the tall side; around 36”. While the lamp can reach, it’s stretching. I could paint like this, but could not swing the lamp up out of the way to shine light down when I did slop work. Which was a feature I used when in table-top mode. To further test the floor lamp, I moved it over to my kitchen table.

This table is only 6” shorter (30”) but it made all the difference. With more room to swing, I was able to adjust the light in a much more useful fashion. If I really wanted to make this work, I could have picked up a solid cube/box/storage thing and placed it under the lamp. For me and my room, this would have an issue of blocking a closet door. Your space might differ. If you had a small workspace and didn’t want to sacrifice part of it for a table lamp, this could work.

Brightech has a number of mounts for the same basic lamps. Obviously you will want to find the one that works best for your workspace. My take away from the 2-in-1 is this:
The table mount takes up a non-insignificant about of space on the table, but covers the most. Floor lamps on the side are only going to cover half the space as a centrally placed one.
The floor lamp works fine for normal height work surfaces, but not tall ones.
The arm might take an extra little wiggle to get exactly where you need it, but was solid once placed.

The light and the lens.

Full disclosure: The only magnifier I had ever used before was an experiment with a fly-tieing rig that was swiftly abandoned. So this was all new to me.

The lens is going to take some getting used to. First off, seeing all the flaws in my work real-time was shocking. I’m normally used to just seeing them when I break out the camera for the final shots. Placement of the lens is rough. Getting used to the magnification, and the depth of focus was not easy. Still not used to it. It’s OK when painting, but whenever I need to move away from the focus to do something like rinse the brush or get more paint, it feels off. I’m sure practice would make this better. I frequently bonked the lens with the back of my brushes for a while. The magnification did help with my detail work. I could see the flaws when I still had time to fix them, and the larger view helped my aging eyes. Hand is still steady enough to match the magnified sight, but not before the morning coffee wore off (and before an evening drink) I did find out that the grey ring locks the lens in place, when I accidentally knocked it. Good to know. Part of me wishes I had oped for the model with the larger lens. While fine, it does seem a bit small at times. But then, I have nothing to really compare it to. It works.

The light:
Quality bright light from a good angle to work with. There are two sets of controls; warmth and brightness. They are sensitive touch controls near the grip to swing it around, and I did accidentally nudge them a few times. Conveniently placed for adjustments, but also accidents. Here are some comparison shots. I should go back and adjust my camera to not be as automatic. It’s doing some compensating here.

The 4 extremes in settings. There are multiple stages. These shots were taken only using the lamp and the ambient light at my kitchen table (from the earlier floor lamp shot) in my light box. The lamp was shining in from the front. The ring of lights provides a disperse enough brightness to avoid most shadows. Not perfect, but I’m sure it will make for better WIP shots from the workbench when I’m not setting up the box and the paired side lamps.

Shipping: It showed up 3 days after they told me they were sending it to me. Their box was solid, the one from Amazon it shipped in could have used a bit more padding, but everything got here undamaged.

Overall:

I needed a new light. My set up was poor, and I knew it. So when I received this offer, I jumped on it. If I were buying a new lamp, I’m not sure I’d shell out for one of this quality. But I had never used a magnifier, so probably would have went with just a light. I’m glad they offered when they did. I enjoy using the lens, and think that once I get used to it my painting should dramatically improve. Just the ability to see flaws as I go is big. And my old eyes were having difficulty painting eyes. Being able to see fine detail is huge. I’m not sure how much I’ll adjust the setting on the light, but the fact that it’s a ring of bright LEDs on a swing arm is very nice. It’s solved all the lighting problems on my bench. I’ve not done any comparison shopping, but it seems like a solid value for the price they are asking. It provides ample light, is solidly constructed, and provides a good lens to see with. I’m quite happy to have it on my bench, and look forward to using it going forward.

Edit:
If forgot to mention, if you are intrested in picking one up, this link will get you a 15% off coupon.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/07/23 12:37:09


   
Made in us
Daemonic Dreadnought





Eye of Terror

This is a good review. One of the things to mention about this lamp is it's only $60. I spent more than that on smaller lamps from Amazon that didn't really have the arm range to do what I needed them for. I spent a lot more than $60 on all the smaller lamps, the fact this one gets where it needs to go declutters the space very well.

