Apparently Ikea discontinued the JANSJO desk lamp people use for coin photography!

SiriusBlack

All the old discussions talk about $10 lights. Now they're around $20 each! Dang it!! I found some on amazon for a 2 Pack for $38.99. That seems to be about the best I can come up with.

Does anyone else have any alternatives either for lights or for buying options? I'm assuming I need 4 lights. That seems to be the most common setup.

oih82w8

I picked a couple of Jansjo LED lamps passing through Dallas a couple of years ago. I have seen two, three and more light set-ups for imagery...it all depends on the person behind the lens. Better get 'em while you can...they may be like the DANSO 7070 and be out of production for YEARS! ...and people were silly money for those!

Are the JANSJO LEB USB lights any good?

Good products are not cheap...cheap products are not good.

How about this link for the lamps? The image shows all three type bases.

https://www.bonanza.com/listings/New-Jansjo-Led-Usb-Lamp-Work-Lamp-Clamp-Spo-Tl-Ight/506175462?goog_pla=1&gpid=293946777986&keyword=&goog_pla=1&pos=1o29&ad_type=pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0fCrycKQ3QIVREsNCh0PpwkwEAkYHSABEgIprfD_BwE

SiriusBlack

I’m not sure about the USB version. I was looking at the plug in the wall and set on a desk version. Maybe I got the wrong name!

oih82w8

No, you got the right name, the lamps have different bases, some have the heavy metal base, clamp to the desk base and the USB versions.

SiriusBlack

Ah ok! Oddly enough, you can order them on the website I've just discovered. When I was at Ikea yesterday they looked it up and said they were unavailable. I guess I'll see what happens unless there are some better alternatives.

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cmerlo1

I bought some, and was never able to get good results.

SiriusBlack

@cmerlo1 @FadeToBlack

What are you two using now?

robec

I love them. Best results I've ever had.

cheezhed

Never tried them.

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derryb

I use three of them.

Still available

SiriusBlack

@FadeToBlack That is... helpful.

SiriusBlack

@derryb So weird that when I went to Ikea yesterday they said they were discontinued

cmerlo1

@SiriusBlack said:
@cmerlo1 @FadeToBlack

What are you two using now?

The 2 lights that came with my copy stand with 16W 5000k LED bulbs, plus a third clamp-on desk fixture with another of the same bulb.

GRANDAM

I ordered (4) of them 10 days ago at $12.99 ea.

derryb

@SiriusBlack said:
@derryb So weird that when I went to Ikea yesterday they said they were discontinued

order them on-line

RogerB

You want to use flat spectrum lamps in a 4 or 5-inch white reflector -- to start. Specifications of common retail products will change without notice.

RogerB

The Jansjo LED work lamp is $13.00 from Ikea.

Check: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/lighting/tools/find_the_right_light_bulb/

Lamp specifications PDF (below).

You want a lamp that is close to this spectrum - natural daylight.

EVillageProwler

I use long neck lamps from Home Depot. I buy white sunlight bulbs and set my camera for such light source. I have four lamps to cover 360 degree coverage that is almost overhead.

ricko

I use sunlight or whatever.... Sorry, I have no lights, and am not, nor will I become, an expert photographer....copy and paste, or, my new talent, a quick shot with my phone. Hey, when I first started on this forum (late 90's) there were no coin pictures... the first one's blew everyone's mind... now, de rigueur...Cheers, RickO

oih82w8

Don't every change @ricko , forum members such as myself may be led to believe that your account may have been hacked.

brg5658

@FadeToBlack said:
Jansjo's suck.

Signed,
Former devotee.

Maybe it's not the lights that suck.

Many of us have great results with them; lots of others complain incessantly. To each his/her own.

I know those of us who use them most successfully (like @robec) have done some diffusion and other modifications.

ChrisH821

From my limited experience the jansjo lamps must be diffused, I don't think I managed a decent photo using them directly.

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SiriusBlack

@FadeToBlack I did notice on the website 2 listings, one with a NEW logo and you’re right, the kelvin is different.

Coinosaurus

@RogerB said:
The Jansjo LED work lamp is $13.00 from Ikea.

