OT Color temperature of arc lights

OK, my digital camera was doing fine until, the battery headed south,

so I had to turn off the flash. The flash pictures came out great

just enough light for fill in to get the color temperature correct.

 

The non flash ones however appear to be very blue, the lighting was

domed lights with the high intensity bulbs (I want to say sodium)

very bright, in a gym. They appear to be white to my untrained eye.

 

So does anybody know what the color temperature of these lights?

 

Thanks, Gerry

I Googled it and found answers ranging from 2100 Kelvin up to 4500.

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<a href="http://www.sizes.com/units/color_temperature.htm">COLOR TEMP<a/>

as said, a wide range, and hard to predict with accuracy unless you know the specifics, Also, some of them have a more single badwidth, rather than the spread form daylight or wahtever.

 

If you were shooting film, daylight balanced, and got a blue with the lights, then you would have been >6000. However, your camera <<may>> try to daylight balance what it got, and shifted in a variety of direcitons. Some of these lights are sickly green on film, nad not the usual too-blue or too-red, and I do not know how the canera would balance that.If your camera had daylight balance off, you could try it on, and see what happens.

 

All said, if they looked very bright white, and gave you blue, I would venture they are >6000-6500K. To the eye, >6000 just gets brighter.

Vapor lights have a choppy; raspy; butchered spectrum that is not a black body. There is only a crude pseudo "color temperature" because they are not true black bodies; with smooth outputs at all wavelengths. USE a 4 layer color print emulsion; to reduce the sins of using goofy lighting; when using film. The 4 layer emulsions are way better in dealing with vapor lights; than standard 3 layer emulsions. The Gyms and sports arenas here all have different lighting types; and some have mixeds types. For DIGITAL ; shoot several at each of the "color temperature settings"; for your camera; and find the best match ffor your gymns.. Sometimes each gym works better; with its specific setting dialed in. I keep a motebook and record the specifics for each gymn; so I know later what equipment to use; and the lighting type; and the settings. Here the older gymns have poorer lighting; with alot more off white hues. For team shots; I bring along a color patch; to aid in correcting in Photoshop; the sins of vapor lighting.

Thanks guys! Next time I will get one of those color charts to shoot before I take the photos. Along with keeping a notebook on the settings since I will be back to take more pictures.

 

Thanks again. Gerry