   
Made in us
Powerful Phoenix Lord





I was contacted by Brightech a few weeks ago regarding a lamp for review. I was pretty excited as I'd never used a magnified lamp before. Please see the following for the good and the bad. The review is available on my blog as well (larger pictures)

https://myminiaturemischief.blogspot.com/2018/07/product-review-brightech-lightview-pro.html

Product: Brightech LightView XL Clamp (White)
MSRP: $75.99

I received the lamp in an unexpectedly large and rather heavy box (I had not really concentrated on the dimensions when I selected a lamp).


Inside the standard box was a foam inner box, secured with several straps of tape.


Materials packaged inside, very standard style - manufactured in China.


The included table-clamp. This lamp is only able to be attached to a surface via clamp. Brightech has a number of other lamps which are smaller and some which have a standard lamp base.


Small baggies containing all the parts.


The lamp itself is fully assembled, and quite heavy (the arm is rather long).


Outside the packaging the appearance is exactly what you'd expect for the price. Nice, but not shockingly so. The hardware is sturdy. Note the cup and screw arrangement will damage tables if you over-tighten it. Some padding or a wood block, etc. may be in order to avoid damaging any nice wood tables.


The unprotected cup/clamp.


The power plug is nice and narrow - smaller than many other lamps I own. It slotted well between other items on my power strip.


The magnifying glass is quite large on the Clamp XL. Like other lamps of this type it is surrounded by a ring of adjustable white LEDs.


The "top side" is covered with a simple hinging flap, a power button and touch-pad controls for changing the brightness of the LEDs.


Power toggle.


Touchpad toggle. It appears to have five brightness settings. The lowest is quite low, while the highest matches my other two normal LED table lamps.


The hinged cover opens wide enough to not get in the way.


I cleaned up my hobby area to play around with lamp placement. Note I'm going to "try" this lamp on this folding table I normally paint on. It's a heavy lamp so I want to see if it's useable on this flimsier table or if it requires a larger/heavier table.


As I suspected, the clamp itself doesn't close all the way down, and thus will not close on a small or very thin table (this table being more or less MDF covered in fake leather). I added two thin pieces of wood underneath to allow the lamp to grab the table securely.


I originally intended to install the lamp to one side or the other, but the power cord is a bit short (maybe 3'-4'), so I put it on the right side of my table (a place I'd probably not keep it). Admittedly moving this lamp does shake the whole table - but it would be okay once set in place while painting.


Showing the light bars in action - dialed down to the lowest setting so they show up on camera. Nice light, good spread, no patches.


A scale shot showing the rather large Clamp XL overshadowing my two normal lamps. While large, the lamp does not output any more light, it's just...large. The arm is metal with a plastic cover - allowing a pretty good reach.


Qualm #1: The head adjustment of this lamp does not allow much flexibility. I really could not find a position in which I was comfortable using the lamp from either side. I may be able to figure it out with more work and fiddling, but the lamp head is only pivoting on two axis and not a ball-type mount. It is limited in pivot by its hardware.


The best pic I could manage. The lens does have quite a bit of parallax or curve around the edges. This is not a high doller optical lense, but rather a simple 2.25x magnifying piece of glass. It does the job well enough though.


Attempting to show the 2.25x power of the glass - nothing crazy, just a small advantage when looking over a small miniature.


Another picture to showcase the power of the lens.


This is the only comfortable position I could find for the lamp.


Now the sad part. I don't think I can use this lamp. My vision isn't great, but whatever my vision is - it doesn't work well with a magnified lamp (I haven't used one before). It strains my eyes quite a bit trying to use it, so I must be farsighted or something. I started working on a few minis but I won't even post the results here...they were bad. I will try working on some more in the next few weeks or months but I am not sure I will make use of the lamp.

This is, of course, not a critique of the lamp itself. I think it's a suitably good lamp for the price you pay, but I can't make any claims about it helping my painting since I really can't adjust to it. Maybe it's time to take a trip to the eye doctor...

I may hand this lamp over to someone locally for use, and if they do take to it, I will have them produce a review and add it here. I'll try it out some more for the next few weeks - see if I can acclimatize my eyeballs ot the lense itself.

