Cheap light diffusing material needed - ideas/suggestions?

Hello all,

first off, I'm sorry if I don't use the proper technical/English terms in my descriptions.
If you have questions regarding certain terms, just ask.

To the topic:
For a DIY project, I need a cheap light diffusing material. The setup is several lines of RGB LED strips next to each other. To avoid that the light of each single LED is seen in the lit area, I'd like to diffuse the LEDs light so that it appears to be (more or less) a single uniform light source. So, I'd be looking for a good light diffusing material, e.g. a film/foil or similar. It should be lightweight, flexible (bendable), and cheap. The diffusion material needs to cover an approximately 10x50cm (4"x20") field of LEDs.

Any ideas or suggestions on what material this could be? Either directly available in a store or easily producible by myself. Thanks in advance!

Any ideas or suggestions on what material this could be? Either directly available in a store or easily producible by myself. Thanks in advance!

http://extreme-macro.co.uk/macro-diffusers/

Thanks. Can you maybe post a sample link to this "plastic printer paper" you've mentioned?!

Thanks. But I need a larger diffuser area, not just flash light. And about the also mentioned polysterene: I'm not sure this will let through enough light... But I'll check this out as a starting point.

Cheap plastic shower curtains are one possibility. It is a bit trial and error to find what works best for you (and you may need to do a custom white balance) but it can work well.

Gato

OpticsEngineer wrote:

At www.bandhphoto.com do a search on Rosco Diffuser and you will turn up some cheap materials I use professionally when I need parts acceptable to our supply chain. But in the lab I sometimes just use the liner that contains the cereal in my box of Cheerios.

Thank you!!

Just what I needed for a project today and I had an empty Cheerios box sitting next to the kitchen trash.

Gato

WuWuZilla wrote:

Hello all,

first off, I'm sorry if I don't use the proper technical/English terms in my descriptions.
If you have questions regarding certain terms, just ask.

To the topic:
For a DIY project, I need a cheap light diffusing material. The setup is several lines of RGB LED strips next to each other. To avoid that the light of each single LED is seen in the lit area, I'd like to diffuse the LEDs light so that it appears to be (more or less) a single uniform light source. So, I'd be looking for a good light diffusing material, e.g. a film/foil or similar. It should be lightweight, flexible (bendable), and cheap. The diffusion material needs to cover an approximately 10x50cm (4"x20") field of LEDs.

Any ideas or suggestions on what material this could be? Either directly available in a store or easily producible by myself. Thanks in advance!

No idea where you are located but some time ago I ordered a PMMA 5mm thick diffusion sheet 82% transmission from

https://www.pyrasied.nl/en/product/cast-acrylic-opal-sheets/

for a DIY 4x5 digital slide copier. Creating a good diffused light source behind a slide is more demanding on evenness than creating a light source for object photography etc.

If the LED RGB strips do not sufficiently mix that way I think you should go for a kind of Ulbright mixing box behind it. Lined internally with white polystyrene high density foam or BaSO4 paint or a paper without optical brighteners + a high white reflectance. Check

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm for paper spectral reflectance.

Be aware that multiple thin opal sheets should be quite parallel to one another and better not touching one another at some point. Unevenness in monitor light can be related to that aspect.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
No photographer's gear list is complete without the printer mentioned !

OpticsEngineer wrote:

At www.bandhphoto.com do a search on Rosco Diffuser and you will turn up some cheap materials I use professionally when I need parts acceptable to our supply chain. But in the lab I sometimes just use the liner that contains the cereal in my box of Cheerios.

The gearheads want to know: Regular or Honey Nut?