Originally Posted by
Peckish
I guess I'm going to be the odd person out. I don't care for the Ott lamps; I find them horribly overpriced. I purchased a "daylight" bulb, recommended by Holly Knott for getting true colors when photographing your quilts. I liked it so much I installed it over my sewing work area - and the bulbs fit standard fixtures, you don't have to purchase an expensive specialty lamp. The bulbs should have a rating of 5000K.
For close-up work and handwork, especially when I sit in the family room with my husband and we watch foot ball together, I bought one of these LED lights (called Jansjo) from IKEA for $10. It's perfect - it doesn't knock everyone else out of the room with a bright, blinding light, and I can focus it directly on my work. The arm is flexible but stiff, so it stays where I put it. My mom liked mine so much, she bought one for herself for doing hand embroidery. They come in 3 models; tabletop, clamp-on, and floor.
I agree with you completely. The Ott light was unique when it first came out for its "daylight" light and that it didn't heat up like regular light bulbs. I had one of the original Ott lights that took a special kind of Ott bulb, but when that bulb finally burned out (and it lasted for years), they no longer made that kind of bulb so the lamp was useless. Now, there are many other options that do the same job (cool, daylight) Including, as mentioned in a reply, an Ott light bulb that fits a regular lamp.