compact fluorescent bulbs

I just got a new monitor, so I thought I would try and improve the lighting in

my computer room. I then went to Lowes and found some CF bulbs made by Sylvania

called Craft Lights, they are 5000k full spectrum, or so they say. They also

had some marked as 6500K. I know you've been able to by 5000k, and 6500K cf

bulbs on-line for a while, but this is the first time I have seen them in Big

Box Stores. They are much better than the yellow cf's they replaced. About $7-8.

There's really no such thing as a true full spectrum Fluorescent light (thanks to the nasty

mercury spikes). You'd be far better off looking at Solux bulbs in a track light system if you

want something as close to daylight made by man.

 

solux.net/

Those cheap lights are a good idea.

 

It's silly to judge a print only by one light, but those cheapies are useful in the mix. You'll also want to view by tungsten, by mixed light, and by various spins on natural light, such as open shade and full-on daylight. Nobody is going to view your prints at home or gallery by a Solux, so you really do want your prints to look good to look good in various more likely lights .

Lambert, most prints are viewed under either tungsten or fluorescent or a combination of one of those and daylight. Not often, but occasionally I will walk a print outside to compare but generally if I like what I see in my tungsten/daylight environment, I am happy with it. The compact fluorescents are energy savers and I am gradually switching over much of my home but not because of photography.

I switched to cf's when they first came out as an energy saver also, these bulbs are a big improvement on those. When I compare my prints to the screen they are a much closer match. Solux bulbs might be better, I'm not sure. How does a spectrum spike affect how you Perceive a photograpy or object?

You MUST view prints using a standard illuminant. We calibrate our displays to a standard

white point (usually D65). We have printer profiles who's internal illuminant is also fixed

(some solutions allow you to measure the light in a gallery as an example and build a

profile for that illuminant). You have issues with metamerism. The solution at this time is

sitting by your calibrated and profiled display, with a printer profile that matches that

illuminate and that of the light box you're using. At least get that in sync! The best man

made bulbs to simulate a true full spectrum is Solux (and lots of galleries and museums

who care about color reproduction use them).

 

The spectrum spike can cause real issues with some photo papers, especially those that

have optical brighteners (common) causing what appears to be a magenta cast in the

highlights of the paper stock. Not good.

Rodney's use of "MUST" is unfortunate.

 

 

Inkjet responds erratically to different sources of light. Since you evidently don't live under Solux, and Rodney doesn't either (unless he's raising marijuana at home), you want your prints to look good in various more probable lighting conditions.

 

Rodney's reference to "metamerism" negates his "MUST." Metamerism is an inkjet-specific concern, seen more in some lighting than in others. Multiple light source evaluations are the key more than Solux. Certainly Solux is nice, but it will lead you astray with inkjet, if only because of metamerism.

 

"spectrum spikes" do characterise inexpensive neo-daylite lamps (such as Craft Lamps) ... easily demonstrated with a medium contrast (ie not Velvia) E6 film to photograph a colorful magazine cover under whatever "daylight" fluorescent you choose and also under whatever you consider real daylight to be...probably indirect sunlight. Solux does do a better job than other neo-daylites, but that's important only if you're not concerned with how your prints will be seen in the "real world."

 

It happens that I use Macbeth tubes in my primary light box. These tubes do deliver very accurate daylight approximation for slides, but art directors view slides against window light, overhead fluorescents, and whatever else is handy. Reality is the only "must."

I have yet to see Solux bulbs in action because I have no access

to them where I live, hot humid rural Texas heat, so I settle for the

cooler GE Sunshine flotubes I bought at Walmart.

 

And BTW I just found out my local Walmart now uses a

Canadian version of these tubes to light the entire store. No

wonder photos, merchandise and skintones look so good and

I'm in such a chipper mood when I'm there.

 

My main problem with these lights has nothing to do with their

spectrum quality, but the way their color cast causes adaptation

issues with my bluish 6500K, 2.2 gamma EyeOne Display

calibrated CRT.

 

See the shot I took of my own sRGB test file printed using

Walmart's poster option where they send the file off to

subcontractor's and wait three weeks for the print. I got lucky and

got an Epson print.

 

After about 5 minutes editing or surfing the web, all neutrals

under these lights will turn to a warm cast as shown compared

to the CRT making the CRT look more neutral than the lights. If I

turn the lights off for a while where it's pitch black and turn them

back on the lights will look very neutral.

 

I don't see any green or blue spikes from these tubes, but the

image posted is very accurate to what I see after adaptation

kicks in. But they're better than working under incandescant or

any other available lighting in my area. Even the Sylvania 6500K

Daylight CF's are way too blue green and I had to return them.<div></div>

>spectrum spikes" do characterise inexpensive neo-daylite lamps (such as Craft Lamps)

 

Please send me spectral plots of these Fluorescent bulbs that have no spikes and show the

kind of response seen below.

 

Just measure the lights as I've done with a Spectrophotometer to plot the wavelengths as I've

done here.<div></div>

SoLux should be the only light source in your digital darkroom for obvious reasons; no other lightsource comes even close. My experience using SoLux bulbs is that a) I get a nearly perfect monitor-to-print match in my digital darkroom using SoLux greatly enhancing editing and b) prints that look good in SoLux light will look good in any other lighting condition that I have tried thanks to color constancy.

