frank_gross Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 I need to buy or make some cool lights (as close to daylight/5500K as I can get, & that are a reasonable weight,are portable, and give a decent amount of f-stop/shutter speed - I cannot use flash/strobe and tungsten/halogen lights are too hot. Lowel make a unit called Scandles but it's only 200w and I am sure you cant get much of an exposure from them. Can anyone share their experience?thanksFrank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgo Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 The Scandles look interesting although expensive. Don't iunder rate the output though. It may be 200W but according to the literature it is apparently equivalent to 500-750W incadescent ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooks short Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 Frank, Just curious..why can't you use flash ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_cochran Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 When you say tungsten/halogen are too hot, are you talking about color temperature or thermal temperature? I assume thermal, because the term usually used for a low color temperature is "warm", not "hot". (To add to the confusion, photographers use the term "warm" to indicate a low temperature black body radiator, and "cool" to indicate a high temperature black body.) <p> Anyway, the electrical wattage rating of a light is an almost perfect indicator of the amount of (thermal) heat it will throw off. So if your objection to a 500W photoflood is that it's too hot, you're not going to be able to use much more than that 200W Lowel light you were looking at. <p> If the problem is color temperature, you can use color correcting filters either over your lights or your lens, at a cost of some light output. <p> I, too, am curious why you can't use flash. That's the usual convenient solution to the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_gross Posted July 26, 2004 Author Share Posted July 26, 2004 I am using the term hot in a thermal sense, not as in the col temperature which can be solved with filters or the appropriate film. Although it would be nice to have my cake and eat it too, and have the thermal temperature cold and also the col temperature cold (daylight) :-) I cant use flash/strobe because for this particular project the portrait subjects are sensitive to the 'flashing'and it spoils the mood. Also, I prefer to see the light that I'm going to get as you can with constant or ambient light. A strobe/flash unit's modelling light doesn't 'do it' for me and I havent got the capability to use polaroids for light testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
link Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 Rent some Kino-Flow daylight balanced flourescent lamps. There are many versions, so check them out first. Some are quite large and some are tiny. They are not the lightest in weight, but they are not hot when used. Most are dimable with no change in color temperature. If you need a "hard" light, rent a small HMI lamp. As for f/stop-shuttter speed---tell your subject to hold still, you won't have a choice without really bright lights or strobes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_gross Posted July 29, 2004 Author Share Posted July 29, 2004 I just bought a bunch of 48 inch "shoplights" from the hardware store - the units are all wired up and ready to plug in. A bank of 10 units would give a 4 foot x 4 foot light bank - all connected to a good power bar. With 2 tubes in each unit at 40W per tube = 80W, 10 units would draw 800watts which should be ok for a household circuit. I found Philips "natural sunshine" 48 inch tubes rated at 5000K and 92 CRI. What do you all think of this plan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
link Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 <i>I found Philips "natural sunshine" 48 inch tubes rated at 5000K and 92 CRI. What do you all think of this plan?</i><p> I think they will photograph green! They may look like "natural sunshine" but they ain't.<p> I think you should shoot a test or borrow a '3 color' color meter to check before making this plunge.<p> Are you shooting digital? If so, you can correct for the green in the RAW conversion or the camera white balance.<p> Shooting film? Shoot daylight film with a 30cc magenta filter over the lens, but test first!<p> If you are shooting mixing your lights with natural daylight, you will have to put the magenta filters over the flourescents lamps to match the daylight color.<p> So Frank, shoot your tests and report back please.<p> -bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_gross Posted August 5, 2004 Author Share Posted August 5, 2004 a minolta col temp meter rates it at 5010K and recommends the use of an 82A and 5M filters to bring it up to Daylight balance.This is minimal filtering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
link Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 <i>a minolta col temp meter rates it at 5010K and recommends the use of an 82A and 5M filters to bring it up to Daylight balance.This is minimal filtering.</i><p> Thanks for the info Frank. That's good to know!<p> With that little filtration, I wouldn't bother correcting at the camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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