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Review: Ants on a Melon Light Painting Tubes and Flow Arts Sabers
This is a review of the third generation (in the RGB Critter era) of sabers from Ants on a Melon (AOAM). These are designed for light painting photography, flow arts, and contact saber play. There are now two lines of sabers, the light painting tubes are designed for light painting photography, and light saber tubes designed for flow arts and contact saber play.
The sabers pictured in this review are the Flow Arts versions. There is a link to the accompanying YouTube video at the end of this review.
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Light Painting Tubes
The light painting tubes are designed for maximum modularity, and are available in 5, 11, 17, 23, 29, and 36 inch (13, 28, 43, 58, 74, and 92cm) lengths. Aside from the 36" (92cm) version, these tubes do not have any internal threads. This is to maximise light transmission along the tubes. My personal favourite tube types are the plain light painting tube and the honeycomb light painting tube which creates a great light trail texture. There are two RGB Critter Tube Adapters, long and short. We'll come back to those later. To connect two tubes, you need to purchase the modular tube saber connector. To connect other Ants on a Melon light painting tools to the end of tubes, such as the orb tool, light painting blades, and acrylic writers, you need to purchase a modular saber tube adapter. This also has a mirrored end cap that can be screwed in to reflect light back down the tube.
Flow Arts Sabers
The light saber tubes are designed for flow arts and contact saber play. These are designed for when you just need a single tube per RGB Critter, and are available in 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 inch (15, 31, 46, 61, 76, and 92cm) lengths. They have an internal thread at the far end, which allows the included twist-on end cap to be attached. This end cap has a small mirror to reflect light back down the tube, but also transmits light as well. You can also purchase a silicone saber cap in either black or clear. The extra weight us useful for flow artists. The clear saber cap is also useful for light painting, as it adds a bit of extra glow at the end of the sabers, but also transmits light as well. It works with both the light painting tubes and flow arts sabers. There are plenty of accessories including silicone cap counterweights, handles, and back to back critter connectors. The build quality is excellent, with none of my AOAM sabers being damaged despite many drops and accidental impacts.
RGB Critter Tube Adapters
The RGB Critter Tube Adapters are required for both the light painting tubes and flow arts sabers. There are a long and short version, with the long version being able to support longer tubes, more weight, and more extreme flow arts movements. The long version is designed for flow arts. For light painting, the short is fine with shorter tubes such as 5 and 11 inches. The long version is more stable for 17, 23, 29, and 36 inch tubes, or connected tubes. However, to reduce the light hotspots at the input end of the light, I tend to wrap some white masking tape around the first 5cm/2" of the tubes anyway. The long version reduces this requirement to 2.5cm/1". So, if in doubt, just go with the long version.
Conclusion
The latest generation of tubes and sabers from AOAM are solidly built, with lots of adapters and connectors for maximum flexibility. The Light Painting Tubes are designed for modularity through connecting multiple tubes and/or light painting tools. The Flow Arts Sabers are designed for single saber per RGB Critter use.
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