"2 60 Watt Bulbs Vs 1 120 Watt Bulb" Topic

We're setting up light fixtures so we can take pictures of our figures and now my brother and I are at an impasse. We need a third party settler here.

One of us believes that using 2 60Watt bulbs will give an output of 120Watts. The other believes that this is impossible and you would need a 120Watt bulb to produce 120Watts.

I'm not going to say who is barking up which particular tree, but if anybody out there could prove one or the other of us wrong, it would be immensely useful.

Thank you!

You're actually asking the wrong question on two fronts.

Firstly, for the amount of light, you should be looking at "lumens". It'll say how many lumens a bulb puts out on the package. Its possible to get two 60-watt bulbs that are brighter than a 120. Two 60-watters will use the same power as a single 120. You'll have to be careful of your fixture, however, as a lot of them are rated for only 60-watt bulbs.

Secondly, depending on what situation you'll be taking pictures of your miniatures in, determines how you'll want your light deployed. Assuming that this is a gaming table, you're gonna want a lot of light throughout the room. This will keep down shadows and make things easier to see throughout the room. Indirect lighting is good for this without being blinding. Alternatively, you can hang one of those pool table lamps over your table.

Lastly, here are a couple of considerations:
• A 120-watt bulb is BRIGHT. Your fixture would have to provide indirect lighting or have a lampshade – which defeats the purpose of having that much wattage.

• Heat – a lot of light – or even a few 120's will create a fair amount of heat. Go with the flouresent bulbs and you'll save money on the electricity as well.

Hope that helps,

Wyatt

Yep, wattage tells you how much energy the thing uses. So two 60 watt bulbs use the same energy as a 120. Whether you get more or less light depends on lumens….

W = A x V

That is Watts = Ampheres x Voltage

Watts is a measure of consumption of energy. That has nothing whatever (watt-ever?) to do with how much light is produced. You will be MUCH better off using at least two flourescent light sources. You will get a lot more light with a lot less risk of getting sunburn, melting plasitc bits, or starting a electrical fire.

Compare the light output (lumens) to know how much light is produced.

yep lumens and their placement; also color temperature of the light. most incandescent are in the yellow range, I believe in the 2500-3500 deg K range; whereas "natural" white light is up in the 5,000 deg K range. I prefer a mix; not too high [5000+ as it gets bluish].
I've used color corrected photo floods – 500 watts!! talk about hot, even with placement with light 10-12 inch aluminum hoods & stands [using 1-2 500 watts & 1-2 250 watt], they will SOFTEN the paint on your figures if you get them too close.
They also make low-wattage fluorescent floods, that I also use with a light tent [diffuses the light regardless of the direction to eliminate shadows] Thes use around 32-35 watts, lumens in the 2000-2400 range cool, white etc.

Lumens is an linear scale, so additive, 2 60W bulbs will give about the same amount of light as 1 120W bulb, assuming similar efficiency.

The other may be confusing light lumens with sound decibels. Decibels are NOT additive being on a logarithmic scale. 2 60 decibel speakers will not give you 120 decibels.

ISTR light levels drop as you move away from the source, so you might get a feeling of less brightness in the room from two lower output sources than from one higher output source.

It is not lumens that are important, but foot candles. Lumens may be the actual output of photons, but foot candles tells you how much illumination actually exists at the target area. The shape of the lamp, fixture, surrounding surfaces reflectivity will all greatly effect the foot candles.

You may also want to consider what color of light that you want. Generally, true color incandescent lights give a fuller spectrum of light, and a more "natural" appearance. Florescent lights have generally not done well in this area, but have made vast improvement.

The single source versus dual source debate is more relevant to how much of a shadow are you trying to cast.

Photons are the real measure of light. Set an empty tin can on the floor, and leave it there for, say, 10 minutes. After that, count the number of photons you've collected in the can. That way, you can tell whether you get more from 2 60W or one 120W bulb.

You just earned yourself a free drink, Guru Dave. Have DWW put it on my tab.

Gawd,

Once upon a time I built an out door basketball court for my kids. They wanted it lit so they could play into the evening. The foot candle thing mentioned above is the beginning of your process. In essence, light intensity dissipates as it moves away from the souce at an exponential rate. So, it isn't just watts, lumens and foot candles, it is also how much light reaches the point that you want to illuminate.

When taking pictures you also need to be concerned about the angle that the light reaches the subject and a little critter called glare.

Personally, I wouldn't get too wrapped up in this for a few pics of figs. If you have a digital cam, take a couple shots and see how they look. You can increase your light exposure by using reflective surfaces (shiny tin foil on cardboard works fine) and / or change your angle of the shoot to eliminate glare. Not too scientific but a little trial and error will get you an acceptable outcome without needed a lesson in physics.

mjc

You will get more light for energy used from a single 120W light than from 2 60W lights. At least that is what they taught us in electrical school. Efficacy is the term I believe.

Duhhhh….

Here I was thinking 'foot candles' were made from the pedal
extremities of malefactors,tallow from virgins and Lapland sesame oil.

I think they only provide light for the person who lights
them but then the flame can only be quenched by milk.

"40 watt lightbulb is a dyin breed, lets ya sleep when you're tryin to read…"

Forget both and go with a compact fluorescent. For about 15 watts you will get about the same light output as the 120 watt bulb and put the other 105 watts of paid electricity back into your wallet. Yes the bulbs are more expensive, but generally they last longer than incandescent as well.

I tend to agree with spugnoid. If the bulb combinations total theoretical lumens are the same. The single bulb in practice should still be better as the other bulb/socket will absorb a small amount of light from it's partner.