Check: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/lighting/tools/find_the_right_light_bulb/

Lamp specifications PDF (below).

You want a lamp that is close to this spectrum - natural daylight.

This must be one of those guys that brings his own bulb for auction lot viewing

ACop

@Coinosaurus said:

@RogerB said:
The Jansjo LED work lamp is $13.00 from Ikea.

Check: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/lighting/tools/find_the_right_light_bulb/

Lamp specifications PDF (below).

You want a lamp that is close to this spectrum - natural daylight.

This must be one of those guys that brings his own bulb for auction lot viewing

He doesnt even have his own loupe!

lkeigwin

Not a fan. RIP.
Lance.

Gluggo

Does anybody know when the bulb burns out do they make replacement bulbs?

oih82w8

@Gluggo no, they are not replaceable...other than replacing the whole lamp, or if you are good with a soldering iron and can find a similar LED, which I have not tried to look up. Disposable...like most of things these days, sadly.

robec

I’ve had mine at least 4 years without a hint of trouble. I do have an occasional flicker with one, but that is due to the switch.

mvs7

@ChrisH821 said:
From my limited experience the jansjo lamps must be diffused, I don't think I managed a decent photo using them directly.

Totally agree. I use four Jansjo lamps (or just two for something like very circulated gold) and then got from Home Depot some of that packing material for dishes, etc. (not the bubble wrap, but the translucent pocket stuff), cut it into squares, and then cover the heads of the Jansjo lamps with the packing material, secured with rubber bands.

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robec

@FadeToBlack said:

@robec said:
I’ve had mine at least 4 years without a hint of trouble. I do have an occasional flicker with one, but that is due to the switch.

The switches were a known issue in the earlier ones that is supposedly fixed in the newer ones. I just cut the switches out of my old ones lol.

Replacement switches came with 2 of mine. I haven’t switched them yet.

messydesk

@Coinosaurus said:

@RogerB said:
The Jansjo LED work lamp is $13.00 from Ikea.

Check: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/lighting/tools/find_the_right_light_bulb/

Lamp specifications PDF (below).

You want a lamp that is close to this spectrum - natural daylight.

This must be one of those guys that brings his own bulb for auction lot viewing

Ikea, seeing the popularity of In-n-Out Burger's secret menu, has one of their own. Just go to your local Ikea and show them this picture and ask for the JANSJÖHATT. Not available online.

RogerB

Looks great for examining your collection of "Big Mac Coins," or the things moving around in your McD salad !

Twobitcollector

Light colour; warm white (3000 Kelvin) I would only buy if 5000 or higher degrees of kelvin and a high CRI

SiriusBlack

@RogerB said:
Looks great for examining your collection of "Big Mac Coins," or the things moving around in your McD salad !

This is why I stick to McNuggets. No one could confuse those for actual animal parts.

SiriusBlack

@Twobitcollector said:
Light colour; warm white (3000 Kelvin) I would only buy if 5000 or higher degrees of kelvin and a high CRI

Reasoning? I ask because most cameras I use can set Kelvin white balance or custom white balance.

RogerB

The closer all your equipment is to standard daylight, the better the visual and photographic accuracy. "White balance" is a software adjustment for ordinary use and will probably be OK....likely better than most you see posted, but differences will be subtle. Also if using more than one light, be sure they are identical in color - the camera can compensate for only one source, not a composite.

RogerB

PS: Apparently they discontinued only the "JANSJO" lamps without the umlaut. "JANSJÖ" with ümlaüt are available büt reqüire an ümlaüt electrical plüg ünless yoü have a üniversal electrical oütlet (aka: "ümlet" not to be confused with a Swedish "Öhmlet").

Paradisefound

I confess....I love McNuggets! I have my side of salads with my wine later on the eve
Hope you get the lights you needed....it's very important

@SiriusBlack said:

@RogerB said:
Looks great for examining your collection of "Big Mac Coins," or the things moving around in your McD salad !

This is why I stick to McNuggets. No one could confuse those for actual animal parts.

robec

It makes no difference if it is 3000°K or 5000°K you still have to set your white balance. The camera isn’t automatically set to daylight (5000°K) so the software will have to make that conversion the same as it will for 3000°K. Once correctly set for either, which ever is correct for your light, you won’t see a difference in the results.

