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Fluorescent bulbs and camera flash diffuser
Wed, 2006-10-25 00:52 — udijw
Naomi Charles wrote:
You can now buy 27 watt spiral fluorescent bulbs that output 100watt
daylight 5500 Kelvin at homedepot. I have even seen them at walgreen
pharmacy. They are coollights and last for 7 years. I have also seen
daylight bulbs from revel and Philips but they are hot lights and last the
same as a regular light bulb. Some if them have a blue tint to them.
I also have a tip on how to diffuse the flash on your camera. tape a piece
of tissue or tissue paper over the flash to reduce red eye. You can also
tape a piece of posterboard at an angle to bounce the flash of your
camera. I really like this site. I can use some of the ideas to really
help me out. thanks a bunch Naomi
Click here to see DIYPhotography.net answer
Hi Naomi,
I am glad that you find the projects on the site useful. Feel free to share your ideas.
Florescence bulbs are cool, they are really good for "over head" lighting. just make sure you buy a daylight balanced one (5000K - 5500K). It is also worth mentioning that florescence do terrible job at getting dimmed - so no dimmer can be connected to them.
you can see the flash diffuser for canon s2is article for more info about your diffusion ideas - or check out the flash mounted softbox and flash diffuser articles for even better results.
cheers,
Udi.
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Comments
Hello, i've been reading the
Hello, i've been reading the tips on here and have been using some of them. Someone mentioned to me about the twisty lights as well. I bought a couple at Lowes, but they are 23W and they say they output 100W also. I tried it very quickly without nay prep or setup and am pleased with initial results. Can't wait to really get to use them and tyr it all out. I used to use the reveal type regular bulbs..they work ok, but they do get hot. Can't wait to get some more tips on here!
Bought a load of these bulbs
I cleaned out home depots stock of the 27w compact fluorescent bulbs. I have 3 of them mounted in a vented wood box(s). Not sure how accurate the color is yet but they are rated at 5500k. I don't notice any flicker at all. For the money, I'm amazed how well they work.
It would be great if someone were to compare a DIY solution like this to kino flos and the like. I'm curious to see close they come. Regardless, $7 per light is hilarious.
Fluorescent twist style bulbs
You can find these at most stores such as Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowes.
There are my results from testing most of all them.
The daylight or "blue" packages are great source of light but do have a nice blue tint to them. On the other hand the Phillips type daylight bulbs I have seen at Lowes seem to be balanced. The other bulbs are at or about 5K-6K Kelvins but the Phillips at Lowes are at a balanced 3200K Kelvins.
For my home studio I am using these to work with the GE Sunlight T8 4ft fluorescent tubes. I have anywhere from 2-4 of the Phillips twist Daylights (5k kelvin and 94CRI $3 for two...) in your 12 inch shop reflectors and a 4 tube light ballast for the 4ft tubes. This setup works great for both photos and film.
Note: I also tested all the fluorescent ballasts from Home Depot and the items labled as "Better" have the same electronic ballast as the ones labeled as "Best." The major difference is cost, about $10 difference. Yes, I have tested them all and this is this is the best route. Home Depot and Lowes have just about the same type ballasts but Lowes is usually about $4-$7 higher in price.
Just my two cents...
Have a good one and if you have any suggestions to help inprove my setup for film/video please let me know.
Thank you,
James Cori
Re: Fluorescent twist style bulbs
Found some errors in my comments above and wanted to make the corrections about my setup:
Here are the brands and type of bulbs/tubes I am using:
Sylvania Daylight Extra (Twist type) Fluorescents
Uses 23 Watts and produces over 100+ watts.
Product Description:
Part #: 29417
DULUX EL 23W Mini Twist compact fluorescent lamp DAYLIGHT 3500K Color Temperature, 82 CRI
Cost in my area: $9 each
Lithonia Lighting 4 Foot, 4 Light Square Basket Wraparound:
Part #: 987212
Labeled as "Better" at Home Depot.
UPC Code: 8423118374
SB 4 32 120 1/4 GESB
P/N: U544112
Note: Bought a cheap three pin (Hot, Neutral, Ground) extension cord and cut it in half to wire the ballast. Cost $3 bucks.
Cost in my area: $ 49.00
48" GE Sunshine F32 Tubes:
32 watts
CRI 86 and 5000 Kelvin
Cost in my area: Under $3 for two
12" Clamp Light:
This is a shop light reflector that has a clamp on the end and an aluminum reflector.
Cost in my area: $8-$10
Note: You can use a thin nylon clothe to soften the light.
Hope this helps.
James Cori
Note: I prefer the Sylvania Daylight Extra lights because they do not have such a strong blue tint to them and they are balanced. The GE, and other daylight models seem to be in the 5000-6200 Kelvin area which produce the blue tint.
5500 K Fluorescent Bulbs
I got these to use as (not so) hotlights for a softbox, and that was the first time that I was ever able to get true color rendition for reds with my D50 (red daylilies that were giving me fits).
"daylight" flourescent
The twisty bulbs and some of the straight tubes are indeed 5500k +/- but NONE of them have an appropriate CRI (colour rendition index) which needs to be 91 or higher if you want accurate colour rendition. Most of these bulbs fall in the mid 80's, not really sufficient for true colour reproduction. A "score" of 100 would be perfect . . . an accurate precise colour rendition, but I have never seen a light source that does score that. Specialized bulbs, like Kinos are very high up there, and as you can imagine, you get what you pay for. Twistys might be fun for learning, but I would never use them for precise work
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