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Recommended light levels for detailed to exacting work range between 100 & 300 foot candles. Many lamps will provide that at a fairly short range. The design of the fixture makes a lot of difference. How reflective is the interior surface? Is the shade designed to focus the light or diffuse it?
For drawing I used to use a c. 1947 drafting light. I couldn't get the circular florescent element for it, but it would accommodate a 150W incandsecent. At a range of about 18", the parabolic shape and the white enamel provided a good level of illumination. One other task light i used had a near mirrored inner surface. A single 100W was good at 18".
When I worked at an art museum, our "clean" room was lit by banks of modern high output florescent tubes, which provided slightly higher than 80 fc at work level. We kept 2 500W halogen work lights on hand when doing delicate work. The interior of the worklights was reflective, but not quite mirror like.
I've been looking at some of the contemporary LED systems. The quality of the light and the price/performance ratio has improved markedly over the last 10 years. They make ideal spotlights. So far I haven't found a system that does quite what I want, but the low power draw is very appealing.
For drawing I used to use a c. 1947 drafting light. I couldn't get the circular florescent element for it, but it would accommodate a 150W incandsecent. At a range of about 18", the parabolic shape and the white enamel provided a good level of illumination. One other task light i used had a near mirrored inner surface. A single 100W was good at 18".
When I worked at an art museum, our "clean" room was lit by banks of modern high output florescent tubes, which provided slightly higher than 80 fc at work level. We kept 2 500W halogen work lights on hand when doing delicate work. The interior of the worklights was reflective, but not quite mirror like.
I've been looking at some of the contemporary LED systems. The quality of the light and the price/performance ratio has improved markedly over the last 10 years. They make ideal spotlights. So far I haven't found a system that does quite what I want, but the low power draw is very appealing.