My customers evaluate my work with a mixture of tungsten, fluorescent, and daylight, so that's what I use. I know of -- let me think here, nope, nope -- ok, exactly none of my friends and colleagues in the business use or have used special overall illumination in their labs (well, there was one place that tried to match the back room fluorescents to the front counter troffers, but that didn't last: it seems merchandise looks better under warm-white). At best, they have a daylight-balanced hood-type station in one corner, but it's usually just used to convince hard-to-please customers that the dress really IS that particular shade of whatever (and that doesn't work, most of the time).

 

Real life get a little messy sometimes ;)

 

Lambert, I started using small-wattage 5000K CFLs years ago in the "lab" (if that's what you call a long row of computer monitors these days) and have never had a problem, and my prints are a near-perfect match to my main monitor. Use whatever works for you.

Look, you can view prints with a modeling light, a candle, window light, who cares? If your

goal is to simulate daylight, daylight defined spectrally (using standard illumants, not

some correlated color temperature that's all kinds of colors), you want full spectrum and

you want it manmade, the closest technology we have today that you or I can buy is Solux.

The bulb cost like $7. This isn't like funding the Iraq/American embassy. What's a

Fluorescent bulb cost?

 

I have at least three Fluorescent boxes (GTI, Just Normlicht). My favorite one by my display

is a SOFV-1e from GTI with digital dimmers. If I'm talking to anyone about color on a print

in prepress, we're looking at the same thing. Is this an industry standard? Yes. Is it ideal,

no.

 

I also have the entire office (walk in closet too) Lite with Solux, plus I have three desk

lamps with the same bulbs. If I'm viewing prints I made on my 4800, they look better to

me and actually can be illuminated with the Solux, will not fit (nor look as good) on the

GTI.

 

Get whatever you want. The Solux are not prefect (they get warm, they are not as

adjustable as a digital dimmer). Its a WAY better light for anything you can think of doing

that's not in the dark. Their spectra is very smooth.

When did Solux start selling a $7 bulb? I had no idea.

 

I got discouraged from reading about this brand for several years

when they started out at around $80 each then went down to $30

and so on.

 

Or is this a less expensive nonfull spectrum version? Heck I'll

buy any brand that can look neutral and not induce adaptation as

shown in the posted image.

 

And about spectral distribution and standard illuminant as

measured and plotted by a spectrophotometer, does it take into

account this adaptive effect on the eyes. Can I actually get my

display WB to match a standard illuminant light source color

temp exactly so I don't have to deal with this?

SoLux is a low voltage (12 volt) MR-16 bulb (2 pin socket) that reproduces the full color

spectrum of natural daylight with ultra-low UV and IR. It is available in 35 and 50 watts, 4

different color temperature (3500K, 4100K, 4700K, & 5000K) and 4 beamspreads (10, 17,

24, 36). Price for 3500K, 4100K, & 4700K: 1-9 units is $7.95, for 10+ units is $6.95 per

bulb. The 5000K bulb price for 1-49 units is $14.95 per bulb, for 50-99 units is $12.95,

and

100+ $10.95 per bulb.

 

Depending on the luminance, you'll want to calibrate to D65 or Native and use something

like the 4700K Solux at matching luminance to get the best screen to print matching.

I second Andrew's views with the clarification that I recommend calibrating the monitor to the same temperature as the lighting and given the limited choices of SoLux bulb color temperatures I recommend the 5000K (which is actually 4900K) SoLux bulbs and monitor calibration to 4900K as well. If the color temperatures of the monitor and lighting are significanlty different like 6500 and 4900K I see a very noticeable difference between the image on the monitor and the image as printed and viewed in the digital darkroom lighting.

 

I wrote an article on digital darkroom lighting that you can find at www.solux.net/ies_files/Digital%20Darkroom%20Lighting.pdf

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a?topic_id=1701&category=Color+Management%3eLighting

 

http://www.ledlight.com/default.aspx

 

Check these links for some dukes mix of lighting. Little on the expensive side but worth every penny. Saves you money in the long run.

I don't think that LED lamps are going to work well: they have even nastier spikes than fluorescents.

I have been experimenting with solux bulbs. I have built a viewing booth and monted three solux 4700K 36 degree 50 bulbs in it. Each bulb has a very noticable and problematic orange halo of light around the central cone of light. Apparently you can get snouts to get rid of some of this halo. Needless to say the orange light, especially in a confined and therefore somewhat reflective environment effects CCT. Others have recommended using diffusers to blend in the orange light with the 'good' light. This would lower CCT and may have unpredicatble consequences for spectral distribution and CRI. I am close to giving up with the solux for this project and switching to activa 172's. A fluro tube with with high (98%) CRI and 6500k (closer to the native white point of my LCD). I wonder how the others are using their solux lights to avoid the mixing in of this orange halo light?

SoLux is far better than any fluorescent. You really have to go out of your way to notice the slightly warmer outer area of the SoLux light circle; I don't even notice it anymore.

Yes perhaps this is a feature of having the bulbs close to the object to be viewed. The cone of orange light is smaller and more concentrated. Back to the drawing board! Incidently the warmer light Im measuring 500k lower than the bluer light. Phil from SoLux replied yesterday saying that the warmer orange light if mixed would lower CCT but not CRI much. He recomended the snoots they sell to get rid of the Halo. This halo, he said, was a product of the light that comes directly from the filament, unreflected.

Can anyone take a studio shot of the Solux in action and post

similar to what I did with the GE Sunshine flotube?

 

Edit the image to get it as accurate to what you see in your

studio.