Here is a discount link for Dakka members for 15% off Brightech lamps: https://lp.brightechshop.com/dakka-review-magnifyinglamp-review-15off

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/07/23 15:43:50


 
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







Nice reviews all. Now how do I join the free lamp.club?

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

So, it's finally time to do my own review of a Brightech lamp! Ahem...

A few weeks ago, I was made the same offer as some other Dakka users of getting to review a lamp by Brightech, in exchange for getting to keep the lamp. I chose to get the LightView LED Color lamp, which clamps on to a table and has a double articulated swingarm. It normally retails at $69.99 USD. Here's a photo of the lamp attached to my table:


First off, let me go over the features of this lamp:
It is designed to securely clamp onto just about any hobby desk. The only problem with this for me is that I don't have a proper hobby desk, just a card table. This is not Brightech's fault at all, but I may have made a questionable choice in which lamp to try out for them. It does work with the card table, although it does make the table top flex a bit. The magnifying lens is pretty powerful; easily enough to allow someone to see and paint small details on a model. Figuring out how far away to hold the model while working took some trial and error, but that is due to my inexperience working with magnifiers while painting. As for the actual illumination, the lamp has a ring of LED's in 2 colors surrounding the magnifying lens, as seen in this photo:

The light has settings for both brightness and warmth, and adjusting them can get you many different combinations that could be useful. The buttons are on the top of the lamp. I imagine every hobbyist might like something different as far as what kind of lighting they want, and this lamp can accommodate most. I tend to keep it roughly in the middle on both settings. As far as mobility, the lamp moves and adjusts position very easily while staying secure when you let go of it (so no worries that it might crash down onto your models!). It is quite flexible and can reach pretty far, so it would work well on even moderately large desks.

Now, on to the pros and cons of this lamp.
Pros:
-Plenty of freedom of movement, allowing the lamp to provide magnification or illumination (or both) in a variety of positions to suit a lot of different hobbyists' needs
-Sturdy construction means this lamp won't break if you look at it crossways. You'd have to go out of your way to damage it, I think. It even survived me dropping it on the floor when I opened the box with no damage whatsoever.
-Light settings offer a number of choices. For some applications, you will want warmer, more yellow light, while for others you'd want pure white light, and this lamp can do all of that.
-The lens is powerful and allows you to see small detail very well. Perfect for picking out very small details when painting, or for sculpting small things.
-For what you get, the price of the lamp is very reasonable, especially when Brightech is doing special offers.
-The lamp comes in your choice of 2 colors, white or black, to suit your preferences.
Cons:
-The lamp is very heavy, meaning you really want to have a sturdy desk to attach it to. My card table is barely working with it, so I can't in good conscience recommend attaching it to such a table.
-The clamp itself has a metal cup that grips the underside of the desk, and being bare metal it will scratch your desk. It might be a good idea to do what I've done and put a piece of cardboard or something between the cup and the bottom surface of your desk. Really the cup should be padded somehow, but I suppose it might not grip as well then.
-No way to adjust the magnification strength. Not a huge problem, but might have come in handy. Of course, such a system would probably make the lamp much more expensive...

Conclusion
I like this lamp. I would probably not have bought one if it were not given to me, but that isn't because the lamp is bad, but rather simply because I wasn't in the market for one. I think it is an excellent tool for any hobbyist, and I think I will use it a lot going forward, especially as a light for my work area, which was really too dark before. The magnification part will take a lot of practice for me to get used to, but once I get the hang of it I think I'll be able to do a lot better detailing on models. In short, this lamp gets a ZergSmasher Seal of Approval!

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in ca
Dipping With Wood Stain






Brightech Lighting Shop:
https://brightechshop.com/

I was sent a lamp by Brightech for review, https://brightechshop.com/collections/magnifier-lamps/products/lightview-xl-rolling-base

How well do Brightech's magnifier lamps work for miniature painting?
In short - really really well!

I love the light colour in particular, and the brightness. The colour is very cool and true to sunlight, and the level of brightness is unmatched to anything I have used.

Two big thumbs up from me!


   
Made in no
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver





Cool, I'm tempted to buy one, but they were sold out!
   
 
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