RogerB

RE: "...the software will have to make that conversion..."

Correct. Be sure to have a priest or Rabbi present depending on which way you're converting, also.

robec

@RogerB said:
RE: "...the software will have to make that conversion..."

Correct. Be sure to have a priest or Rabbi present depending on which way you're converting, also.

Ha ha, point taken. Wrong choice of words. I should have said adjustment or even compensation.

NGS428

@FadeToBlack said:

@brg5658 said:

@FadeToBlack said:
Jansjo's suck.

Signed,
Former devotee.

Maybe it's not the lights that suck.

Many of us have great results with them; lots of others complain incessantly. To each his/her own.

I know those of us who use them most successfully (like @robec) have done some diffusion and other modifications.

Ha! Nah my problem with them was the temperature of the lights changed. So I'd have like, two that were whiter than the other two... annoying to literally see a slightly different shade of light on the coin.

Diffusion is a must with those. I loved them at one point, I really did. Then I decided to try something new and switched.

I have 2 older and 1 new jansjo in my current setup. The shades are different. I don’t know that my custom white balance will take care of that since I am using a point on the image that I select in the Canon remote view software.

SiriusBlack

@NGS428 Canon’s custom white balance will basically average them, so no it can’t perfectly match two different types of light. The closer their color temperatures are, the closer the custom will be to accuracy. If you’ve got one light at 5200K and one at 5500K it will do a pretty damn good job of balancing them, but if one is 5200K and one is 2700K it’s not going to do nearly as well.

AngryTurtle

@NGS428, @SiriusBlack : SiriusBlack is correct that the lights of different color temperature will be "white balance averaged" by the camera or post processing software, but there is one thing to be careful of. The bright reflections from the lights will be of different color temperature, and look different. For example if I shoot with warm white lights, but have daylight coming in from a window, you will see bright blue reflections in some areas. If the lights are close enough in color temp, you wont be able to notice a slight difference.

RogerB

No, putting the lights in your home freezer will not lower the "color temperature." However, putting the light inside a raw chicken skin **will **lower color temperature.

NGS428

Here are my three lights. Guess they are not too far apart. Center one is. I think manual white balance should be fine. I typically only use 2 and if needed then 3.

For those of you inclined to swap the switch out. Here are the instructions I followed (not written by me)

STEP BY STEP FIX FOR A FLICKERING LAMP

Tools: phillips screw driver, wire cutters, wire strippers, hammer, eye protection

Go to a locally owned hardware store, and buy a Leviton single pole cord switch, cat no. 5410, or equivalent. Leviton 5410 Appliance Switch, Feed-Through Switch Rocker, Single Pole, Single Throw, 3A-125V AC, Brown. (Don't buy the pinch kind. It won't work because this lamp does not use standard gauge lamp wire. Also, I can't recommend buying an inline dimmer, since this is an Ikea product we're talking about, and it could easily melt or exude meatball gravy or lingonberry juice.)

Unplug the lamp, and remove the existing lamp switch by smashing it with a hammer. Yes, you have to smash it, don't cut the wire.

Put on safety glasses or some sort of eye protection, and hold the switch sideways (seam up) on something hard and well supported, like a concrete floor or doorway threshold, not a table or countertop. Hammer the switch straight down on the seam. Two or three well placed whacks, and you get the halves to split open enough to tear them apart by hand.

You'll see two lines, one cut, the other continuous. Pull out both lines. Discard and banish all further thought of this defeated carcass of a worthless Ikea switch.

Don't cut the uncut strand of the wire.

Trim the ends of the already cut line, removing the "pinch" connectors. Discard those too.

Strip the insulation from the ends you just trimmed, about 1/2 inch.

Unbolt the casing of the new switch, and you can easily see where your exposed wire ends should go. (Twisting your wire ends before wrapping and tightening under the lead screws helps. The Leviton thing ought to come with instructions and diagram, but you can ignore the polarity issue, the plug used in this lamp is not polarized.)

Put your new switch back together.