What kinds of lighting can be used with a scanning back?
Scanning backs expose the image one set of lines at a time, so the subject must be continuously illuminated during the entire scan. This rules out the use of strobe or flash lighting, but nearly any kind of continuous light source can be used effectively with a Better Light system. Here are the most popular: Inexpensive tungten “hot” lights, available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, work well with a scanning back. Tungsten lights consume a lot of AC power, and generate a lot of heat, but only need to be turned on during each prescan or scan, since these lights reach full output within a few seconds. Most tungsten lights are subject to changes in intensity if the AC mains voltage changes, and changes in subject lighting during a scan will appear as darker or lighter bands in the image. Accurate color rendition can be more of a challenge when using tungsten lighting, usually because of the high level of near-infrared from these lights being reflected from certain materials, partic
